So this is my follow up post to the Top 10 Vampire Films one. Here I'm going to write about some films I haven't already mentioned. They aren't in any particular order. Please note that this post contains spoilers! Unless otherwise stated, the videos are trailers.
Near Dark (1987)
Farm boy Caleb (played by Adrian Pasdar) lives in the American Midwest with his dad and little sister Sarah. One night while out with his friends, he meets a girl named Mae (Jenny Wright) who he is attracted to. They go off together but before long Mae becomes desperate to get home before dawn. Caleb thinks that she is probably worried that her dad will find out she's been out all night, so he messes around by stopping the car. He and Mae kiss but all of a sudden she bites him, then gets out of the car and runs away. Unable to start the vehicle again, Caleb attempts to walk home through the fields but grows increasingly ill and starts to burn as the sun rises! As he is struggling along, a blacked out trailer drives up and someone grabs him and pulls him inside. It turns out to be Mae and her "family", a group of people who are vampires and travel around killing humans and basically doing whatever they like! The "family" is led by Jesse Hooker (Lance Henriksen) and includes his girlfriend/vampire bride (lol) Diamondback (Jenette Goldstein), Severen (Bill Paxton) and a boy called Homer (Joshua/ Joshua John Miller). They are angry at Caleb because he is reluctant to kill and has to rely on Mae to feed him and so they put pressure on him to make his first kill, otherwise he will be the one to die.
Note: This next section contains a spoiler about what happens at the very end, so don't read it if you haven't seen it and don't want to know! :)
Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in) (2008)
This Swedish film is based on the book of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist and tells the story of Oskar (played by Kåre Hedebrant) a 12 year old boy who is badly bullied and longs to get revenge on the bullies. One day he meets his new neighbour, a girl called Eli (Lina Leandersson), who has moved into his block of flats with an older man called Håkan (Per Ragnar). He wants to get to know her. At first she attempts to push him away but gradually they come to be friends. Eli encourages Oskar to fight back against the bullies. He also hopes to take his relationship with Eli to the next level. When he asks her to go out with him, she is reluctant but agrees, despite telling him that she isn't a girl. Eli is a vampire, who relies on Håkan to provide her with blood. However when Håkan fails in his task, she resorts to attacking the local people herself. She tries to hide her true nature from Oskar but eventually he discovers her secret.
This is a very slow moving film that takes a while to get anywhere. It is worth sticking with it though because it becomes more interesting later. Oskar is an awkward boy but Eli is strange too, so they fit together well. The fact that Eli was once a boy who was castrated before he/she became a vampire adds something different to the story but they don't go into it too much. Apparently it's explained more in the book and I think it would have made for a more interesting film if we'd learnt more about Eli's past. I think one of the best parts of the whole thing is near the end when the bullies get their comeuppance in the swimming pool! I also like the bit where Eli shows what happens if she's in a place where she hasn't been invited. They've made an American remake of this called Let Me In. I haven't seen it yet but from what I've seen of the trailer it looks pretty similar to the original. I don't know if it's an exact copy or they've changed some parts. When I've watched it I'll do a review on here.
30 Days Of Night (2007)
Like Blade, this is based on a comic book. Sherrif Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett) lives in the town of Barrow in Alaska, the northernmost city in the US. Once a year during the winter there is no sun for a month (30 Days Of Night). Most of the townsfolk leave until the month is over because they can't cope without daylight and only a few people are left behind. Eben's ex-wife (or soon to be, they're in the process of divorcing) Stella (Melissa George aka Angel from Home and Away!) attempts to get out of town but has a problem with her car and misses the last plane, meaning she will have to stay there until the month is up. Meanwhile a dirty, unkempt stranger comes to Barrow and acts suspiciously. Later he causes trouble in the town diner and Eben and Stella (who is a fire marshal) arrest him and take him to jail. He rambles on that "they" are coming but no one takes him seriously until the lights go out. A group of vampires have arrived and they kill most of the townspeople, leaving a few survivors (including Stella and Eben) who must try to survive until daylight returns.
Update 28/8/18: Had to replace the original video with a YouTube Movies preview, since the other one is no longer available in the UK due to a copyright claim.
The vampires in this are horrible; really creepy! They don't have any humanity and talk in a guttural language. They don't explain where the vampires came from in the first place, they just travel around from town to isolated town, probably helped by different humans, searching for victims. In this film vampirism is also a virus that infects humans but in this case they lose their humanity, whereas in Near Dark, they seem a bit more human.
And a couple of obscure ones:
The Wisdom Of Crocodiles (also known as Immortality) (1998)
Steven Grlscz (played by Jude Law) is handsome, successful and popular with women but there is something missing in his life- love. He is in search of the perfect woman. He also has a secret, which is the reason all of his relationships have ended badly. Then he meets Anne (Elina Lowensohn) and starts to believe that she might be the right one for him. Just as they are getting to know each other, Steven becomes a suspect in the investigation of his previous girlfriend's death. Eventually Anne learns Steven's secret- he must feed on blood once a month or he will die. He feeds on emotions in the blood and he believes that if he can find the right woman for him and feed on her love, he will be cured. Is Anne the one?
Here's a link to the IMDB trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1190527257/
This is a strange film! I've only seen it once a few years ago, but it's different to other vampire films and I thought it was worth mentioning. Feeding on emotions in the blood is an interesting idea.
Vampire's Kiss (1988)
Publishing executive Peter Loew (Nicolas Cage) spends the night with a woman called Rachel (Jennifer Beals) and is bitten on the neck. Afterwards he starts to believe he's a vampire. His behaviour becomes increasingly bizarre- he thinks he can't see his reflection in the mirror, sleeps under an upside down chair/sofa (a kind of makeshift coffin) and buys himself a pair of plastic fangs to wear! He also becomes obsessed with his secretary Alva (Maria Conchita Alonso) and the fact that she can't find a particular contract.
Scenes from the film
"I'm a vampire, I'm a vampire, I'm a vampire!" This is a totally mad film! lol. I was planning to write about this and then it was on TV last night, so I remember more of it now. It is most definitely a comedy, I laughed through (almost) all of it. But it is creepy too, especially Peter's bullying/harassment and finally sexual assault/rape of Alva. (It's unclear whether he actually raped her, athough he says he did).
Peter is a really unpleasant character. I know he's mentally ill (he must be!) but still! His accent is strange (Californian surfer dude with an English twang??) lol. According to IMDB, he puts it on when he wants to impress people (ok...)! Because Peter has so many fantasies you doubt whether Rachel is even real. I think she is but he only met her twice and the other times are in his imagination.
Update 28/8/18: Having seen this more often (I now have it on DVD), I think it's mostly a portrayal of a man becoming mentally ill and having a breakdown, but also a comedy. It's not a supernatural film really, more of a comedy with horror/supernatural elements. It has a sad ending though.
I was going to include some more films but because I've been having a lot of trouble with my computer and also Blogger was messing around and I lost some of what I wrote, I'm going to publish this now and do another post later.
Near Dark (1987)
Farm boy Caleb (played by Adrian Pasdar) lives in the American Midwest with his dad and little sister Sarah. One night while out with his friends, he meets a girl named Mae (Jenny Wright) who he is attracted to. They go off together but before long Mae becomes desperate to get home before dawn. Caleb thinks that she is probably worried that her dad will find out she's been out all night, so he messes around by stopping the car. He and Mae kiss but all of a sudden she bites him, then gets out of the car and runs away. Unable to start the vehicle again, Caleb attempts to walk home through the fields but grows increasingly ill and starts to burn as the sun rises! As he is struggling along, a blacked out trailer drives up and someone grabs him and pulls him inside. It turns out to be Mae and her "family", a group of people who are vampires and travel around killing humans and basically doing whatever they like! The "family" is led by Jesse Hooker (Lance Henriksen) and includes his girlfriend/vampire bride (lol) Diamondback (Jenette Goldstein), Severen (Bill Paxton) and a boy called Homer (Joshua/ Joshua John Miller). They are angry at Caleb because he is reluctant to kill and has to rely on Mae to feed him and so they put pressure on him to make his first kill, otherwise he will be the one to die.
Note: This next section contains a spoiler about what happens at the very end, so don't read it if you haven't seen it and don't want to know! :)
I was planning to include this on my list but hadn't seen it for ages. However it was on TV the other week, so it's a lot fresher in my mind now. I like this but it isn't one of my favourites. It is different to other vampire films. Like I mentioned in my previous vampire films post, this is one of them where the vampires don't have fangs. It is a very dark film (literally) so you can't see too well but they just seem to bite with their "ordinary" teeth. It's also interesting that they feature a child vampire, you would think it would be especially hard being quite old but stuck in a child's body (?). Homer gets fixated on Caleb's sister Sarah and wants her as a companion. One of the best scenes is near the end where he's so desperate to get to her, that he gets out of the car in the daytime and chases after her, only to burn up in the sun! Also Caleb is cured when his father (who is a vet) does a blood transfusion on him and it works for Mae too, even though she's been a vampire for longer (I think about four years?). So in this case it seems that the vampirism is like a virus and those infected haven't actually died.
Update 28/8/18: Random fact: Joshua John Miller who plays Homer, is the half brother of Jason Patric (Michael from The Lost Boys)! Never knew that till I was updating links today. :)
Update 28/8/18: Random fact: Joshua John Miller who plays Homer, is the half brother of Jason Patric (Michael from The Lost Boys)! Never knew that till I was updating links today. :)
Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in) (2008)
This Swedish film is based on the book of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist and tells the story of Oskar (played by Kåre Hedebrant) a 12 year old boy who is badly bullied and longs to get revenge on the bullies. One day he meets his new neighbour, a girl called Eli (Lina Leandersson), who has moved into his block of flats with an older man called Håkan (Per Ragnar). He wants to get to know her. At first she attempts to push him away but gradually they come to be friends. Eli encourages Oskar to fight back against the bullies. He also hopes to take his relationship with Eli to the next level. When he asks her to go out with him, she is reluctant but agrees, despite telling him that she isn't a girl. Eli is a vampire, who relies on Håkan to provide her with blood. However when Håkan fails in his task, she resorts to attacking the local people herself. She tries to hide her true nature from Oskar but eventually he discovers her secret.
This is a very slow moving film that takes a while to get anywhere. It is worth sticking with it though because it becomes more interesting later. Oskar is an awkward boy but Eli is strange too, so they fit together well. The fact that Eli was once a boy who was castrated before he/she became a vampire adds something different to the story but they don't go into it too much. Apparently it's explained more in the book and I think it would have made for a more interesting film if we'd learnt more about Eli's past. I think one of the best parts of the whole thing is near the end when the bullies get their comeuppance in the swimming pool! I also like the bit where Eli shows what happens if she's in a place where she hasn't been invited. They've made an American remake of this called Let Me In. I haven't seen it yet but from what I've seen of the trailer it looks pretty similar to the original. I don't know if it's an exact copy or they've changed some parts. When I've watched it I'll do a review on here.
30 Days Of Night (2007)
Like Blade, this is based on a comic book. Sherrif Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett) lives in the town of Barrow in Alaska, the northernmost city in the US. Once a year during the winter there is no sun for a month (30 Days Of Night). Most of the townsfolk leave until the month is over because they can't cope without daylight and only a few people are left behind. Eben's ex-wife (or soon to be, they're in the process of divorcing) Stella (Melissa George aka Angel from Home and Away!) attempts to get out of town but has a problem with her car and misses the last plane, meaning she will have to stay there until the month is up. Meanwhile a dirty, unkempt stranger comes to Barrow and acts suspiciously. Later he causes trouble in the town diner and Eben and Stella (who is a fire marshal) arrest him and take him to jail. He rambles on that "they" are coming but no one takes him seriously until the lights go out. A group of vampires have arrived and they kill most of the townspeople, leaving a few survivors (including Stella and Eben) who must try to survive until daylight returns.
Update 28/8/18: Had to replace the original video with a YouTube Movies preview, since the other one is no longer available in the UK due to a copyright claim.
The vampires in this are horrible; really creepy! They don't have any humanity and talk in a guttural language. They don't explain where the vampires came from in the first place, they just travel around from town to isolated town, probably helped by different humans, searching for victims. In this film vampirism is also a virus that infects humans but in this case they lose their humanity, whereas in Near Dark, they seem a bit more human.
And a couple of obscure ones:
The Wisdom Of Crocodiles (also known as Immortality) (1998)
Steven Grlscz (played by Jude Law) is handsome, successful and popular with women but there is something missing in his life- love. He is in search of the perfect woman. He also has a secret, which is the reason all of his relationships have ended badly. Then he meets Anne (Elina Lowensohn) and starts to believe that she might be the right one for him. Just as they are getting to know each other, Steven becomes a suspect in the investigation of his previous girlfriend's death. Eventually Anne learns Steven's secret- he must feed on blood once a month or he will die. He feeds on emotions in the blood and he believes that if he can find the right woman for him and feed on her love, he will be cured. Is Anne the one?
Here's a link to the IMDB trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1190527257/
This is a strange film! I've only seen it once a few years ago, but it's different to other vampire films and I thought it was worth mentioning. Feeding on emotions in the blood is an interesting idea.
Vampire's Kiss (1988)
Publishing executive Peter Loew (Nicolas Cage) spends the night with a woman called Rachel (Jennifer Beals) and is bitten on the neck. Afterwards he starts to believe he's a vampire. His behaviour becomes increasingly bizarre- he thinks he can't see his reflection in the mirror, sleeps under an upside down chair/sofa (a kind of makeshift coffin) and buys himself a pair of plastic fangs to wear! He also becomes obsessed with his secretary Alva (Maria Conchita Alonso) and the fact that she can't find a particular contract.
Scenes from the film
"I'm a vampire, I'm a vampire, I'm a vampire!" This is a totally mad film! lol. I was planning to write about this and then it was on TV last night, so I remember more of it now. It is most definitely a comedy, I laughed through (almost) all of it. But it is creepy too, especially Peter's bullying/harassment and finally sexual assault/rape of Alva. (It's unclear whether he actually raped her, athough he says he did).
Peter is a really unpleasant character. I know he's mentally ill (he must be!) but still! His accent is strange (Californian surfer dude with an English twang??) lol. According to IMDB, he puts it on when he wants to impress people (ok...)! Because Peter has so many fantasies you doubt whether Rachel is even real. I think she is but he only met her twice and the other times are in his imagination.
Update 28/8/18: Having seen this more often (I now have it on DVD), I think it's mostly a portrayal of a man becoming mentally ill and having a breakdown, but also a comedy. It's not a supernatural film really, more of a comedy with horror/supernatural elements. It has a sad ending though.
I was going to include some more films but because I've been having a lot of trouble with my computer and also Blogger was messing around and I lost some of what I wrote, I'm going to publish this now and do another post later.
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