Recently I did an interview with Justin Boyer of A Bibliophile’s Reverie. One of his interview questions was: "What is your favorite vampire film and why?" As I thought about my response, I flash forwarded to my next blog post and thought, hum….. I would love to explore this question further. There is something magical yet sinister about vampires. Beautiful, seductive and utterly malevolent, they command the screen just as they command my respect and awe. Each film I admire depicts the vampire in a certain time and place, trying to blend into the world in which they find themselves yet always an outsider. Powerful, blood thirsty, beautiful.
I must admit that although I enjoyed the premise of the film 30 Days of Night [2007]I found the vampires really scary and creepy. I did love the story however. Enjoy…
The Hunger [1983] is the story of a beautiful, female vampire with roots in ancient Egypt, play by the French actress Catherine Deneuve. She presently lives in a gorgeous townhouse in Manhattan. We experience her long life through all the art works she has collected. She collects lovers too, including Susan Sarandon and David Bowie.
Dracula [1992] set in Victorian England features Gary Oldman as Dracula. Need I say any more?
Interview with the Vampire [1994], my favorite novel by Anne Rice, is told through the eyes of vampire Louis de Ponte du Lac to a young reporter in present-day in San Francisco. We are introduced to the famous vampire Lestat and follow both vampires through their lives in eighteenth century New Orleans and Paris. Lestat and Louis are beautiful vampires with a complex relationship filled with much betrayal and sadness.
In the film, Let the Right One In [2008], a young boy named Oskar is bullied in school and then befriended by a very unusual girl who moves into his housing project. Meanwhile a series of gristly murders rock a working class suburb of Stockholm Sweden. I love this film as it depicts the century’s old vampire as a creature truly outside the mortal world yet trying to survive in it. The film was also made for American audiences too and I enjoyed both. You will never look at a Rubik’s cube in the same way, ever.
Do you have a favorite vampire film? Let me know, okay?