Here Be Vampires!

[Not Afraid]

Can everyone please spoiler True Blood posts with information in them?

[flippyshark]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Vampire movies, maybe. But Dracula has been a romance story since at least the 1930's.

Lugosi certainly made Dracula a more handsome devil, charming yes, but romantic? He's still all "sneak-in-bite-your-neck-while-you-sleep." His victim(s) go from Victorian prim to slightly immodest and sorta alluringly predatory, but they don't seem to fall in love. The moral center of the story is "we've got to save her," as opposed to the later "we don't get to choose who we fall in love with" angle.

Christopher Lee's bosomy victims were his slaves after they had made the transition, but none of them, to my memory, went through the "isn't he a heart-throb" phase.

Frank Langella (in the 1979 movie) strikes me as the first "cue the violins, it's true love" Dracula. Here, the romance is clearly completely reciprocal, as opposed to merely bait for a trap. We're meant to root for the vamp and his new bride at the end, and see the vampire hunters as short-sighted fools, unworthy of our broadminded heroine. It's a shame that the final scene of that film is botched so badly, because they came so close to achieving something tragic and lovely.

[flippyshark]

Oh, I should mention one of my favorite, and little talked about, Dracula movies, The Return of Dracula from 1958. Here, Francis Lederer plays the Count, posing as the exotic European cousin of a family in the heart of conservative white America. It plays off as a very strange episode of Peyton Place, or a vampire variation on Hitchcock's Shadow Of A Doubt.

Anyway, in the film, young Rachel certainly has a recognizable crush on her older, very interesting "cousin," and he seems to at least feel a grubby kind of lust for her. (For a late fifties movie, I was surprised at how tawdry it felt. In a really fun way.) and the way he asks after her blind friend Jennie is very creepy indeed. He's more like a bad uncle than an intriguing cousin.

If you haven't seen it, this one is a fascinating overlooked curiosity.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

the denoument of the Dallas adventure was SO MUCH BETTER in the book.

For those of us who have not read the books, how did that bit end? (spoilered, please)

[Betty]

Just started watching Blood Ties. I'm thinking I should read the books first as I like the show but I think Prudence said the books were better.

What do you think Pru? Should I stop watching and read the books?

[Prudence]

I haven't read the books for Blood Ties - just watched the first season.

[innerSpaceman]

Ugh, True Blood finale tonight and I won't be home to watch it. (No, I have no recording capability). I'll have to wait for the repeat Monday or Tuesday. Bah.

[Betty]

I have to wait until tomorrow to download it from the net.

[Betty]

[SzczerbiakManiac]

I Kissed a Vampire

Even though I really like vampires and I LOVE musicals, I'm just not all that excited about this one. The featurette (available for free on iTunes) says it's supposed to be a parody, but I didn't get any of the humor. Maybe that will be more apparent when it debuts on iTunes October 13th.

from the official web site:
I Kissed A Vampire

High School Musical alumni Lucas Grabeel and Drew Seeley and newcomer Adrian Slade star in this musical look at the torment of falling in love when you’re in the middle of becoming a vampire…

High School Musical alumni Lucas Grabeel and Drew Seeley and newcomer Adrian Slade star in this musical look at the torment of falling in love when you’re in the middle of becoming a vampire. Dylan (Grabeel) is terrified when a nasty bat bite transforms him into one of the living dead. His world is turned upside down, and he has to figure out how to balance his budding romance with the girl next door and the bloodthirsty desires his magnetic vampire mentor Trey (Seeley) is constantly urging him to give in to.

Act 1

Dylan is crazy about his neighbor Sara but when he starts developing fangs and a thirst for O positive he’s terrified that if he kisses her he won’t be able to stop himself from drinking her blood and draining her dry.

To Be Continued...

As a side note, is "available on iTunes" (and nowhere else) the 21st century equivalent of the old term "straight to video"?