Chapter 2: The Male Vampire…
II. DRACULA…
The Expressionistic Tradition in America
Tod Browning’s Dracula
-Tod Browning’s Dracula (1931): first sound film in the genre, first synthesis of stage and cinematic traditions
-contemporary in its setting
-the most extraordinary events are reported rather than visualized
-overabundance of static scenes, no climax (Val Helsing stakes Dracula off-screen)
-Tod Browning, Mark of the Vampire (1935)
-Robert Siodmak, Son of Dracula (1943)
-Quasi-science fiction films: The Vampire (1957), Return of Dracula (1957)
-vacillation between seriousness and satire: Count Yorga (1970), Blood of Dracula’s Castle, and Scream, Blacula, Scream
---->being in between clear comedy reduces integrity both as drama and as a genre piece
Nostradamus
-in 1956 the Mexican film industry began production of a cycle of vampire films which carry on the eclectic and extravagant expressionism of Universal studios
---->elements of both sublime and ridiculous genre conventions
---->revenge is a theme
-Nostradamus: vampire featured in a series of motion pictures in 1960
The Hammer Dracula
-played by Christopher Lee
-Terence Fisher, Dracula (1958); Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1965)
-Dracula (1958) return to the narrative organization of Stoker’s book
-Van Helsing logs his notes onto a crude Dictaphone carried over from the novel, which machine specifically records his serious doubts as a scientific observer about the undead’s ability to change his shape or dematerialize
-destruction of Dracula at the end is particularly striking in contrast to the anti-climactic finale of Universal’s production
Dracula 1974 Vintage
-Dan Curtis and Richard Matheson, Dracula (1974)
-most faithful and most innovative film treatment of Stoker’s novel
-tone of the film is naturalistic
-quasi-historical or journal-like progression resembling novel
III. THE SYMPATHETIC MALE VAMPIRE
-Varney the Vampire: vampire driven by a disease of the mind and body: unsuccessful in trying to rid himself of the curse of the undead
-The Vampire’s Ghost: despite violent surroundings, vampire is soft-spoken and unassuming
-The Vampire (1957): vampire is the most pathetic and unwilling vampire in film or literature
---->consumes “vampire pills” by accident
*Thanks Kelly Gifford*
II. DRACULA…
The Expressionistic Tradition in America
Tod Browning’s Dracula
-Tod Browning’s Dracula (1931): first sound film in the genre, first synthesis of stage and cinematic traditions
-contemporary in its setting
-the most extraordinary events are reported rather than visualized
-overabundance of static scenes, no climax (Val Helsing stakes Dracula off-screen)
-Tod Browning, Mark of the Vampire (1935)
-Robert Siodmak, Son of Dracula (1943)
-Quasi-science fiction films: The Vampire (1957), Return of Dracula (1957)
-vacillation between seriousness and satire: Count Yorga (1970), Blood of Dracula’s Castle, and Scream, Blacula, Scream
---->being in between clear comedy reduces integrity both as drama and as a genre piece
Nostradamus
-in 1956 the Mexican film industry began production of a cycle of vampire films which carry on the eclectic and extravagant expressionism of Universal studios
---->elements of both sublime and ridiculous genre conventions
---->revenge is a theme
-Nostradamus: vampire featured in a series of motion pictures in 1960
The Hammer Dracula
-played by Christopher Lee
-Terence Fisher, Dracula (1958); Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1965)
-Dracula (1958) return to the narrative organization of Stoker’s book
-Van Helsing logs his notes onto a crude Dictaphone carried over from the novel, which machine specifically records his serious doubts as a scientific observer about the undead’s ability to change his shape or dematerialize
-destruction of Dracula at the end is particularly striking in contrast to the anti-climactic finale of Universal’s production
Dracula 1974 Vintage
-Dan Curtis and Richard Matheson, Dracula (1974)
-most faithful and most innovative film treatment of Stoker’s novel
-tone of the film is naturalistic
-quasi-historical or journal-like progression resembling novel
III. THE SYMPATHETIC MALE VAMPIRE
-Varney the Vampire: vampire driven by a disease of the mind and body: unsuccessful in trying to rid himself of the curse of the undead
-The Vampire’s Ghost: despite violent surroundings, vampire is soft-spoken and unassuming
-The Vampire (1957): vampire is the most pathetic and unwilling vampire in film or literature
---->consumes “vampire pills” by accident
*Thanks Kelly Gifford*
