Vampire
Okay, so I saw the first two Twilight films and although corny and overtly angst-ridden, I didn’t hate them. But really, you’re messin’ with the whole vampire myth…
The other night, I saw the movie Mary Reilly. It’s a movie, based on the book, based on RLS’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I don’t like it when someone takes another author’s work and elaborates on it. My thinking is… HEY! RLS didn’t write that! How dare you muck with someone else’s stuff! Needless to say, I can’t get behind Wicked.
Anyhoo… Twilight messes with vampire myth like Mary Reilly messes with Dr. Jekyll & … Hyde.
A few months ago, I was gently ribbing a guest at Target about her buying the Twilight books and commented that Bram Stoker would be turning in his grave if he knew. Then she put an employee discount card on the counter – she turned out to be the wife of the District Manager. Yipe!
(Thankfully, she took the jesting in good part…)
As for Wicked, I plan to read it – I bought book 2 (Son of a Witch) from Goodwill, but I’ve kept forgetting to look for the first… *facepalm* I was too busy keeping an eye out for Harry Potter 7 for my friend…
Personal favorite? An old italian black and white version of dracula, where all of the actors are clearly stage actors. Such copious use of bulging eyeballs and fast-foreward the horses to make them ‘gallop’.
The Twilight movies were as good as they could be given the source material. The books…terrible writing, abuse of purple prose, and glorification of abuse do not a great romance make.
Have you read Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter yet? It’s by the same guy who wrote Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, and it’s in the form of an historical biography. Totally deadpan, and (I assume) WAY better than the Twilight series.
A few years ago there was a movie called Shadow Of the Vampire, which was based on the notion that Max Schreck, who played the vampire in Nosferatu, was an actual vampire. It took this great premise and then did absolutely nothing interesting with it. What a waste.
There’s an excellent trailer by the publishers of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I saw it a few months ago, and I want to get a hold of the book!
Twilight sucks…that is all
I finally succumbed to reading Wicked. I was woefully unimpressed, yea even close to being put out. What I thought was promoted as “outrageously funny”, I found to be abysmally depressing. I guess I just don’t “get” that kind of dark humor.
It’s nearly impossible to do Jekyll and Hyde true to RLS since it is the victim the ultimate spoiler. The novel is written as a mystery investigating the hold the Hyde has over Jekyll; that they are the same person is the “shock” ending.
Personally I’ve aviode Twilight, and plan to continue doing so. Some how I just can’t handle the idea of emo vamps.
I think that there is a difference with vampires though, because all sorts of different vampire legends have existed throughout the world for many centuries, so it’s not like taking a specific persons work and altering it or stealing it. It’s free for everyone to use and change.
Plus, you could argue that while they are both called vampires, they are essentially different beings or opposite versions of the same thing (I’m talking about as though they actually exist; well maybe they do, “ooh” *spooky music*)
The sparkly thing is a bit dumb though.
I’m also reading “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” at the moment and it is just the thing to entice me into Jane Austen.
A very belated Amen to this :)! I’m a fan of The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice(the first five, after that things get really weird). I can deal with my vampires shopping at Brooks Brothers as long as they still bite people and have long conversations with the Devil.
My wife – who is an avid vampire fan and holds a Masters Degree in English Literature (Mythology) – and I saw and enjoyed Let Me In back in the beginning of Ocotber. Based on the Swedish move/novel, Let The Right One In, it was true vampiric myth, following the majority of the tropes. It was also not at any time a “cute” movie. Brutal, with a plot as icy cold as the vampire herself, the story touched some uncomfortable areas on survival and adapting.
As for Twilight… my favorite T-shirt, which I wear to most cons I’m a guest at, says simply, “Then Buffy Staked Edward. The End.”
Yes, I see that you all have very strong opinions on the Vampires… I like this about you all, my Squiddies…
UWG: I must say that I am a bit biased on the Shadow Of The Vampire because it had Eddie Izzard in it (in too little of a role)… I liked most of the film… hated the ending… and thought that, like you, it could have been done a bit better.
Pete: Yes… that is a great shirt!
Abe Lincoln: Vamp hunter… I will have to check in on that… I remember hearing about it… whoosh, off I go!