Regardless of how folklore portrayed them, in our imaginations the vampire radiates sex appeal. With certain exceptions to be sure. Yet by and large we see a sexual, erotic element to the seduction of a victim, the clandestine visit to his or her bedroom, a beautiful creature with lust-filled eyes placing their mouth upon someone’s…
Tag: nosferatu
Watch Orlok the Vampire in 3D
Nosferatu, the 1922 classic silent film starring Max Schreck, photographed by Fritz Arno Wagner, and directed by F. W. Murnau, is known as one of the greatest vampire films in history. Unofficially based on the novel Dracula, the film almost never came to light due to a heated legal battle with Bram Stoker’s widow, Florence.…
What if Vampires were real?
In the style of another online magazine, Cracked, I invite you to consider the implications of vampires if they actually existed! Wait! You may say. What kind of vampire are we talking about here? A valid point! For purposes of this discussion we shall use the most classic image of the vampire from our popular…
Raptors
Stories about the undead grow in number every day. Most remain forgettable. Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing’s four part Raptors graphic novel turns out to be anything but. A few words about the artwork. Something about it feels European, and indeed such proves to be the case. What I read was an English translation, but the…
Things to Remember When Telling Vampire Stories
2011 nears its end, with 2012 to follow. Many the movie, novel, web comic and television series about the undead await us in the future–and if they deal with vampires let us offer a few gentle reminders. Past tellers have sometimes done marvelous examples of how to deal with the undead, examples that too often…
Dracula, Lord of the Damned
For some years now I’ve been aware of a startlingly original version of “Dracula” in production in Vancouver. The snippets that I saw, posted on YouTube, made my jaw go slack. One example that comes to mind was the image of Jonathan Harker arriving at Castle Dracula by ferryboat as if crossing the river Styx.…
7 Most Overrated Vampire Films
Lots of “Ten Best” lists for vampire films wait for the would-be reviewer or simple researcher on the web. Almost as common are “Ten Worst” lists. Plenty of debate then follows, about which title deserves its placing and so on. But this list goes after something different. Not best or worst anything. Rather, which vampire…
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror
One of the most renowned vampire films ever made is that of Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, directed by F. W. Murnau released in 1922. The film is between 81-94 minutes long, depending on the version you get, and is a silent, black and white film with titles and symphonic accompaniment. The film is appropriately…
Vampires – An Avatar of Sin
When vampires first drifted, shadow-like, into popular literature in the early 1800s, this denizen of ancient folklore became an incarnation of the Nightmare Stranger–the alien ‘other’ who presented a threat to civilization itself. It was death reaching out to infect the living. The foreigner who defiled virtuous women. A pagan invader thriving where the light…
Vampire Studies
Vampire Studies: Bold New Future? This is an update to the August 3, 2010 post, ‘University Offers Course in Vampiric Literature‘. If you believe education is the future, you’re going to love this. As previously mentioned, the University of Hertfordshire in the UK has decided to offer courses in Vampiric Studies. But now, the course…