Are Vampires Still Scary?
I had a nice, long chat with a good friend of mine in L.A. over the weekend and during the course of the conversation, she asked if I'd seen 30 Days Of Night, which she'd figured I would, me being a horror guy and all.
"No, and I'm not really sure I'm going to either", was my response. When she asked "Why not?", all I could say was the truth: Vampires aren't scary anymore.
I suppose if I actually met a real vampire then that might be scary, but vampires in movies and TV? Nope, they don't do it for me. I used to think vampires were real badass and that the idea of living forever and having to kill to live was fascinating, but over time I've come to get real bored whenever I see vampires on screen. Some of it is overexposure (in the last decade alone we've had Buffy, Blade, Underworld, and countless low-budget indie and amateur flicks) and it's also a lack of inspiration; if you ask me, the vampire well is dry.
It's not that I don't like any vampire movies; Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter is my favorite Hammer film of all time and many of the screen versions of Bram Stoker's Dracula hold my interest pretty well because it's a solid story. But how many vampires, vampire victims and vampire hunters can a person watch before getting bored by the enterprise? I was looking at some of the vampire stills from 30 Days of Night and thought to myself, this isn't doing it for me. Vampires with their teeth sticking out and their mouths covered in blood have become such a cliche that any power they once had for me is gone. Sad but true.
I understand that most vampire stories are often an opportunity to explore themes of mortality, morality, sexuality, addiction, even politics, but even within that framework has anything new been done? What was the last fresh and original vampire movie? I seriously can't remember. Vampires can be haunting and tragic, as evidenced by Interview With the Vampire, Nosferatu or Dracula, and vampire movies can still be fun, such as From Dusk Til Dawn, Fright Night and John Carpenter's Vampires, but that's not the same. Vampires, as a concept, are done for. Or am I wrong? Let's put it to a poll:
The vampires in 30 Days of Night aren't your grandad's vampires anymore... they're badass and evil and pretty freaky. They don't have slicked back hair and a cape and say "I want to suck your blood" and then put 2 little holes in the victim's neck. They go after necks like Oprah at a buffet line and spray blood and tear throats.
Aaah! Vampire dogs! that is SO CUTE.
I have to agree with you, Matthew. Vampires have really become kind of a cliche. Go to a bookstore or library's romance section, and 8 out of 10 books will have a vampire theme. Lame romance novels and tv shows like 'Moonlight' have really glorified them and turned them into romantic heroes and objects of lust. Sure, even since Bram Stoker's time vampires have been sexy, but where's the horror? None of that stuff is scary anymore. You have to revisit the old films and books to get any sense of macabre or even atmosphere at all. HUGE thanks for mentioning 'Captain Kronos'--now THAT is a great vampire movie, as is 'Nosferatu', which I still find scary, as well as Lugosi's and Lee's Draculas.
As you said those old films/books knew how to tell a story and bring out the underlying themes while still maintaining an awareness of the inherent horror at the surface. Nothing in the past couple of years has even come close, and I have to say I agree with you, Matthew: though 30DoN might end up being a fun gore-fest with easy scares (I don't know; I haven't seen it yet), and though the graphic novel is most definitely great, it's most certainly not going to reinvent the vampire genre. I have to agree and say that, pending some earth-shatteringly fantastic new novel or movie yet to be written, for now, the vampire is "dead".
Though I am looking forward to 'I Am Legend', but they were kind of not really vampires, were they?
Vampires have never really done it for me. I have always thought they were kinda lame. I love all the mythology of Vampires, especially when it's exploited like From Dusk Till Dawn. I also think Dr. Van Helsing is one of the best all time horror heros. But I've never really been into Vampire flicks in general.
I have a theory that all the classic monsters are gradually melding together, and that soon vampires, werewolfs, and zombies will be one in the same. Modern films have such relaxed standards on mythology that any monster can have any power, and can be killed in anyway depending on the moment. So 30 Days seems more like 28 Days later than Dracula, and I will most likely see it.
Short and sweet - no, vampires are not scary anymore. But I would encourage you to see 30 Days of Night anyway, because it's the first vampire film in ages to actually give me a jolt here and there. It was intense throughout and just an all-around great film.