A few years ago we saw the zombie boom, with films like the incredible Shaun of the Dead, a Dawn of the Dead remake not to mention all the other "of the dead" remakes that followed. People challenged the genre (notably 28 Days Later) and made some great entertainment, whilst others just made copy cat zombie tripe.
With 2009 and heading into 2010 we're definitely living in a Vampire world. Almost all types of entertainment are loving the vampire myth and personally i'm loving it. I find the vampire legend a really interesting one, with the different takes on the story all over the place. It had always been an area of interest, with the likes of 1992's Bram Stokers Dracula being extremely popular, however for me this film never did the genre any justice. Maybe it was just the wooden cast of Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder, but for me the film went too far into the ridiculous.
Films in recent years have brought vampires back in to fashion, the Blade Trilogy and the Underworld films most notably brought it to the big screen early this decade. Areas of these films started to explore what audiences have ultimately taken to, vampires in a real life setting. Easily the most exciting scene of the entire Blade series was the vampire club with blood raining down to the tune of New Order's 'Confusion'. But these films spiralled quickly into the ridiculous with Blade Trinity a particularly stupid example of the Hollywood-isation of what was a pretty exciting franchise. In particular the scene in which Jessica Biel's character deems it necessary to "create a playlist" for her iPod before she can even consider going to slay vamps.
More recently the likes of 30 Days Of Night brought back a dark look at vampires affecting real life, with an attack on a small Alaskan town. For me this was a great film, a dark story shot brilliantly and really captured the idea of a vampire underworld existing in a modern society. However, the setting was harder to relate to being in a tiny alaskan town, even if the snow made it look amazing.
But the big successes have come on the big screen as well as the small screen. Twilight took the younger market by storm with its very cool blue filter take on high school in america with the addition of vampires into the mix. I surprisingly enjoyed the first film in the most part, especially thanks to a great performance from Kristen Stewart, who was also amazing in Adventureland.
Nevertheless by far and away the most exciting thing to happen to the vampire genre in the last 2 years in my opinion is definately True Blood. The whole concept of vampires being able to exist in the real world thanks to a synthetic blood substitute is genius, and the drama created by those willing to conform and those wanting to stick to traditional vampire means of blood sucking just creates real excitement.
Excecuted by a great cast and with some exciting characters both series just kept you hooked. The sexiness of the series drives it on, but the exploration of the vampire legend in a real life context make it an exciting watch. Little nuences such as the vampires not being allowed into a humans house without an invite, and their ability to sense a human after tasting them just added to me being genuinely hooked. Add into that some great songs, and probably one of the best intro sequences ever and you have someone who literally can't wait for series 3.
Long may this good vampire themed entertainment continue, however i suspect it is likely to be band wagoned very quickly and the same thing happen to vampires as the zombie trend of a few years ago. It gets butchered and we are fed rubbish like Lesbian Vampire Killers! The next True Blood series will make or break it, and with other vampire films coming thick and fast (like the recent Daybreakers and the next Twilight instalment) it will be interesting to see if the quality can remain. Lastly i'm keen to see how good the English attempt at a similar series to True Blood will be with BBC's Being Human.
2010 year of the Vampire!!
Suggested Listening = Misfits - Vampira
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