Are Vampire Stories (Un)dead?
A few weeks ago, when CBS announced their fall schedule, fans of the vampire series “Moonlight” were deeply disappointed. Though the show’s creators explained that they’re not giving up hope, the network’s reluctance to renew this fan favorite isn’t a good sign.
Originally titled Twilight, this supernatural detective show was handed over to David Greenwalt, co-creator of another vampire detective show. Yes, Angel. Of course it’s Angel. There aren’t any other vampire detective shows, silly. Pretty much the entire cast was revamped (get it?), including the addition of charming rascal Jason Dohring from Veronica Mars. But to no avail.
Moonlight had an interesting vampire mythology, if by “interesting” you mean “wrong.” They can be in direct sunlight, though it “takes a toll” on them. They have a pulse, are not cold blooded, and can catch human diseases. Though the vampires do survive on blood, staking produces only paralysis. Decapitation and immolation kill them, but that will kill pretty much anything, except fleas.
I guess a lot of the vampire myth is hard to swallow in today’s science-driven society, but that’s no excuse for throwing away hundreds of years of superstition. Calling Moonlight vamps “vampires” is like calling the infected from the 28 Days Later series “zombies.” Technically, I guess, but…no.
Does this signal the death knell of vampire stories? They used to be a hot commodity. Remember Buffy? Blade? What’s happened since the ’90s that has soured us on a good vampire tale?
I’d relish the chance to blame those goth kids with long fingernails who’ve inextricably associated vamps with Marilyn Manson and self-cutting, but I just don’t know. I still think vampires are awesome. Am I alone? Tell me I’m not alone. Moonlight isn’t the best example, but there’s something wonderful about beings with sharp teeth who feed on your blood. Right?
Anyone?
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Vampires have become less and less popular over the years. Buffy saw immense popularity namely for the characters’ personalities rather than the storyline, which may explain why certain changes to those characters caused the show to lose viewers.
The vampire genre has just been played to, well, death at this point. Too many people went for the cheesy route and played off gimmicks and now that’s all anyone expects to see when they hear about a new movie or show featuring vampires. The route taken with Angel and Buffy, the idea of all supernatural myths rather than just vampires, was a great idea but it lost momentum.
I love the romance, the horror and the mystery surrounding vampire myths and would love to see more of them explored. I just don’t think Hollywood can produce anything new anymore and all we’re in for are old plays with new actors. Same boring premise, same boring and cliche’ character types. The truly original material is always stifled for something more mainstream and easily marketed, we dont see anything new unless someone braves a flop.
Vampires aren’t quite dead yet though, you just have to look a little harder to find them. There was an interesting series of movies out quite a few years back based on the Vampire: The Masquerade role-playing games, I believe it was called The Brotherhood or something similar. It was brilliantly written and stayed true to the source material, but the acting was horrid and the low budget meant cheesy special effects. If that series could be remade today we might see a comeback for the undead.
As it seems to fit the topic, if only a little, you may like to look up The Dresden Files. There aren’t too many vampires(there are some though), but there are wizards, ghosts, demons and a brilliant cast and script. (http://www.scifi.com/dresden/) It may rekindle your faith in television, if only regarding supernatural shows for niche crowds. Sci-fi is full of niche shows, most of them are campy and just fun to laugh at, but some are real gems.
I’ll be hushing now as I could just keep ranting and raving. Rest assured the blood drinkers aren’t dust yet, and if the older Goths have any say in it, it never will be.
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