The Vampire Thread

[Jeff Wrangler]

I liked Intervirew With The Vampire, both book and movie.

But the only really frightening vampire ever was Klaus Kinski's Nosferatu:








But then, Kinski himself was always creepy to me. Boy, you should have seen him in German talk shows .

Drat, that reminds me. What was the name of that movie about the making of the original, silent Nosferatu? John Malkovich played the director and Willem Dafoe played Max Shreck, who played the vampire Count Orlock. The conceit of the film was that Max Shreck really was a vampire. That was a pretty good film.

[louisev]

it was called "Shadow of the Vampire", staring Willem Dafoe as the vampire.  He did a masterful job!

[David In Indy]

it was called "Shadow of the Vampire", staring Willem Dafoe as the vampire.  He did a masterful job!

Eww, that picture is creepy!

I've never seen that movie before. At least I don't think I have.

[David In Indy]

I just started reading the first book of the Twilight series. My daughter already has read all existing books, God and his brother are talking about them at the moment. So last week, when I was at Newark airport, waiting for my flight back to Germany, I bought it.

I've only read 70 pages so far. I kinda like it, but I think like Harry Potter, it shows that the target audience are teenagers. I never got the whole Harry Potter thing. To me it was children's books and I gave up after 1.5 books.


But I digress. We're talking vampires here!

I liked Intervirew With The Vampire, both book and movie.

But the only really frightening vampire ever was Klaus Kinski's Nosferatu:








But then, Kinski himself was always creepy to me. Boy, you should have seen him in German talk shows .

He may be creepy, but he sure is cute! I love those blonds!

I've seen Nosferatu. It scared the fire out of me. I remember it stayed in my head and messed with me for quite a while. I remember feeling the need to sleep with my crucifix close by so I took it off the wall and layed it on the side table next to the bed.

[southendmd]

Here's Max Schreck, from the original Nosferatu of 1922. 

[louisev]

one of the reasons I get impatient with modern "vampire" stories is because I find the earlier, ugly predator versions of vampires to be a far more credible and interesting tale.

These new glamorous sparkly vampires just don't do it for me in terms of suspense.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Of course, the first time I ever thought of the possibility of a vampire as sexy was Frank Langella back in the late 1970s. All Byronic angst. 

[southendmd]

If only for contrast, I recommend the 1922 Nosferatu.  Very creepy, and beautiful visually, all German Expressionism, great shadows and angles.  I saw it in college, complete with bizarre soundtrack. 

[David In Indy]

If only for contrast, I recommend the 1922 Nosferatu.  Very creepy, and beautiful visually, all German Expressionism, great shadows and angles.  I saw it in college, complete with bizarre soundtrack. 

TCM aired that movie last Halloween. That movie is VERY scary! I agree with you Paul, the lighting and filming angles make this movie very frightening.

[David In Indy]

one of the reasons I get impatient with modern "vampire" stories is because I find the earlier, ugly predator versions of vampires to be a far more credible and interesting tale.

These new glamorous sparkly vampires just don't do it for me in terms of suspense.

I like both Louise. I agree with you that an ugly vampire makes the movie more visually frightening, but at the same time a "normal" looking vampire is, at least to me, more psychologically frightening, and because they look so human they could be walking among us and we'd never even know it until it's too late.

And I must admit, a very handsome vampire is very appealing to me as a gay man, especially if it has a homoerotic element to it, which seems to be the current fad in vampire movies these days.