11/23/08: According to this AP article the vampire romance "Twilight" has drained the box office in its opening weekend with ticket sales totaling $70.5 million. Feeling a bit like Jerry Seinfeld, I have to ask - What's the deal with vampire movies?
It seems that these movies are so popular these days. It used to be that vampires were covered mainly in the (sometimes campy) horror genre and pretty much stayed out of the mainstream of cinema.
Movies like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" elicited a new teenage audience.. the same I suspect that bought "Twilight" tickets this weekend.
I found movies like "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and "Interview with the Vampire" pretty gross and wish I hadn't seen either of them.. guess I was a bit curious.. of course (being cheap) I caught the TV versions but still didn't care for them.
So what do you think? Do you like vampire movies?
Not much...I see the fans of Twilight, though...ranges from elementary to moms in age.
ReplyDeleteI loved Buffy on TV. What a hoot. The writing was awesome.
By the way...this story boils down to hero and heroine...just like any other love story.
ReplyDeleteIt depends on the movie; I actually liked Bram Stoker's Dracula because I'm a big of Anthony Hopkins and enjoy any movie he makes. I love the old campy classics (Lugosi, Lee), but if you want to see one that I think is a genuine masterpiece, rent Werner Herzog's remake of "Nosferatu," with Klaus Kinski. It's absolutely magnificent -- the acting, the music, and the cinematography.
ReplyDeleteGreat point about "hero and heroine" theme Karen.
ReplyDeleteI loved those old Lugosi and Karloff movies Matt.. they were scary when I was a kid.. a bit campy after I grew up.. guess that is why Peter Pan stayed a kid :)
I don't mind vampire movies too much. I really was scared by and liked Jack Palance's Dracula as a kid.
ReplyDeleteWhat I hate is that the vampire has become the good guy.
I've not seen Twilight, and I won't, but I assume the vampire guy (over whom all the girls are drooling) is a sympathetic, conflicted character who ends up being the hero. It seems to me like just one more beautification of evil, and I'm sick to death of them.
The vampire theme is basically as unsubtle and unhidden a metaphor for sexual tension as has ever been invented, and now the irresistible charmer who cannot help himself is winning. It used to be that Vlad was an evil guy who overcame women, but eventually the good guys stuck a stake through his heart and everyone was saved. Today he's a noble guy who cannot help himself, though he does everything in his power to do so, until eventually some loving enough woman sees past the whole blood-sucking thing and saves him.
So now we have to coach women that it's OK to try to redeem lost boys? It's passe to teach our girls to reject lost boys and find honorable men, but it's still the truth. How many women end up in horrible marriages because of the message repeated again and again in these movies?
I don't mind vampire movies when they end with a wooden stake through the heart of evil, and the good woman and good man embrace at the dawn of a new morn's hope.
That's obviously just me.
I generally stay far away from horror movies. But I watched Nosferatu because it was a classic. I was entertained. I haven't seen the remake.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed "Shadow of the Vampire" with John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe, which was a take off on the filming of Nosferatu. It was pretty cool, not really scary, I don't remember any gratuitous gore, and there were some very funny moments. It was obvious that everyone had a good time making the movie.
I have watched the Russian horror movies, "Nightwatch" and "Daywatch" and found them to be very different from American horror. Awesome special effects.
I was disturbed by the review of Twilight in the Seattle paper. The reviewer said that during the mild sex scene in the movie, two young teenage girls in the next seats kept murmuring, "Do it! Do it!". I guess I still have the image of young teens as somewhat innocent. My wife told me that teenaged girls talk big.
I agree with Karen that Twilight is basically just a romance novel for teens. My wife is a librarian and says that they have to keep the Twilight books behind the counter to prevent theft.
I agree with Codepoke that it's disturbing when evil is portrayed as simply a conflicted being. I think it's interesting that Anne Rice is now writing about the life of Christ. I listened to "Christ the Lord:Out of Egypt" on tape. I enjoyed it. A few extra-biblical things in the story, but they added to the story as a story.
Kansas Bob,
ReplyDeletePersonally, I do not see the huge fascination with this movie and show. And quite honestly, I find it highly disturbing that so many people are enamored with violence, horror and darkness. Yet, at the same time, sigh..., I'm not surprised. Look at how many people were head over heals with the whole Harry Potter craze?
Unfortunately, I think the younger generation (young adult, teens, "tweens")from what I've both experienced and heard, are really espousing a lot of "dark" stuff.
Just my thoughts, of course, here.
Blessings,
~Amy :)
Author of "Orphaned Into Belonging"
Walking In The Spirit
http://amyiswalkinginthespirit.blogspot.com
Purely by coincidence I just read "Interview with a Vampire" I generally like books better than movies but have to admit I kept picturing Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. I liked it because it was more about human nature than vampires.
ReplyDeleteAs for Twilight - LOVE STORY. Just happens to be that the hot young male is a vampire. I don't plan to see the movie but I would say its probably more erotic than violent or gross.
It is the idea of immortality on an earth that people are familiar with. It is about being above the law and society. It is about living a totally hedonistic lifestyle with no consequences. It is sin without death. It is the lie of satan to entice young people into this ficticious world while denying Christ's path to eternity.
ReplyDeleteI loved the old movies when I was a kid. We paid about 15 cents to see them at the rec center. Now a days I can't do them, I feel a pull to stay away from those kinds. I don't like that it targets my kids, I guess the evil one is working on those kids.
ReplyDeleteWow..good discussion here. . .
ReplyDeleteCP, what about a message of redemption? Moving from a "life" of sin to doing the right thing?
Ann Rice moving to write about Christ...well, that's kind of cool...and a change, right?
I agree Barbara...Twilight's more erotic than anything else.
I always get emails from a cousin about the evils of Halloween (which I love) and Harry Potter. I tell her that if you go looking for evil, you will surely find it.
The movie "Vambo" would appeal to adolescent females AND males. It would make a killing.
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