Vampire Mis-En-Scene

The Children of the Night have been in the news lately having descended from a long line of cinema portrayals dating from as early as 1896. It has been an interesting transformation as Brian Cherry has described in the first part of his Big Hollywood series on vampires in film.

Who among us doesn't enjoy being scared out of our wits occasionally by a first-rate film? I've been enjoying movie frights since 1953 when I watched George Pal's The War of the Worlds huddled on a blanket at a drive-in under a deeply suspect dome of night sky. Some folks may say it was no place for an eight-year-old. What were his parents thinking? Actually, they were there with me, and it helped immensely to be surrounded by many aunts, uncles and older cousins. Besides, it got cold in those West Virginia mountains before the film ended and ducking into those extra blankets provided all the protection one needed from alien death rays.

The evolution of film since that night has witnessed an equally interesting change in what and who terrifies us these days. We have come a long way from Nosferatu (1922) or an attack by super-sized, irradiated ants. Could we be witnessing a twilight of sorts?

Time will tell.

I trust you will enjoy Cherry's post and look forward, as I will, to his series on the cinematic vampire.