The Vampire In Film

Vampires: Sucking Their Way Through Movie History

We love 'em. . .they bite our necks, talk with funny accents, are snazzy dressers, and have pretty much just scared the pants off us for ages. Of course, I'm talking about Vampires! The vampire movie has been around for centuries. The first one appeared in 1896 -- moive history icon George Melies' silent masterpiece, Le Manoir du Diable. Since then, the character of the "Hollywood Vampire" has appeared in nearly every movie genre and gone through every Hollywood trend. This month, I'll recommend some examples. First, let's look at some classic vampire flicks:

	Nosferatu - The 1922 classic. Max Schrek stars as the evil Count Orlock -- "Dracula" couldn't be used due to a lawsuit by Bram Stoker's estate. Pretty good remake starring Klaus Kinski, but it's just not the original. And for the love of God avoid the new remastered version with the soundtrack by Type-O-Negative. [IMDB Page] **
Dracula - The Big Kahuna. The Mother Ship. The one that mainstreamed the vampire in cinema and made Bela Lugosi a legend (and a drug addict, but that's a whole other Feature). If you haven't seen this -- do it now. Before you come back here. Stagy acting, but it defines the vampire genre in this country--a must-see. [IMDB Page] **
	Horror of Dracula - Hammer Films created a horror renaissance with the release of this lusty retelling of Stoker's tale. The first of many outings by Christopher Lee as the toothed one. Vivid colors and heavy Gothic overtones [IMDB Page] **

Okay, so those are the "Big Three", so to speak. But there have been some great vampire flicks covering nearly every genre that Hollywood has to offer. Check these out:

Blacula - Blaxploitation? Vampires? You bet! During the 70s, films like "Shaft" and "Superfly" created a whole new genre, recently paid tribute by Quentin Tarantino with "Foxy Brown" and spoofed in "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka". This one's pretty funny in today's ultra-PC world. [IMDB Page] **
	The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are In My Neck - Fans of Peter Sellers will appreciate this loony vampire comedy from the mind of director Roman Polanski. US version (the title listed above) enfuriated Polanski to the point that he wanted his name removed from the credits. . .I think it's better than the original! [IMDB Page] **
Lifeforce - Here, the vampire film crosses-over with science fiction, in a story of aliens from Halley's Comet arriving on earth and draining the living of their "lifeforce". Oh-so-campy, but some "boo"-scary scenes make up for it. Good rental for a sleep-over. [IMDB Page] **
	The Hunger - About as art-house as it gets, this feature stars David Bowie as a century-old vampire who enlists the help of researcher Susan Sarandon to keep him alive when his lover, Miriam, grows tired of keeping him around. Notorious sex scene between Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve seems like stock footage by today's standards. [IMDB Page] **

Oh sure, there are others, but these are my picks for the ones to put on your rental list. Bear in mind, when you come right down to it, all vampire stories have the same theme. They're love stories, all of them. I'll debate that point with anyone. A vampire is a creature, in the absence of life, bent on finding love in some way or another. Watch your favorite bloodsucker flick again with that in mind. . .you'll see my point. And yes. . .I own cosmetic fangs.

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