The oneiric kiss.
Of all the creatures still stalking our screens and pages, inherited from the rich, European canon of myths, it is the Undead that reign. Zombies; vampires; more recently Frankenstein (that glorious Prince of the Id – the Werewolf – doesn’t count coz the bugger never died…) But it is the Vampire which deathlessly seduces.
While we find zombies, with their implicit symbolism of consumerism – stumbling, mindless, dispassionate hunger – morbidly fascinating, the vampire – condensing from a moist mist in the maiden’s dreams to hover above her bed; insinuating itself into the boudoir through the frosted window, by invitation – is inescapably romantic. Or was, until the teens took over. Here are three celluloid frames that retain the occult intrigue, dark eroticism, and cosmetic flair of the caped ones…
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Francis Ford Coppola – 1992)
The definitive American version of Stoker’s gothic classic. Hovering over the bared, inviting neck of kitsch, it positively oozes with crimson and candles and darkness and bosoms and swooning blood.Coppola ingeniously recasts the brooding, claustrophobic horror of the 19th century novel as darkly simmering romance. “I have crossed oceans of time to find you,” Gary Oldman’s fanged seducer informs the on-the-brink-of-fainting Lucy.
The film belongs to Oldman, who brings a most unlikely sensuality and most improbable erotic intensity to the table, metamorphing from blood-drenched warlord to ancient, eerie mancreature; to werewolf; to chic, Transylvanian womanizer.
Tom Waits shines in an appropriately eccentric cameo, while the deliciously delicious Monica Belucci heads a bevy of orally fixated vamps. Basically, it’s the shit.
Let the right one in (Thomas Alfredson – 2008)
A modest masterpiece exploring the myth from a fascinating, counter-traditional angle. The film focuses on the powerful friendship which develops between two 12 year olds – one a bullied, troubled school kid; the other a girl vampire who’s been twelve since forever.
Set in a small, Swedish town, the film’s dark frames are steeped in crisply white snow – the narrative unfolding in a kind of dreamy haze; crisp yet blurred; grimly contemporary yet retaining a fairytale quality.
Oskar is a gentle, almost feeble adolescent, who channels his frustration at being the sole target of a trio of school-bullies through violent fantasies of revenge, collecting newspaper clippings of violent crimes and murderers, which he keeps in a secret book. Into the sleepy, winter-trapped town of his life enters Eli, a young girl cautious of people yet aware of her incongruous power. Their opposite natures coalesce around their mutual, self-ordained solitude, and a tentative bond deepens into something beautiful and freeing. The film’s tone is cynically human: Pedophilia, violent abuse, parental depression – dark aspects of many children’s lives – are acknowledged, with the character of Eli bringing ironic redemption.
Great effects; endearing characters; and a contrapuntally hopeful score, conspire to make this one of the most touching films of recent years.
Shadow of the Vampire (E. Merhige – 2000)
Quirky, staged account of the filming of the Vampire genre’s silent classic, 1923′s Nosferatu. An abiding cult favourite, the original became the stuff of legend, central to which being the true nature of chillingly convincing actor Max Schreck, who portrayed cinema’s most atypical, physically repellent vampire. So bizarre, in fact, was Schreck’s performance, and his vampire’s twitchy physicality, that people became convinced it was too weird to be fiction.
In the post-modern take, Willem Dafoe – he of the erotically macabre mouth – climbs into Nosferatu’s skin. The film explores what could have been had the rumours been true – that Nosferatu’s director had coaxed an actual, dying vampire to appear in his film. Needless to say, crew members begin mysteriously disappearing, and rumours spread, leading to a situation of mutiny, the director too blinded by hopes of cinematic glory to admit that he might have made a deal with the wrong devil…
Intriguing, and truly creepy.
Written By : Mickdotcom
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