Anybody remember last November? A little film came out that marked the end of a franchise that happened to feature some depressing, melodramatic, sparkling vampires. I dare not speak the name of this emotional train wreck for teenage girls, but I only forced myself to suffer through the first two without risking a mental breakdown. That's all I could manage though.
Now that we are past all of that unpleasantness it's time to look to the future for the eternal blood suckers.
I reminisce of a time where slayers kept the fangs at bay. Where vampires were dark, brooding creatures that hid in the daytime and came out to hunt at night. They were loners, lovers, and killers. You feared them. Some of the more socially oppressed wanted to be them. But they were meant to control you with fear and lust. Sexual beings without the gaudy high school drama (save for some of Buffy, but that was all in good fun).
Even True Blood came close to imitating this former glory for vampires. Providing a couple of seasons of rated R vampire fun. But that eventually got a little off topic, introducing more classic, and non-classic, "monsters" than they had the time to successfully develop. I stopped watching after season 4. I could take no more of faeries and were-panthers when all I wanted was some good old fashioned, vampiric, angry-sex-head-twisting fun.
This year we finally have two vampire flicks showing up that I'm genuinely excited about. Byzantium and Only Lovers Left Alive. If you haven't heard of either than here's what you need to know.
Byzantium premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and is scheduled to be released worldwide on June 28th. Being directed by Neil Jordan, who's last work in the genre was the fantastic Interview With A Vampire, this is worth the watch from that credit alone.
The plot follows a teenage girl name Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan) and her mother Clare (Gemma Arterton) who have been living off of human blood in secrecy for 200 years. After settling into a abandoned guesthouse which shares the same name as the films title, Eleanor falls for Frank (Caleb Landry Jones) and begins to spill her 200 year old secret. Of course secrets can't stay as such forever and their past begins to catch up with them.
Here's the bloody trailer for your perusal:
I'll admit, there does seem to be a bit of a teen love story riddled in there, but if it is then it looks to be drowned in blood. This is what a vampire movie should look like. Lots of dark and lots of red. It has a great cast and seems appropriately atmospheric for what I expect from a great vampire movie. A few early reviews I've read have had good things to say and I'm incredibly excited for this.
The other film I want to bring to your attention is Only Lovers Left Alive starring Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton. This one was brought to my attention last week while I was desperately trying to keep up with the coverage coming out of the Cannes Film Festival where it premiered.
Only Lovers Left Alive follows the aforementioned actors as two vampires who have been in love for centuries. When their eternal love is tested as her younger sister comes into the picture, they must learn to deal with her and adjust to the new modern world they find themselves in.
Other than a few warm reviews and some brief plot summaries there isn't a lot to judge this by so far. The cast looks great and another reason for my excitement (also featuring Mia Wasikowska, Anton Yelchin and John Hurt). The movie seems to be a bit of a different pace from Byzantium. Less blood, with a hint of dark humor and drama is the vibe I've been getting from what I've read. The director, Jim Jarmusch, seems to have his own distinct sense of style which has caught my interest as well. I haven't seen any of his work yet but a few of his previous films have caught my eye and are on my never ending to-watch list.
While both of these films have me very excited, I don't know how universal the excitement will be? Neither seem to be getting much of a push for coverage. If I wasn't keeping up with news from TIFF and Cannes I would be surprised if I would know about these at all. Unfortunately that seems to be the way it goes with these indie films though. With any luck we may see these guys get a week of showing at the theater here once the summer blockbuster season slows down. Maybe even pick up a showing with the MUN cinema series during the fall. Most likely though, the first chance we'll get to see either of these here in St. John's will be when they are released to home media.
If you do get the chance to watch either, I strongly urge it. Maybe with some successful vampire movies along these lines it will show all the Twihards out there that the best vampires don't sparkle and cry about silly high school romances.
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