Vampires » carmilla

Vampires: Girls vs. Boys

annimi — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:09:23 +0000

What most of the unofficial Feminists Against Vampire Romance Novels organization, –bent on the mass destruction of a fictional theme, –seems to miss in the world of vampires right now, is that normally, chicks are over-represented in vampire literature and cinema. How many badass vampire guys can you think of? Blade, Dracula, Kurt Barlow, Count Orlock, etc., etc., –but lately, doesn’t it seem like we’ve had our share of vampire chicks? Let’s see, who was the most badass, top vampire in From Dusk Till Dawn? That sexy she-bitch with the snake, Santanico Pandemonium, played by Salma Hayek. How about Queen of the Damned? Bloodrayne? Underworld? –all of them? In what world is it that vampires are suddenly the embodiment of all things sexist?

One of the first vampire novels the world ever saw, coming even before Bram Stoker’s Dracula, was Carmilla, by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. What was it about? Those of you currently Google’ing are automatically disqualified. The novel was about a female vampire preying on, –not a man, –but a woman. Now the truly dedicated feminist will search her inner database of man hate to come up with a reason as to why this novel was anti-female, but let’s just roll with this theme we’re building here. Why is it that men seem to make such crappy vampires? Whose love destroyed Dracula? Why, it was Mina, –and she was a vampire at the time. I won’t even go into the whole Akasha thing in Queen of the Damned, because we’re past that.

The point is, independent women in vampire novels are not a scarcity; the literary strong female vampire archetype is older than the literary strong male vampire archetype by twenty-five years. It’s actually rare to see a popular vampire role filled by a male, because Hollywood loves to cash in on the snotty vampire bitch trend: hot female vampire warriors are gold. At the end of the Twilight saga, Bella ends up being one of the most gifted vampires in their clan for her amazing presence of mind. How can that leave a bitter taste in the mouth of popular feminism? Vampire and horror cinema in general have moved with the times, not against them. Women as vampires have become a stronger force than men as vampires, both literally and metaphorically.

The First: Der Vampire

Moonlight — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:00:25 +0000

Vampires have been part of literature for ages and ages now. Almost all of today’s popular fiction authors have at least one vampire story out there; the recently released vampire anthology, By Blood We Live, has shown us that. There are many that think that it was the renowned Bram Stoker and his legendary novel, Dracula (1897) that started it all. While Dracula and Mina’s tale most definitely made vampires and vampire fiction hugely popular, it wasn’t the first vampire story written. Before Dracula there was the quite popular ‘Carmilla’ (1872) by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, ‘Ligeia’ (1838) by sublimely sinister Edgar Allan Poe, ‘Varney the Vampyre’ (1847) by James Malcolm Rymer and on and on, the list is extensive. But what was the very first vampire work of fiction? Who was the one to first write a creative piece of literature involving a vampire?

The answer to that question is a poem by Heinrich August Ossenfelder, titled ‘Der Vampire,’ which came out in 1748. This poem is generally recognized as one of the very first appearances of a vampire in creative literature.

Der Vampire
By Heinrich August Ossenfelder

My dear young maiden clingeth
Unbending fast and firm
To all the long-held teaching
Of a mother ever true;
As in vampires unmortal
Folk on the Theyse’s portal
Heyduck-like do believe.
But my Christine thou dost dally,
And wilt my loving parry
Till I myself avenging
To a vampire’s health a-drinking
Him toast in pale tockay.

And as softly thou art sleeping
To thee shall I come creeping
And thy life’s blood drain away.
And so shalt thou be trembling
For thus shall I be kissing
And death’s threshold thou’ it be crossing
With fear, in my cold arms.
And last shall I thee question
Compared to such instruction
What are a mother’s charms?

- Moonlight

Vampire Films

veritas — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:30:36 +0000

There are more than likely thousands of vampire movies out there, but most notably, the movie Blade, about the comic book hero, half vampire, half human, the definitive Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Interview With The Vampire, the debut novel of the Vampire Chronicles authored by Anne Rice made into a film, with it’s sequel, Queen of the Damned. Also as equally definitive as Bram Stoker’s Dracula, is Nosferatu, eine Symphonie Des Grauens, one of the very first vampire films, released in 1922; the unauthorized adaptation of the novel by Bram Stoker.

Vampire films were inspired almost as soon as the ability to actually make, record, and exhibit films had been created; one of the first of many films was titled simply “The Vampire,” in 1913, and followed by “A Fool There Was” in 1915. Both of these silent films were about “vamps” or, femme-fatales; the inspiration for both the films and the terms came from the 1897 poem The Vampire, by Rudyard Kipling. The poem by Rudyard Kipling, was inspired by the famous painting ‘The Vampire’ by Sir Philip Burne-Jones, featuring a female vampire straddling a wounded, or sleeping man. The first really supernatural vampire film to emerge was Nosferatu; it was so closely related to Bram Stoker’s novel, that his widow sued, won, and all copies were destroyed, except for five. It was finally restored in 1994 in Europe.

Bela Lugosi later starred in the 1931 classic Dracula, and then in two more vampire films following that; one of them Abbot And Costello Meet Frankenstein, in 1948 which was the last time he would play Dracula. Then another in which he played a vampire character that was everything Dracula was, except his name; the film was Return of the Vampire. Bela Lugosi was in a number of early horror films throughout the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. In 1957 the movie ‘El Vampiro’ was produced, and was one of the first vampire films in which the fangs of the vampire were actually revealed. In 1958, the renowned Hammer Horror series debuted with the film Dracula, starring Christopher Lee, who acted in five of the following seven sequels. Later, Francis Ford Coppola’s groundbreaking classic ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ emerged in 1992.

However, Dracula was not the only vampire novel to inspire directors and screenwriters. Although more distant from the novel by Bram Stoker, Carmilla, the short story by Sheridan Le Fanu inspired many classic vampires films. Carmilla put the sexual spin of lesbian vampirism on several popular vampire films in the 70’s, such as the Karnstein trilogy from Hammer Studios, as well as Blood and Roses, in 1960, Vampyres, in 1974, and The Vampire Lovers, in 1970, to name a few. The 1948 film with Abbot and Costello transformed many Dracula or vampire theme films into comedies. Sexuality has been drawn into the vampire genre of films from all orientations, and in both male and female roles. There are a few but still a strong flow of vampire films left that stick true to Max Shreck’s first portrayal of the disturbing, and monstrous Count Orlok in Nosferatu.

Vampires » carmilla

Vampires: Girls vs. Boys

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The First: Der Vampire

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Vampire Films

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