Strider Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 These are tough times for vampires. Thanks to garbage like Twilight and all these new Vampire romance novels that have flooded the market, it's not exactly a great time to be a vampire these days. But once upon a time, there used to be cool Vampire movies, like Bela Legosi...and the Christopher Lee-Peter Cushing Hammer films from Britain in the 60's and 70's. There were even some cool Lesbian vampire flicks from Europe by Jess Franco, Jean Rollins, etc. But possibly my all-time favourite vampire flick is Werner Herzog's "Nosferatu"...the original F.W. Murnau silent with Max Schreck as the Count is an all-time classic as well...but there is something just a little extra haunting, spooky, and hypnotic about Herzog's version: the cinematography, music, Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani's creamy porcelain skin, Popol Vuh. I was reminded of this, when I was making a post over on the Classical music thread. It is based on Bram Stoker's "Dracula" book...and they actually use the real names of the characters, unlike Murnau's version where they changed the names to avoid having to pay Bram Stoker's family. If you haven't seen it, you OWE it to yourself to check it out...in fact, I COMMAND you to watch it; and make any Twilight-loving friends or kids you have watch it, too. Vampires are NOT supposed to sparkle...they don't look like Euro-trash models. They are supposed to be creepy, spooky, feral, blood-thirsty. Like Klaus Kinski and Max Schreck. Here's a clip of Herzog's "Nosferatu"...there's two versions out on DVD; an original German-language w/English subtitles version and an English version, where Herzog had Kinski and the actors speak english. The German language version is a few minutes longer. Rent it...you won't be sorry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvrBWCtylyI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reswati Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Let's not forget the original: For those who may have never seen it............. Cool that both Nosferatu's get mentioned here anyway, here's our local ghoul who still digs Kinski and Schreck (And believe it our not, he is a super babysitter) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0OxNdhkUhI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missytootsweet Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 I have to agree with both of you. I haven't seen the Twilight movies, so can't comment there. But I have never had an urge to cuddle up to a vampire! In fact, they scare the cr*p out of me. That was a creepy clip strider, but proves my point. And reswati, I didn't even look at your clip. I still remember the image of that horrible vampire from that scene when I saw it on tv awhile ago. Burned into in my brain! I urge others to check out the real deal, because these are frightful vamps (if you like scary movies). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrum Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Another classic one. 'Vampyr' (1932) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gBzNioJROI The Mexican version of 'Dracula' is considered by many to be superior to Lugosi's version. The Mexican version was filmed at night on the same set after the daytime crew went home. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuQE03YNSE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 ^^^^ Dreyer's "Vampyr" is great...just below both "Nosferatu"'s in my book, and not quite as great as his masterpiece: The Passion of Joan of Arc. Other vampire films that have something to recommend them include Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and one of my personal, quirky favourites, Michael Almereyda's "Nadja", with the intoxicating, sultry Romanian beauty Elina Löwensohn. And the loopy Peter Fonda as Van Helsing. Add stunning cinematography including creative use of the PXL-2000 toy camera, and a great score with songs by Portishead and My Bloody Valentine, "Nadja" deserves to be seen by more people. And yes, that IS David Lynch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZr6N_ABr8s&feature=youtube_gdata_player And in a more wacky vein(haha), there is Roman Polanski's classic farce "The Fearless Vampire Killers". I've seen both versions of Universal's Dracula, and while the Mexican version does have moments, and might be more consistent overall, Bela Legosi is so striking, so ICONIC...not just visually but vocally, too...that I still have to give the Bela Legosi version the edge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slave to zep Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 i don't get why people like to watch films that scare them. i don't mind a scary scene or two, in a good movie, if it's in the correct context, but movies that are made just to scare people, well i just don't get them. i know some of you are going to say that the acting is great, or the music is wonderful etc, and i do get that. but i don't like watching horror movies. i tend to remember the worst scenes when i am home alone on dark stormy nights ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 i don't get why people like to watch films that scare them. i don't mind a scary scene or two, in a good movie, if it's in the correct context, but movies that are made just to scare people, well i just don't get them. i know some of you are going to say that the acting is great, or the music is wonderful etc, and i do get that. but i don't like watching horror movies. i tend to remember the worst scenes when i am home alone on dark stormy nights ....... Well, I think you're confusing these movies with slasher-type movies like "Friday the 13th" and "Saw". "Nosferatu" has nothing to do with those films...it is not filled with gratuitous violence and the horror, such as it is, is more psychological than visceral. The films achieve a feeling of dread, or unsettle you rather than out-and-out terrify the viewer. "Nosferatu", both the silent version and the 1979 colour remake aspire to something close to art. They are not just mere product, cynically made and marketed to a blood-thirsty public. The same goes for some of the other films mentioned here by redrum, reswati and I: "Vampyr", "Nadja", "Let the Right One In". I implore you slave, to give "Nosferatu" a shot, either version. One reason I emphasized the Herzog remake from '79 over the Murnau original, is that one of the points of this thread was to get parents to try to get their Twilight-loving kids to watch these films to see what an honest-to-goodness vampire movie is like. And as it is near impossible to get kids today to watch an old black & white silent movie, I figured parents would have an easier time getting the kids to watch the colour version. Here is another scene I like from the Herzog "Nosferatu", that really shows the pain and loneliness of being a vampire...that it isn't "cool" to be a vampire. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1KO55JBuFE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrum Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 i don't get why people like to watch films that scare them. but i don't like watching horror movies. i tend to remember the worst scenes when i am home alone on dark stormy nights ....... When I was a kid we always went to the Harding Theater in San Francisco on a Sunday and they would always show 3 horror movies. I was always scared to death but couldn't help watching them. The only one I can remember giving me nightmares was 'Godzilla' and I saw him coming over the top of the Ferry Building. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cecil. Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Not a fan of the let's talk about feelings while looking moody brigade, Salem's Lot 1979 is far more likely to make you feel "did I hear something" whilst trying to get a good nights sleep. Which is after all the point of a horror film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black_Dog_90 Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 I totally agree with you. It's sad how Twilight has become almost like a synonym for a vampire film among this modern generations because it is not actually a vampire film. I'm not trying to attack the film or the novel and to offend Twilight fans. We all know it is specifically targeted to young-adult horror-romance fans. I agree with your choice. Nosferatu the Vampyre is very good vampire film and one of the best but I think the original Nosferatu is the greatest of all vampire films. Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola is one of my favourite vampire films, and the original film is good too. The other vampire films I like are From Dusk Till Dawn, Horror Of Dracula, Black Sunday, Martin, Fright Night, Near Dark, etc. And by the way, the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker is great. Definitely the one that started it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagefan55 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 I love some of the old Hammer vampire films. Did anyone here like Anne Rice's "Interview a With Vampire" book and/or the subsequent film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScarletMacaw Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 I haven't seen the older vampire movies; will check them out. Didn't care too much for Coppola's movie; it was ok. Didn't like "The Hunger" that much either. "Interview With a Vampire" is notable mostly for Tom Cruise's performance. He nailed it as Lestat, which apparently surprised a lot of people but not me. I mean, we know he is a weirdo. I kind of liked "Let the Right One In" except the dubbing was horrible. I know there was an English language remake but I didn't see it. I enjoyed the first four Twilight movies which I saw as romances, not horror movies or thrillers. It all fell apart in the last film though, in my opinion. After the transformation at the end of the fourth film, the drama was gone for obvious reasons. Also the final conclusion was too happy. Other than those things why complain about Twilight? Two hot guys, the Pacific Northwest, they quoted Shakespeare and Robert Frost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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