Let's talk about Vampires

Last night J and I saw “30 Days of Night” and it was chilly, windy, gray and drizzling the entire day thus equating perfect October scary movie weather. The movie itself is based on a graphic novel (he’s read it, I can’t say the same) and I didn’t let him tell me anything about the plot so I went in pretty blind in terms of what to expect.

Whenever I see vampire movies I can say with conviction that a good majority of them tend to portray the bloodthirsty creatures in a similar light. Take “Interview with a Vampire” for instance. Tom Cruise as Lestat is a romantic creature that is cultured, dotes on lavish material goods, and woos female victims with intimate sexuality and hypnotism until suddenly he turns on them and the naïve beauties are overcome. Brad Pitt’s character in the movie, Louis, refuses to dine on humans, and is humanized through his devotion to a child vampire and his emotional desire to disengage himself from the role of human blood drainer. Although different, both characters rely on both feeling and reason, the need to blend into human society yet overtake it, and the romanticized way to lustfully feed and fulfill their primal animal instincts simultaneously.

This movie, however, depicted the dark creatures as feral mindless animals that stalked victims from the inky black shadows like stealthy panthers, eyes unwavering, until they pounced on their prey and tore them to visceral shreds. The image of the vampire as a cultured, sophisticated, human-like entity that walks among us undetected was banished in this movie. These vampires hunted from the shadows, pounced and tore into their victim’s throats, scratched like cats, tore heads from bodies, and severed limbs at will.

Also forget the traditional ways of fighting off these demons – this breed of terror could only be killed by decapitation, and oftentimes required more than one hack of an axe to do the job. These creatures reminded me of a cross between werewolves and zombies, and watching them stalk around on screen wasn’t scary so to speak, but gruesomely entertaining. The head vamp even did something to a human head that I don’t think I’ve ever seen done in a movie – stepped on it and literally smashed it like a pumpkin. How utterly morbid is that?

I won’t give away the story or ending, but I did enjoy the movie. Plus the cinematography was well done, namely the coloring of the film. I admittedly love any sort of horror movie, and any excuse to see one is good in my book. If you have a love for the undead, and are curious to see vampires breaking stereotypes and running amuck, check out “30 Days of Night.”

Next up: SAW IV on Friday. I’m just hitting up the Halloween movie buffet, one gory tale at a time.