Hollywood's Vampire Obsession

Autopsy

Autopsy

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It's kind of interesting that back a couple of years ago, discussing vampires in the open would be rewarded with an awkward stare from someone passing by, or at least, an immediate reference to Anne Rice.

Now, there's been a recent, pop culture drenched explosion of vampires recently. Much due to Stephanie Meyer's ever growing popularity of her Twilight series, including its releases of its opening movie, and the upcoming New Moon - it seems as if Hollywood and other industries are starting to adopt the blood sucking trend. I visited Barnes&Nobles a few days ago, and noticed that Twilight didn't only have its own section, but also inspired for the store to up a scatter plot of tables with other literature that had the 'vampire' theme evident in them. Not to mention that the CW network's recently launched their bootleg - portrayal of 'The Vampire Diaries' as of a few weeks ago. I mean, at least True Blood had some originality.

Then about an hour ago, I saw a fun trailer for another upcoming movie called, 'The Vampire's Assistant.' It got me thinking -- Alright, the Americans have basically hit the 'overly obsessed' notch at a radical speed. Don't even get me started on the social networking site newly inspired by the "emo and scene" - generation; Vampirefreaks.com. Which of course, has earned another million new and fake profiles for obvious reasons.

Even though vampires have always been fashionable..in a sense, it's been a while since it's reached this multitude. Then again, once Breaking Dawn or Midnight Sun fades away after it's release in 2012 (oh ho) or sooner, I think that Hollywood will finally grow tired of this trend. I've even talked to a few original Twilight/Anne Rice lovers that were fans of each series before it's mad-dog popularity, and they've told me that all of the 'Team Jacob/Team Edward' t-shirts are ridiculously stupid. Hell, I wonder what a lot of girls are going to try to dress up as this year?

I think it'll be pretty difficult to find a perfect "Bella Swan" costume that doesn't result in her looking exactly as she had before she put it on. Give or take -- a need for a mask.


Do you -
Love the Vampire Obsession?
or Hate it?
 
I love and hate it at the same time.

Whilst it's something new to get my fangs into, it's kinda been hyped way too much. We do have the likes of Twilight, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries and others to contend with now, yet now I'm overly annoyed that they've all come out at the same time. >_>

There is Cirque de Freak coming as well.
 
You're not serious?
FFF. Well, if we're gonna hit the wall, we might as well go through it.

/tis what I always say.
 
I am serious. There was a trailer for it when I went to watch Dorian Gray the very night it was released in cinemas over here in the UK. It does look quite interesting, though, perhaps not like the others. But I wouldn't put that past it, though. I dunno what to think right now with all these vampire shows/films coming out. And what's even worse, they're all coming at once!

Seriously, can Hollywood do something else other than this and remakes such as Fame? Yes, that's something else I hate. Remakes. Now this is the reason why I should break into Hollywood, show them how to do the job properly. :wacky:
 
I don't hate it, I just don't care. I think the only people who really hate it are people who were fans of the Vampire 'genre' before Twilight or whatever became hugely popular and vampires became mainstream. They go on about how shit the guy from twilight is and how great the guy from interview with a vampire is. Who cares, they're both shit.
Personally I don't think Vampires should be in anything that's not a horror movie. Because they have no use other than inspiring fear.
 
While I'm not into vampire culture or media, I do understand people's fascination with vampires. While the original vampires were hideous, brutal, one-dimensional monsters, modern vampires are powerful, intelligent, and seductive. Couple that with vampires universally being outcasts, and it's not hard to see why it's become a teenage phenomenon. They aspire to have the great power and romance of the vampire that they lack in their own life, and they relate to feelings of being misunderstood and looked down upon. Furthermore, unlike superheroes who are usually profiteers of random, once-in-a-lifetime accidents, or born (also mutated) into "super" status, anyone can become a vampire.

I would watch a quality show or movie about vampires, just like I would watch a quality show or movie about anything. Vampires do fit into my aesthetic preferences for fiction more so than say war-themed fiction, but it's not at the top of my list. I definitely wouldn't watch crap media just cause I think vampires are cool.
 
I do like vampires a lot.. When done well they can be really entertaining on screen as villains or anti-heroes. Quite scary too.

However there is a lot of vampire crap out there too where I feel they try too hard to make them seem "cool" and fit in with popular culture. I'd much rather have the traditional Transylvanian vampires, or at least a vampie with a bad attitude / interesting background doing something interesting and inventive and having a kick-ass image.

I'm not a fan of vampires in hoodies. Or vampires just looking normal. It just doesn't suit how I'd come to think a vampire would look like. Vampires are best portrayed as vain, lustfull, thirsty creatures.. Or at least having a badass appearance if they had to develop it.

I haven't seen Twilight for the reason that I don't like the idea of a vampire that runs around during the day because he is suddenly feeling all sparkly. In all respects he looks like a normal bloke, and I'd rather not see that. I'd rather see something over the top and something strikingly vampiric and entertaining.

That's what got me with the Blade films as well. I enjoyed them a bit and stuff... But all the vampires that looked good in the comics, all the decent characters and stories... They removed them and placed the villains in a night club... They were pretty much all reduced to young clubbers. I felt like it could have been so much better if they had tried not to make it so real... They had a lot of hoody vampires in there too... I think a gang of them appeared in Blade 3.... Gah... They just don't strike me at all.

So yeah I guess vampires are probably being made more popular through Twilight to younger people for a bit... But vampires have been popular since movies first began. The early Dracula films for example captured the imaginations of many people back then and people grew to love vampires. They've constantly been used in films, and some people base their image on them. They're really popular creatures.

Twilight might be all the rage with some people now... Posters are everywhere and there are a lot of teenage girls running around quoting it and squeeling whenever someone mentions it... But vampires always have and always will be popular in film regardless of Twilight.

But close your eyes and think of vampires. What springs to mind? A scary man in a long black cloak or cape, sharp fangs, white face, perfectly trimmed / gelled hair? Or a bloke in a jumper gazing into the eyes of a girl in DAYLIGHT?! :ness:

I'm not dissing Twilight. Some people love it and are welcome to love it etc. I just don't want to see vampires continue to head down that road and losing everything about them that made them menacing. If the Twilight-vampires are the new image for vampires for this generation then vampires are doomed to become a lot more boring and the line will be smudged between vampire and human.
 
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When I worked at Borders we crossed merched so much stuff with Twilight it was crazy. Posters, keyrings, badges, magazines, cards and of course other vampire books. Its become such a mad overnight craze, even thought the book has been out for afew years.

I too love and hate it at the same time. It annoyed me how you would get 14 year old emo girls almost crying at the tills because Edward Cullen is so beautiful and they would let him drink their blood anyday! I so wanted to learn over and hit them. My grandmother loves Edward Cullen too, but she doesnt go crazy at the mention of him. Ive always been a fan of vampires and werewolves, but I never seen the romantic side of them. There has always been a paranormal romance market, its just Twilight has got it more into the open now.
 
A part of me was happy that vampires were getting recognition in certain media, but that feeling has long since passed. It's become a 'cool thing' now. I'm sure the emo's are eating this shit up. Emphasis on shit. Is there someone who sees the previews for 'The Vampires Assistant' and actually thinks that looks like a good movie?

Honestly, what ate me the most was reading Stephanie Meyer as an aspiring writer myself. Her writing is atrocious. I don't need to make any analogies to Twilight since everyone already has. I think I read on one forum someone making a mention of it. Something about how all the book is, is 'Edward. Is. Hot. I have just saved you hours of time and unavoidable pain in the future.' Maybe I combined a couple messages there, but they aren't far from the truth. It bugged the hell out of me that she isn't even a very good...no, I wouldn't even go so far as to call her a good writer. Mediocre sums it up. And its more popular than chocolate. I wonder how many of her editors committed seppuku?

Being a long time RPer and using vampires many, many times, I can come to one positive. At least Hollywood is playing vampires differently than they did in the past. I never liked the idea of vampires more as frightening monsters than 'uber humans', preying in the night and far more intelligent. It was the romantic dark side of the vampire thing that I liked more than them being monsters.

I liked how they were mostly human, except for their paranormal abilities and the whole, prowler of the night, biting thing. In my opinion, it keeps people open to the idea of them being terrifying while still relatable at the same time. What teenager hasn't felt like a vampire? Staying away from everybody else for the sake that both of you don't get hurt. However, with Twilight, they might have played that a little too close to the belt. Like with the whole daylight thing.

I'm speaking from a roleplaying standpoint though. I can understand. Its hard to stay with a group when your a vampire traveling during the day. Aren't I supposed to shrivel up? What do I do? Wander around with an umbrella all day?
 
God, i couldn't hate Twilight the movie more if Edward cullen was played by Zac efron! just an opening statement to get me going really.

well, i was a fan of the Vampire legacy as the Underworld and Underworld 2 movies kinda made the fight between Vampires and werewolves Epicly amazing (Ultra violet light releasing bullets FTW) but it has really gone downhill since then, Teenage vampires and falling in love with Human's. . . it's just unrea. It would be like a regular person falling in love with a Steak.

I mean for starters originally Vampires only ate Human's, not wanted to have sex with them. Vampires Never were Smoking hot Pritty Teenagers, they were always Ugly assed old men, with bad hair do's (reffering to Tom cruise playing Lestat De lioncourt in interview with a vampire) and I'm sorry, but this next one is fact. . . Vampires do NOT glisten like their skin is made of diamonds when they walk out into sunlight THEY EXPLODE, MELT, DISINTIGRATE, OR EVEN TURN TO DUST
 
Who didn't love Buffy? She was a freakin hotty.. oh yea and jennifer love hewitt while in party of five.

Those two always were my obssessiion as a kiddo. I never really was intrigued by the actual vampire stuff.. although I did enjoy Lost Boys.

Twilight is yawn worthy. I just don't dig disney.
 
Hate it. I never cared for anything Vampire related...some movies I can get by the fact that they have Vampires in them, but that is by no means any contributing factor to me enjoying a film...

I think it's a whole lot of hype over something that...well, just isn't worth the hype. I don't even feel like elaborating on it much, and this post is long enough already, simply put, I just don't like Vampires (not afraid of them, just don't like them).
 
Honestly, I thought Buffy the Vampire Slayer was good enough. When this Twilight crap came out (sorry, I really don't wanna bash, but I see this shit everywhere), it has gotten on my nerves. It changed the way that vampires were usually supposed to be with this dazzling, glittery...ugly...thing called Edward Cullen. I don't mind Vampire Diaries too much, it's got a good plot and such and they portray the vampires the way they're supposed to, but a bit too much on the sex and stuff. There's gotta be a balance right?

I like how vampires are coming back because I know they were getting popular in the 90's and stuff with Buffy, but seeing how it's become too overrated I am beginning to dislike it.
 
We've got another version of vampires to turn to now. A film called Daybreakers. It's one of those humanity-is-almost-extinct things in which vampires have taken over the world and need new ways of feeding. I think that's what it's about, anyway. It comes out over here in the UK on Wednesday, so I might go and see it if one of my friends isn't doing anything.
 
I was a part of the Vampire craze myself after I read the Twilight series and saw the first movie, but I'm pretty much over all that stuff now. I actually find it pretty ridiculous how everywhere I look now there's something vampire-related. It was annoying enough when the shows True Blood and The Vampire Diaries made their debut, but now we have all of these vamp movies like Daybreakers and that weird circus vampire movie.

I'll be glad when people finally move on and start obsessing about something else
-___-
 
I never really minded vampire culture myself, but Twilight totally killed the vampires, and I feel rather pissed about that.
 
To be honest I love vampire films however I also did not enjoy twilight very much I can understand how some people might enjoy the series I however have not read the books so I can't judge the films very much without comparison. For me personally the best vampire film was Dracula 2001 which was an amazing film.

However for those who hate the vampire fad I can see everyone waiting along time for it to blow over.
 
I dont so much love it, but i definitely hate parts of it now.

I picked up Hellsing, the manga, a bit prior to Twilight release and was blasted away with how badass Alucard was. THEN, twilight comes along and low and behold, we have some teen whiner love story. Meyers pretty much just dragged Alucard the rest of the vampire genre through the mud with her book.

As a result, i currently hate ALL teeny love obsession vampire related things. I say if you are to use vampires, portray them as they should be portrayed. This means that i hate pretty much anything vampire that comes out now as they all seem to be too, teeny popper-ish.
 
I love horror so also vampire movies, however ever since Twilight = Horror mixed with romance ,arggg you cant mix the two dammit ! they are screwing eveything up.

I want action and horror and not zappy romance nonsense, highschool rubbish.. phew.. rant over and out.


Remember Blade, that was a cool vampire movie, 30 days of night also a bomb movie.
;) Daybreakers was enjoyable.
 
Ohri-Jin said:
arggg you cant mix the two dammit ! they are screwing eveything up.
Click to expand...

You can and make a sodding fortune from it. Anne Rice had gothic romance in her novels, as does Charlene Harris with her True Blood series. Sex and vamps go together well, its just school romances with them dont float everybodys boats.
 
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