The Moth Diaries

Back in 2002, a freshman author named Rachel Klein wowed many vampire fans with her debut novel “The Moth Diaries.” At heart it consists of a diary, one kept by a girl in a private school and persuaded by her therapist to share. One question that recurs throughout is whether the narrator is right about her schoolmate being one of the undead–or is she maybe delusional? Currently in post production is a film adaptation of the story. The official synopsis reads thus:

“Rebecca (Sarah Bolger, aka Mary Tudor on “The Tudors”) , a young girl haunted by her father’s suicide, begins her junior year at an elite girls boarding school, hoping for a fresh start. From the outset, her friendship with sunny, innocent Lucy (Sarah Gadon, “The Murdoch Mysteries” and “Happy Town”) is shattered by the arrival of Ernessa (Lilly Cole, the Siren on “Doctor Who”), a mysterious, dark and beautiful girl from Europe. As Ernessa consumes more and more of Lucy’s attention, the latter’s healthy young body grows pale, thin and weak – as if being drained of life itself.

Her friendship with Lucy slipping away, Rebecca develops a crush on her handsome English professor, Mr. Davies (Scott Speedman, of “Underworld” fame), who is teaching a course on supernatural literature. Obsessed with “Carmilla”, the vampire story that inspired Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, she grows increasingly suspicious of Ernessa’s odd behavior and Lucy’s wasting illness, and when mysterious deaths shock the school, becomes convinced that Ernessa is a vampire. Rebecca finds herself isolated when the other girls dismiss her suspicions as mere jealousy and Mr. Davies betrays her trust. As Lucy’s inexplicable illness turns deadly, Rebecca is left alone to battle with Ernessa for the life of her friend.”

Directing the film as well as having written the screenplay is Mary Herron, whose credit include “American Psycho,” “I Shot Andy Warhol” and “The Notorious Betty Page.” In an interview she said of the project “This is a chillingly atmospheric horror story with real emotional depth. I’ve tried to stay true to Rachel Klein’s novel in the way it re-works and updates the Gothic tradition and the whole notion of girl-on-girl vampires.” Art Director Camille Parent is no stranger to the undead, having worked on the t.v. series “Vampire High” while special effects supervisor Ryal Cosgrove is also responsible for “An American Haunting” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” A Canadian-Irish co-production, principle photography was completed in and around Montreal.

While the last few years has seen several major motion pictures try to ride the wave of popularity that vampires enjoy right now–most noticeably “Twilight” and “Daybreakers”–a more independently minded group of films has also been in production. “Let Me In” certainly counts as one such, as does the upcoming “Styria” (based on Joseph Sheridan’s Le Fanu’s novel “Carmilla). Now “The Moth Diaries” looks to follow that part of the trend.

More information will be shared as it becomes available!

By david

David MacDowell Blue blogs at Night Tinted Glasses.  He graduated from the National Shakespeare Conservatory and is the author of The Annotated Carmilla. and Your Vampire Story (And How to Write It) as well as a theatrical adaptation of Carmilla.

4 comments

  1. I LOVE Sarah Bolger, she was one of my favorite actresses in The Tudors, her performance was fantastic. I’d love seeing her in a vampire film.

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