Vampires » dracula

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.

10 Deliciously Evil Vampire Villains

Moonlight — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:00:15 +0000

Today’s post is filled with all kinds of bloodthirsty, cruel and evil vampire villains from books, films and television. Enjoy my sweets…

1. Akasha
The vampire queen from The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. What makes this vamp villainess? The fact that when she awoke not only did she destroy most of the vampires in the world but had also planned to destroy 90% of the world’s men, keeping only a small number of men for breeding.

“We shall live even in this state of living death, we shall love, we shall feel, we shall defy all who would judge and destroy us.”

2. Damon Salvatore
The vampire hottie from the books and CW show The Vampire Diaries. If you have watched the show you know that Damon is packed full of evil and makes Stefan’s life pure hell. It appears that no one but Elena is safe around him for he just can’t seem to stop brutally torturing and killing people.

Damon: “What’s so special about this Bella girl? Edward’s so whipped!”
Caroline: “You’ve gotta read the first book first. It won’t make sense if you don’t.”
Damon: “I miss Anne Rice. She was so on it.”

3. David
David aka Kiefer Sutherland from the movie The Lost Boys. He was the frightening leader of the gang of vampires, causing all sorts of mischief and mayhem, giving Michael and the Frog brothers a tough ride.

“Maggots, Michael. You’re eating maggots. How do they taste?”

4. Dracula
Do I even need to give this legendary vampire an introduction? Big bad Dracula caused all sorts of chaos and pain in Bram Stoker’s novel. Killing off an entire ship’s crew, toying with Lucy and putting Mina under his wicked spell – this guy was one evil badass.

“It is the eve of St. George’s Day. Do you not know that tonight, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full sway?”

5. Drusilla
The totally insane, yet hilarious psychic vampire from the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Dru was one of my faves on the show, sure she was evil and killed mercilessly but she was highly entertaining while doing so.

Dru: “I’m naming all the stars.”
Spike: “You can’t see the stars, love. That’s the ceiling. Also, it’s day.”
Dru: “I can see them. But I’ve named them all the same thing, and there’s terrible confusion…”

6. James
The major antagonist in Stephanie Meyer’s famed novel, Twilight. This cruel vampire was an excellent tracker and enjoyed hunting humans down for nothing more than sport. He lures Bella away from safety in attempt to kill her.

“It was all for him, of course. You’re simply a human, who unfortunately was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and indisputably running with the wrong crowd, I might add.”

7. Lucien Lacroix
This evil vampire comes from the show Forever Knight. Lucien, once a Roman general, is the cruel, yet practical vampire that sired Nick and therefore wont leave Nick alone, which causes all kinds of problems.

“Les mortels meurent. Qu’importe la façon?”
["Mortals die. Does it really matter how or when?"]

8. Sidorio
This malevolent vampire is from the Vampirates series by Justin Somper. This vamp has an insatiable appetite for blood and feeds whenever and on whoever he chooses.

“We’re not civilized. We’re vampires…”

9. Jan Valek
The master vampire from John Carpenter’s Vampires. Valek is the big bad vampire in this film, killing off the slayers and causing all sorts of hell throughout the whole movie.

“For 600 years I have fed on your kind at will.“

10. Viktor
The first believed good guy gone bad from the hit movie Underworld. Victor destroyed countless lives, subjected the lycans to slavery and lied to Selene her whole life – he’s one bad bad vampire.

“Your incompetence is becoming most… taxing.”

- Moonlight

The Four Best Vampire Animes

annimi — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:48:24 +0000

Hellsing – Hellsing actually follows Dracula, –er, Alucard, and a descendant of the original van Helsing, who formed the Hellsing Organization, which kills and controls the vampire population. How? Well, because the latest in the Hellsing line is a hardcore, cold female who keeps Alucard on a short leash, and turns him out as an agent to kill his own kind. Alucard doesn’t seem to mind, and he does a damn good job. There are two animes, and a manga; the manga came first, detailed, original, stylish, then the first anime. Sadly, the first anime sort of sucks; the animation is herky jerky, and sources say, doesn’t really follow the manga very closely at all. Though it has a damn catchy theme song. Hellsing Ultimate is a shorter series, with better quality animation, that sticks to the manga story throughout.

Vampire Hunter D – D for Dhampir, he follows and hunts vampires, some classical some not. Think of it as a gothic vampire Western, that just happens to be anime, and you’ll have arrived at the general style. There are two films, 1985, 2000, a video game, a comics series, and an audio drama! Hunt down both movies and check them out, if you’re in the mood for some dhampir-on-vampire crime fighting madness.

Trinity Blood – A totally confusing anime that every seems to love, –also featured on Adult Swim for a short period before its cancellation. The story involves vampires, aliens, earthlings, and Catholicism, –as well as the Vatican playing a major military role, in the future. It’s science fiction gone to extremes, and if you can follow it, you have my lifelong admiration. As for me, I’ll happily settle back with something a bit more one-dimensional any day.

Vampire Knight – If you’ve got the usual hard-on for anime schoolgirls in pleated skirts, –you know you do, don’t lie, –and just happen to have a dash of vampire fandom sprinkled in with the rest of your secret anime obsession, then you’ll love Vampire Knight. It takes place in academy surroundings, where minimal school uniforms and anatomically anime girls abound. There’s action, romance, moody vampires, and vampire hunters; more than enough to fulfill your vampire anime romance fantasies for years. Plus, there’s manga, fanfic, audio drama, short novels, and even a video game!

Dead Sucks & Other Upcoming Vampire Films of 2010

annimi — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:15:43 +0000

Dead Sucks – Dead Sucks is all about Burt the Vampire; he’s suicidal, sunburns easily, and… apparently he’s narcoleptic? At least, that’s what I surmised from the trailer. Dead Sucks looks absolutely hilarious; it’s actually a short fraction of a TV show pilot. So hopefully the guys can drum up enough support, and cash, to turn Dead Sucks into either a film, or a show. If you’re interested in co-producing, or investing in the film, you should send an email to the director: elias @ biffjuggernaut.com.

Dracula: The Undead – Dacre Stoker, a direct descendant of Bram Stoker, and Ian Holt brought us the sequel to Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Dracula, the Undead. The synopsis of the book doesn’t look half bad, though I doubt the writing will have the same early modern English flourish as did its predecessor. But we’re not talking about a book here; we’re talking about a movie! Despite the listings you’ll see on the Internet about this film coming out some time in 2010, I wouldn’t hold my breath for this year just yet. In September, Dacre and Ian claimed to be negotiating with major studios about the film, and told us to expect big news about the movie within the month. Well, September came and went, as did October, and we’ve still yet to hear any definitive news on the project. We’ll keep you posted.

Lost Boys 3 – The only thing scarier than a bunch of Joel Schumaker fans is a bunch of Joel Schumaker fans that make sequels! A great movie, turned into a franchise, –well, that’s the way of things, isn’t it? This movie is supposed to focus mainly on Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander’s return as the Frog brothers. Edgar and Alan Frog are back to kick some vampire ass; unless Alan Frog is still a vampire? Wasn’t he a vampire in Lost Boys 2? Wait, –what the hell is this movie supposed to be about? How many vampires are in Santa Carla anyway? Somebody call Buffy!

The Vampires of Bloody Island – This movie looks like it took about $200 to make. The difference is, it isn’t micro-budget American horror, it’s micro-budget English horror, –and it’s comedy, so it’s bound to be hilarious. With any luck at all it will be available by the end of this year. “In a crumbling castle clinging to the cliffs of an isolated Cornish island, the vampire Countess Morticia de’Ath (Pamela Kempthorne) is concocting a sinister plan. Standing in her way are two bickering office workers and an enigmatic, vampire-hunting window cleaner, desperately fighting to stop the spread of Morticia’s terrifying vampire army.” Watch the trailer, and enter to win a DVD!

The Best Rated Vampire Movies

Moonlight — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:00:23 +0000

Rottentomatoes.com recently came out with their list of Top 25 Best Reviewed Vampire Movies. Instead of going through the entire list, here is their top ten best rated movies (click the link above to see the entire list). Check out the list and let us know what you think of it.

10. Thirst (2009)
Sang-hyun, a priest working for a hospital, volunteers for a secret vaccine development project intended to destroy a deadly virus. However, the virus eventually takes over the priest. He nearly dies, but makes a miraculous recovery by an accidental transfusion of vampire blood.

9. Vampyr (1931)
Young traveler Allan Grey arrives in a remote castle and starts seeing weird and unexplained things. Things come to a head when one of the daughters of the lord of the castle succumbs to anemia – or is it something more wicked?

8. Cronos (1994)
An old antique dealer, Jesus Gris, discovers a beautiful mechanized scarab. When opened, it stabs whomever is holding it, but the wound brings youthful vigor and a vampire’s need for blood. The device is relentlessly pursued by a dying tycoon, Dieter de la Guardia, whose nephew Angel, reluctant to see his uncle live a moment longer, must still do the old man’s bidding. Meanwhile, Gris’s desires endanger his own granddaughter, Aurora.

7. Horror of Dracula (1958)
Jonathan thought he had destroyed Dracula, but it turns out Dracula is back and he still wants Mina.

6. Fright Night (1985)
About Charlie Brewster who thinks that his next door neighbor is a vampire. His belief is strengthened when mysterious deaths of girls are reported. Charlie concludes that the monster must be destroyed. But since nobody believes his story he gets the help of Peter Vincent, the vampire killer from his favorite horror TV show, who doesn’t even believe vampires are real.

5. Near Dark (1987)
A mid-western farm boy meets a new girl, who then bites and turns him into a vampire. He then joins her group of vagabond traveling vampires. But things get shakey when they threaten the life of his family.

4. Dracula (1931)
The classic vampire movie featuring the legendary Bela Lugosi in the very first film adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The story of Dracula and his quest to make Jonathan Harker’s fiancé, Mina, his own.

3. Nosferatu: The Vampyre (1979)
A remake of the horror classic, Nosferatu.

2. Let the Right One In (2008)
The twisted tale about the vengeful 12-year old boy Oskar and the peculiar girl he meet, Eli. Eli turns out to be a vampire and their story is one of love and darkness.

1. Nosferatu (1922)
The classic silent film that’s based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The movie stars the legendary Max Schreck, whose face is known by all thanks to his roll as the creepy Count Orlok.

That’s Rotten Tomatoes’s top 10 best rated vampire movies. Keep in mind that this is their list of best reviewed movies, based on their own system, it’s most likely not what a lot of us would consider the best vampire movies of all time.

- Moonlight

Five Vriggin’ Vild Vampire Comics

annimi — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:00:37 +0000

Vampirella, 1969 – So, you’re a hot alien vampire chick from planet Draculon, why not wear a red thong suit that fits like a surgical glove, thigh high boots, and go hunt the evil kind of vampires? Forrest J. Ackerman thought this was a great idea, and then created Vampirella, who started out as a horror host, but went on to become hero of her own story. And on, and on, and on, –her first appearance was in 1969, in Warren Publishing, till 1983. Then she was snapped up by Harris Publishing in 1991, where she lives on today. She also inspired the spin-off manga character Vampi, who thank god, appears to be much more short-lived.

Tomb of Dracula, 1972 – Tomb existed in the Marvel universe from ‘72, to ‘79, and featured probably the most notorious big bad of the known world, –Dracula! The vampire hunting team constantly battles Dracula, who in turn, fights other occasional guest stars, like Jack Russel from Werewolf by Night, Blade, Spider-Man, the X-Men, and even Solomon Kane (who doesn’t really even count as a Marvel character!). Once in a while, Dracula and the vampire hunters team up to fight a common threat, but mostly of the time, he prefers to maintain his supervillain status.

I…Vampire, 1981 – I… Vampire was part of the horror comic anthology House of Mystery, which is one of those comic books that just won’t die! It was recently revitalized in May ‘08, and is still being published today. I… Vampire appeared in 24 issues, from ‘81 to ‘83, and revolved around the depressed, flamboyantly depicted blood-aholic vampire Lord Andrew Bennett, just under 400 years old. Bennett turned his lover, Mary Seward into a vampire, and Mary created a group of vampires, then they all ran off to take over the world. Bennett refuses to kill for blood and instead drinks it from bottles. He’s also suicidal; charming guy, no? The story follows him through bouts of depression, suicide attempts, and battles with his ex, now supervillain.

Cassidy in Preacher, 1995 – Cassidy is the best friend, sometimes foe, of Jesse Custer, the hero and the Preacher. Jesse has the power of the ‘Word of God’, a command that forces other to obey, as a results of being possessed by an angel/demon named Genesis. Cassidy gets involved in a love triangle with Tulip; Tulip in love with the oblivious Custer, Cassidy in love with Tulip. Cassidy has various substance abuse issues, though he doesn’t kill for blood, –he doesn’t even have to have human blood, and instead, prefers booze. I wouldn’t recommend the comic to anyone unless you’re in the mood for some seriously depressing stuff.

30 Days of Night, 2002 – Wanna hear something funny? Before 30 Days of Night was a movie, it was a comic book miniseries, that was actually inspired by a failed attempt at a 30 Days of Night movie. Apparently, your comic book has to succeed before your movie can; Hollywood is truly a bloodthirsty little city, no? The original series was only three issues long, however, there are a ton of sequels, and returns to the original series. Dark Days is the sequel in which Stella strikes a deal with some vampires from L.A. in order to bring her husband back, –the sheriff who saved the town by infecting himself with the vampire “disease.”

Bram Stoker’s Descendant Writes Sequel

Moonlight — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:00:37 +0000

Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula forever changed the world of vampires. This book has survived generation after generation and has become one of the most influential and well known novels ever written. There has been countless movie adaptations of Dracula and even more books based on it. But has there ever been a real and genuine sequel to the timeless novel? According to Dacre Stoker, a direct descendant of the legendary Bram Stoker, there hasn’t until now. Dacre Stoker and historian Ian Holt have written what they consider the only real sequel to the original Dracula, titled Dracula The Un-Dead.

Dracula The Un-Dead is a bloodcurdling sequel based on, Dacre Stocker’s great grand uncle Bram Stoker’s own handwritten notes from the original book (which are located in Rosenbach museum in Philadelphia) . Dracula The Un-Dead begins in 1912, twenty-five years after Dracula was destroyed. Van Helsing’s protégé, Dr. Jack Seward, is now a shamed morphine addict obsessed with eradicating evil across Europe. Meanwhile, an unknowing Quincey Harker, the grown son of Jonathan and Mina, leaves law school for the London stage, only to stumble upon the disturbed production of “Dracula,” directed and produced by Bram Stoker himself.

Dacre Stoker said he got support from the rest of the family to write the sequel by agreeing to put Bram into the story. “I said to family, give me a chance to do this and I’ll put Bram into the story so all of us Stokers can speak to the world about what Bram was like as a real person,” he said.

Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt plan to have Dracula The Un-Dead made into a movie as well.

So far the reviews on this sequel are very mixed. Have you read it? If so what did you think, is it worth picking up or should we stay away?

Check out the book’s trailer…

Click here to view the embedded video.

- Moonlight

Renfield Syndrome

annimi — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:05:49 +0000

The official status of clinical vampirism, otherwise called Renfield Syndrome, is currently popularized, though rarely emulated by criminals. Unfortunately, because of its rare appearance in society, it doesn’t actually appear in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The current version, the DSM-IV is a list of all mental disorders, that includes the criteria necessary for diagnosis; in other words, Renfield Syndrome aka clinical vampirism, is not recognized as an official illness, despite the active term being applied to occasional cases of psychiatric interest. The cases the term is applied to are usual those of serial killers and violent criminals who drink their victims’ blood. However, there are psychiatric references made to the disease.

For example, you may find the works of Richard Noll especially intriguing; he coined the term Renfield Syndrome, and discusses it in his book, Bizarre Diseases of the Mind. Noll named the disease after Dracula’s deranged victim, Dr. Renfield, who spent his time in the story locked within a prison-like mental facility, eating insects because he craved their life force. Noll claims that males are most often affected by the disease, and that it runs in stages. The first stage is an event in the male’s life before puberty, in which he is sexually excited by a bloody injury, or ingestion of the blood. The second stage is sexual fantasies about drinking blood during puberty, which eventually becomes auto-vampirism, –drinking one’s own blood. Inevitably, the individual suffering from Renfield Syndrome is tempted to try this on animals, which leads to drinking the blood of human beings.

There are only a few case files with which to study, making the disease rare, and hard to investigate, in terms of psychological interest. The book also touched on other extremely rare personality disorders, such as possession, and split- or multiple personalities, disease that modern psychiatry knows very little about. The sad fact is that for Renfield Syndrome to be more identifiable, and more easily diagnosed, there would have to be more cases of the illness to study. The more disturbing question lies in the modern vampire community; are these people suffering from a mental illness, or are they simply following a lifestyle that makes them happy? This editor plans to bring back a favorite interview subject; the vampire Merticus, to answer that question, and discover how the modern vampire community feels about the disease.

Mmm Mmm Blood

Moonlight — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:00:36 +0000

I’m going to start this post with one of my all time favorite vampires quotes…

“Everyone knows the phenomenon of trying to hold your breath underwater – how at first it’s alright and you can handle it, and then as it gets closer and closer to the time when you must breathe, how urgent the need becomes, the lust and the hunger to breathe. And then the panic sets in when you begin to think that you won’t be able to breathe – and finally, when you take in air and the anxiety subsides…that’s what it’s like to be a vampire and need blood.”
- Francis Ford Coppola’s journal in “BS Dracula: The Film and the Legend”

If you haven’t guessed it already, today’s post is about blood. Blood is something almost all vampire species have in common, the drinking of it that is. Blood has always been thought to hold supernatural powers, seeing as it’s the keeper of life. Some believed that to drink blood of animals or people would cause one to gain that animal/person’s strengths. To lose blood is to lose vigor, essence and strength… and life. But to receive it through transfusions or drinking brings power, healing and immortality – or so they once believed (some still do but that‘s a whole other topic). So it makes sense that vampires main food source is blood – it’s life.

A vampire’s need for blood has been shown in damn near every myth and every work of fiction. Like in Dracula, Count Dracula starts out as a weak old man but as the story goes on he becomes younger and younger, all due to the blood of the living. In some books vamps don’t need to drink blood everyday, the older and stronger ones only need to feed occasionally or not at all, like in Anne Rice’s novels. In other books if a vampire doesn’t drink blood they become a disgusting immobile mummy-like husk. You also have vamps that don’t just feed on blood alone, but other bodily fluids as well (the Pishtaco).

But how does blood make a vampire function? How do they get power from it? How much must they drink and for how long? How does blood convert to power for a vampire? And on and on and on… a million questions, none of which I can answer. Many have tried to but have failed, I mean, there are countless theories, but they are just that, a theory. The thought is that vampires are a bridge between the physical and spiritual world, life and death and immortality; they can’t be clearly explained and put into a nice neat box. What we do know is that nearly every vampire needs blood to survive, that is one universal idea.

- Moonlight

Vampires vs. Mirrors

Moonlight — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:00:29 +0000

Heya readers, today’s post is about those smooth shiny things known as… mirrors. Woo! Vampires and mirrors, every one of us knows that the classic stereotypical vampires absolutely can’t stand mirrors because, you know, the whole no reflection thing they have going. But why do they hate mirrors so much? Where did this whole idea come about?

Cue Bram Stoker. This dislike for mirrors mostly stems from fiction, specifically Stoker’s renowned Dracula. In the book Bram Stoker has Dracula react violently to seeing Jonathan Harker’s shaving mirror (he flings it out a window). He knows that he casts no reflection and obviously he doesn’t want to cause anyone to have a spaz-attack when they see that… or rather, don‘t see it. When it comes to the folklore part of this myth, the reason for the mirror-phobia has to do with the idea that mirrors reflect souls and evil beings have no souls, therefore no reflection. So it’s sort of like the vamps in Buffy but not exactly (since Angel had a soul and still no reflection). There is also the old argument that blood suckers exist in two worlds, in the living and in the dead. But since it isn’t fully in either one it will not be seen in a mirror.

More fun mirror facts; Bulgarians turned the mirror toward the wall when a person died to prevent the death of another, in case the corpse was reflected. In Mecklenburg they thought when the corpse saw itself doubled it would grab someone to take with it. But mirrors can also be helpful to some. It was believed that mirrors could be used as a weapon against vampires. The mirror can be used to distract the vamp for a moment, giving the hunter plenty of time to get out a much deadlier weapon.

So this whole dislike for mirrors mostly has to do with the beloved Bram Stoker, but as I said it does have some meaning in folklore as well. So if you suspect someone is a vampire then mirror test just might not work for real.

- Moonlight

Vampires » dracula

Vampires: Girls vs. Boys

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10 Deliciously Evil Vampire Villains

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The Four Best Vampire Animes

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Dead Sucks & Other Upcoming Vampire Films of 2010

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The Best Rated Vampire Movies

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Five Vriggin’ Vild Vampire Comics

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Bram Stoker’s Descendant Writes Sequel

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Renfield Syndrome

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Mmm Mmm Blood

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Vampires vs. Mirrors

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