Films from the past in a romantic vein
When it comes to tragic onscreen love affairs, the passions that erupt between vampires and their human prey are among the most supremely star-crossed. First, there's the small matter of the bloodsucker being one of the undead. Then there's the pressing dilemma of said vampire's insatiable hunger for blood. And if the human does decide to consummate with the creature of the night, the intensity of the passion might cause the vamp to lose control and feast on the person's neck with destructive force - in which case, the person either passes into the afterlife or joins the realm of the undead.
In the hotly anticipated film "Twilight," which opens Friday, 17-year-old heroine Bella Swan can relate to this predicament. Based on the best-selling young adult saga by Stephenie Meyer, "Twilight" finds Bella falling hopelessly in love with a breathtakingly beautiful vampire named Edward Cullen, who saves her life and becomes her protector. He returns her love, but the scent of her blood drives him crazy, and he fears that he might not be able to control his impulses around her. Despite the danger, Bella would rather die than not be with her beloved bloodsucker.
In the hauntingly beautiful Swedish film "Let the Right One In," which opened locally Friday, a pair of 12-year-old outcasts - one an angelic-looking boy (Oskar) tormented by schoolyard bullies, the other a strange, frozen-haired girl (Eli) who happens to be a vampire - find salvation from their pathos and alienation in each other's arms. She becomes his protector, and he gives her true unconditional love. Who knew vampirism could be so symbiotic?
Here, we look at some other screen vampires - and the women and men who lust after them, even if they sometimes pay a lethal price for their attraction.
"Dracula" (1931), "Dracula" (1979); and "Son of Dracula" (1943)
Dracula as a psychosexual metaphor - his power to seduce women - is first hinted at in F.W. Murnau's "Nosferatu" (1922) and again in "Dracula" from 1931, starring Bela Lugosi, in which the count cast a hypnotic spell over both Mina and her friend Lucy. By the time of John Badham's overwrought "Dracula" in 1979, starring a dashing Frank Langella as the ultimate lady-killer, the erotic implications of the vampire have been dialed up to near orgiastic proportions. But instead of fainting over the specter of a vampire, Lucy (Kate Nelligan) has become a strong and assertive woman who's a willing participant in her seduction. Even by 1943's "Son of Dracula," the female protagonist, Kay Caldwell (Louise Allbritton), actively seeks out the count (Lon Chaney) to free herself from death. After her father is killed by Dracula, she dumps her former lover and marries the vampire in order to achieve immortality.
"Nosferatu the Vampyre" (1979)
Talk about beauty and the beast. As Lucy Harker, Isabelle Adjani is a divine ethereal presence. But there's nothing remotely alluring about Klaus Kinski's rodent-like Count Dracula in Werner Herzog's philosophical remake of Murnau's silent classic. A monster with a bald pate, fanged teeth, and talon-like fingernails, the count spies a photo of Lucy and is instantly smitten, but she remains committed to her husband, Jonathan. When Dracula descends on her bedroom one night, he cannot attack her because of her pure heart. Instead, they speak mournfully about the curse of immortality and the meaning of death. When she decides to sacrifice herself to save the town from his insatiable bloodlust, she's also rescuing him from his exhaustion with eternal life.
"Martin" (1977)
In one of horror master George A. Romero's forays in the vampire genre, Martin (John Amplas) is a sexually repressed, alienated young man who also happens to be a bloodthirsty serial killer. But is he a vampire? His elderly cousin believes Martin is Nosferatu, because legend holds that the family is cursed by vampirism. Martin and his younger cousin, however, dismiss the superstitious old man for his belief in magic. When a melancholy housewife, Mrs. Santini, befriends Martin and lures him into her bed to do "the sexy stuff," it briefly looks as if the troubled youth has found his redemption. But in a bitter irony, the woman's depression is too much to bear, and she takes her own life, raising the question: Who is the real vampire here? Martin? His family? Or society itself?
"The Lost Boys" (1987)
In this self-consciously hip '80s chestnut, rebellious Michael (Jason Patrick) has just moved to a California coastal town with his mom (Dianne Wiest) and younger brother, Sam (Corey Haim). When Michael spies a cute girl named Star (Jami Gertz) at the local amusement park, he pursues her and is drawn into her crowd of motorcycle-riding wild boys, led by the platinum-haired David (Kiefer Sutherland). At first Star lies to Michael about the true nature of her friends, but before long, he's staying out all night, sleeping all day, and acting really strange, as the gang hypnotically initiates him into their craven, murderous lifestyle. Yet Michael and Star remain half-vampires until they can make their first kill. After consummating their union, will the couple be able to save each other from an eternity of bloodsucking?
"Near Dark" (1987)
While "Lost Boys" may be the more famous vampire film of 1987, horror aficionados have come to drink lustily from the veins of Kathryn Bigelow's cult favorite, "Near Dark." Set in the arid Southwestern plains, the film features a young cowboy, Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar), who gets kissed by the new girl in town, the tomboyish Mae (Jenny Wright), only to discover that he's been infected by a vampire. Cajoled into joining her family, a roving posse of violent bloodsuckers, Caleb depends on Mae for survival because he can't bring himself to kill anyone. When his own family is targeted by the sadistic coven in their never-ending search for nourishment, Caleb must painfully decide where his true loyalties lie - and so must the conflicted Mae.
"Interview With the Vampire" (1994)
This adaptation of the wildly popular Anne Rice novel takes the ménage à trois to a whole new level. When the ravenous, magnetic Lestat (Tom Cruise) homoerotically sinks his teeth into the supple neck of a handsome lost soul named Louis (Brad Pitt), he sends the man into flights of ecstasy and transforms him into his vampire protege. To placate a regretful Louis, Lestat produces another companion in the form of a little girl, Claudia (Kirsten Dunst). Years later, a frustrated Claudia is a woman trapped in the physical body of a child and yearns to consummate her love for Louis. In a fit of rage, she stabs Lestat, but Louis continues to reject her.
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (TV series, 1997-2003)
Joss Whedon created one of the great cult TV series of all time by rendering the tumultuous teenage years as a life-and-death battle with supernatural forces - young lust being at the top of those high-stakes emotions. For a girl who was divinely chosen to combat evil spirits, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) sure has a soft spot for vampires. First, there was her stormy affair with the soul-scarred Angel (David Boreanaz), to whom she lost her virginity. Like a typical guy, he turned distant and cruel afterward - due to the effects of a gypsy curse. Later, he redeemed himself by helping Buffy save the world, only to let her go so she could fulfill her destiny. Then there was the sneering Spike (James Marsters), who started out as Buffy's enemy, joined her side, then embarked on a tempestuous affair with the young demon-killer, before eventually winning her affection. 