Vampire Revindication

[Myst42]

Ok, I don't hate Twilight THAT much... but I don't think it's really a vampire movie anyway

And now everybody hates it

 

So according to a certain personal project, I sail on a quest to revindicate the concept

 

That and because right now I'm idle and I'm totally procrastinating things I really have to do 

 

We've had almost all kinds of vampires in movies and books... almost.

There have been the zombie-like ones, the religious spawns of hell, the gothic and depressive gay types, the badass action movie heroes and of course, the sparkly ones.

 

Tonight I'm going on a trip to revindicate another concept that has been forgotten.

The cold predator type

I'm not saying it's the only option, humanity and emotion can have a place too, BUT. The idea is to make an accurate portrait of a vampire that has no regard of humanity and behaves like an inhuman predator, failing to comprehend human concepts.

 

I'm going to mention two very underrated movies here

 

The first one is

30 Days of Night

It's worth seeing in the name of remembering how a truly dehumanized vampire behaves... and they don't sparkle 

 

 

Now THOSE are vampires... the inhuman type ones

 

The second, is even more underrated as it is the sequel to "John Carpenter's Vampires" from the 80s

Vampires: Los Muertos

I'll agree that the plot, the acting and the effects are low budget... 

But I'll rescue the female vampire because I find her sexy in ways that are not even in the books. IMHO, one of the sexiest vampires ever... not because of her body but because of her behavior and not because it's slutty, but because it's truly vampirishly seductive. She plays both the temptress and the cold otherworldly predator

 

Ain't there something beautifully cold about those eyes?

 

Yes, yes I know Selene from Underworld has blue eyes too and I like her too... but she's more of an action hero than a vampire.

I guess you may agree or disagree, I've made my peace with it. But I think there's something hot about her that's not quite common. A rare kind of hot... something seductive. And I felt like giving some credit to a very underrated vampire

 

And that's all fellows. I only wanted to share, and as I've got no other place to do so on the internet, I do it here

Hope you enjoy the reflection and feel free to comment if you know any other interesting vampire movies

 

Peace

[ShardsOfEldritch]

I wish I'd have seen this topic sooner. I know it's cheesy, but look for Subspecies. The first one, in my opinion, is the best, but theme of being cold hearted is throughout most of them (I don't think the last one really carries it out though). It's low budget, cheesy, gory, but Radu was pretty interesting because he tries to get his fledgling to cast away, so to speak, morality and feelings because of their ties to humanity. Though it's really weird in certain parts of it. Some vampires choose not to feed (which leads me to suspect that they feed on animals or have other ways of feeding from donors without a bite) and those who do. Radu is probably the most predatory kind of figure in those movies that has that cold predatory type of feeling. I don't know if it's your cup of tea though because some of the scripts within the movies aren't well carried out in instances, extremely low budget, actors changing in certain instances, special effects and make up changing through out the movie as well as one specific prop tied in with the plot. I personally love it, but the reason being is because it's so bad. Really. It is. I don't know why I love this series because of how bad it is, but.. I guess I'm shameless.

 

I do hope that you find what you're hunting for. If I find any others, I'll post back here and let you know and what I thought of it along with trying to not give so much of the plot away just in case you haven't seen said movie.

[ratrace]

Subspecies is cool, I like that kind of B-movie. And it's well done in its cheesy way. Of course one shouldn't expect depth or intelligent dialogues, but Radu really is a predator.

[ShardsOfEldritch]

I really loved how they did Radu. They fleshed out quite a few things that I was impressed on that I really wasn't expecting. I'm very surprised to see someone else that's seen it! Makes my day. I even have the soundtrack from it that I snagged AGES ago. Cost me about 50 bucks at the time because it was an auction, but meh. Worth it. TOTALLY WORTH IT. Haha!

[Kind9]

I'm really surprised to see Subspecies mentioned. It's always been my favorite vampire flicks. Radu is even my avatar on steam. The third is my favorite of the series because there's a point where you can almost sympathize with Radu, and  it just feels more authentic being filmed in prague and around that castle and the vampire lore feels more authentic in those movies than most I've seen. Me and my dad used to have a big collection of movies from Full Moon, like Trancers and Puppetmaster. Some of them were totally cheezy but I don't think Subspecies was at all.

 

I also really like Bram Stoker's Dracula for Gary Oldman's awesome dracula.

 

And I'm not ashamed to admit that I loved John Carpenter's Vampires. Something about James Woods playing a badass...

[ShardsOfEldritch]

I'm surprised that there's others here that have seen it. I don't talk to many people who have. At least not on modding forums. There was a few parts that I thought some of the actors were hamming it up (like in the first one with the rosemary beads for example), but I think it also adds to the atmosphere. It's a good kind of cheesy, for me at least. If I had to pick a favorite though, it'd definitely be the first just because of Angus Scrimm. He'll always be the Tall Man for me, however I never just watch one and leave the rest. Instead I pick a day and watch all of them back to back so really it's hard to decide a true favorite. As far as the films go, it's definitely my favorite series in regards to vampires. Supposedly there's a fifth film that's in the works (though it'll be a prequel), however it's from the rumor mill. I haven't seen anything substantial on it at least, but I haven't done too much surfing for it. 

 

I'd also give my immortal soul for someone to mesh the Bloodstone in Subspecies 4 in Skyrim. That thing was just badass looking.

 

There's also that spinoff, Vampire Journals. I don't know if I quite like it yet, I never did quite mesh well with Ashe. Of course, then again, I've always been a fan of Radu, so that might be why I'm still trying to figure out my feelings for it. Haha!

 

And yeah. Bram Stoker's Dracula with Gary was just awesome.

[ratrace]

To me, Vampires are predators. Not designed to befriend, love or even marry their prey. Anne Rice got a good point as well (though I don't like her books, but the movie adaption "Interview with a vampire" was great), showing Lestats dedication to his existence as a vampire and Louis' constant whining over it. Claudia imho was what inspired Bethesda to do Babette.

 

Love the ending scene when Lestat drives into the night with this reporter guy to the tune of "Sympathy for the devil" (the Guns'n'Roses cover).

 

Gary Oldman was fantastic as Dracula (though Sir Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing almost seemed more dangerous). Also one of my alltime faves among the vampire movies. And again it's the vampire that is torn betwenn dedication to his predatory life and the remains of a mortal emotion.

 

The Twilight movies were no real vampire movies imho. It was more some sort of an allegory leaned towards the new (sexual) prudery, all smothered under a thick layer of sugarcoating and oily commerce. I apologize to the fans, but no, that's not what I seek in a vampire flick.

 

One more vampire movie I almost feel forced to mention is Nosferatu, the 1979 remake by Werner Herzog with Klaus Kinski in the main role. Chilling, dark and slow, yet not boring. A movie that has a descriptive imagery that is unmatched. Nosferatu bringing the plague to Wismar, which in the course of events becomes overrun by rats, people with the terminal disease dancing in the streets, cheerfully cherishing their last hours. God, it's so huge. And Kinski rules anyway.

 

EDIT: I almost forgot "So finster die Nacht". Unfortunately this is only available in german and swedish, and the US-remake "Let the right one in" is a shame. But if there's one of you who understands german / swedish or is willing to watch the movie with subs: It's more than worth it. Brillant.

[Earen]

To me would be interesting to see an portrait of vampire with split personality, when human part is almost gone or.. something from "Angel Heart" film.

And yeah, Bram Stoker's Dracula is awesome thing

 

[Myst42]

Did anybody ever played Vampire- The Masquerade?

I wish I have had the chance when it still existed... 

 

It just got a lot of things right you know... How does a real vampire manage to survive in modern society

All that underground movement and life. And how each clan represents values of people, how you could say a lot about someone by knowing which clan they played as... I'm sure everyone could identify with a few... for me it was three of them... the Tremere being scholars and scientists interested in knowledge and magic, the Malkavians taking advantage of the Madness opening your eyes to the truth behind masks and the Gangrel being lone wanderers who preferred to live with nature than men. I used to think there was a clan for everyone but I could never truly "marry" to a single one in play...

 

Either the creators had a genius imagination... or they knew something... LOL

But I grew tired of Goth... so depressive it does not leave room for anything else

 

It's only a game of course but it has a lot of things right... the kind that makes sense

Take that and some of the concepts earlier mentioned and you probably have the perfect vampire

WHY GOD WHY???

WHY DID NO ONE EVER BOTHERED TO MAKE A MOVIE???

 

I see everybody loves Dracula hehe... Yeah, the one and only in literature. Respect. After all, Bram Stoker is the father of an entire generation in fantasy.

 

In the game I mentioned, the "Tzimisce" clan "embraced" him. Also makes sense as that is the most horrific kind of vampire I've ever seen in games or movies.. beyond predatory and undead unholy corpse... those were some creepy evil bastards somewhere between the Lovecraftian horror and the demonic... And I'm not talking about those sexy demon girls you guys are used to fucking in Skyrim... I mean the really creepy stuff that makes your balls cower in fear

Using flesh to build things... I mean, who does that shit? 

Uhh besides Hitler and those monks who build the bone cathedrals 

Yeah... I would have totally made a rocking Tzimisce character back in the day! 

The PC game doesn't let you anyway...

 

Well... I guess that concludes the replay I did on these last few days of that game I mean the PC game of course, the role playing game with dices is as dead as its unliving characters

[ratrace]

 

Did anybody ever played Vampire- The Masquerade?

I wish I have had the chance when it still existed...

YES! And I still LOVE it (if you mean Bloodlines, not Redemption - which was ok, but Bloodlines was so much better imo). My faves were the Toreador and their counterparts, the Nosferatu.

 

This game was buggy as hell (again, the developer ran into financial trouble), but the game itself, the atmosphere, the score - it was chilling. Do you remember the haunted hotel?

 

THAT game would be cool with the Skyrim engine. All vampire clans as races, same quests, but up-to-date graphics. Score could be the same (I loved "The Deb Of Night", the radio show you could listen to when a radio was nearby).

 

But I guess I won't see the day that that will happen.

 

 

But I grew tired of Goth... so depressive it does not leave room for anything else

Didn't find it depressing at all, but overly shallow after a while. But some of the music stayed with me. Was quite into Christian Death and other American Death Rock bands like Mephisto Walz, but also the UK bands like Fields and of course the old Sisters. Das Ich und Goethes Erben were also nice these days. Well, basically a lot more, but I'm digressing.

 

Whoever has a soft spot for "vampire cuteness": In the mid 80s there was a small TV series called "The little vampire" with Marsha Moraeu and Gert Fröbe. Was a canadian-german co production, of course available in english and german. Please forget the remakes - horrible. The 80s series was really cool. The vampire sisters Anna and Rüdiger were adorable.

 

http://taliesinttlg.blogspot.de/2009/11/little-vampire-1986-tv-series-review.html

[windpl]

 

 

Did anybody ever played Vampire- The Masquerade?

I wish I have had the chance when it still existed...

YES! And I still LOVE it (if you mean Bloodlines, not Redemption - which was ok, but Bloodlines was so much better imo). My faves were the Toreador and their counterparts, the Nosferatu.

 

This game was buggy as hell (again, the developer ran into financial trouble), but the game itself, the atmosphere, the score - it was chilling. Do you remember the haunted hotel?

 

THAT game would be cool with the Skyrim engine. All vampire clans as races, same quests, but up-to-date graphics. Score could be the same (I loved "The Deb Of Night", the radio show you could listen to when a radio was nearby).

 

But I guess I won't see the day that that will happen.

 

 

Mods are still beging worked on this game, from waht I remember there is 2 big ones for it.

[Kpnut]

If you want vampires that aren't pussies that sparkle in the sun just check out the Warhammer Fantasy Battle Vampire Counts.

[Myst42]

 

THAT game would be cool with the Skyrim engine. All vampire clans as races, same quests, but up-to-date graphics. Score could be the same (I loved "The Deb Of Night", the radio show you could listen to when a radio was nearby).

 

Ahhh one can only dream about such marvels... 

Although I heard someone was trying to make an online RPG called World of Darkness... Wikipedia says it has been delayed as fuck but never speaks of cancellation

 

 But I grew tired of Goth... so depressive it does not leave room for anything else

Didn't find it depressing at all, but overly shallow after a while. But some of the music stayed with me. Was quite into Christian Death and other American Death Rock bands like Mephisto Walz, but also the UK bands like Fields and of course the old Sisters. Das Ich und Goethes Erben were also nice these days. Well, basically a lot more, but I'm digressing.

 

I meant the entire vampiric culture is so limited to being Goth, wearing nothing but black and acting depressive. It's OK and it is a style but why should it be mandatory? I have a quote of darkness in my own style but there's more to it. The concept of vampirism has been with me since before I can remember and before it was "popular". I've never been depressive and I never wore makeup.

Why look like this when you can look like this and blend in, have a socially acceptable fashion without being ostracized by "normal" people. That's about the only good thing these last times have brought to the concept. Not forgetting monsters, it doesn't really matter as long as they're stained with blood. Red and black capes were never scary anyway. meh...

I've nothing against Goth, love the style but it doesn't exactly blend in.

A style is art but being defined BY a style is not having a real identity. You are what the collective says you are

 

And yes good music... I met Lacuna Coil with that game. That band has accompanied me till present times

 

Mods are still beging worked on this game, from waht I remember there is 2 big ones for it.

The replay I spoke of was exactly using a mod... "Clan Quest" it's called. Very good stuff

[Kind9]

VtM:B reminds me a lot of the movie Blade.

 

I remember that abandoned hotel level, especially the beginning when you fall into the basement and walk down that dark, narrow corridor and get a little surprise. That part was very well done. Probably my favorite sequence in the game.

[Zagiel]

 

 

Did anybody ever played Vampire- The Masquerade?

 

THAT game would be cool with the Skyrim engine.

 

 

 

 

that's a brilliant idea. i wish some experienced modder would go for it