Dakota Fanning in "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" (Summit Entertainment)
Vampires. We love them, we lust after them, we fear them (sort of) and we want to be them. Or, in the case of the "Twilight" series, we want to be with them. Though a popular villain in folklore, literature and movies, and a figure that has gone through varied incarnations over time (compare Max Schreck's rat creature from "Nosferatu" to Robert Pattinson's dreamboat bloodsucker in "Twilight"), the vampire is, as they say in Hollywood, all the rage. Like Hansel in "Zoolander" he, or she, is "so hot right now."
But why, I ask? Why are vampires the hottest trend since "Dante's Peak" and "Volcano" came out the same year? (Another question: Why were volcanoes so popular?) With the eagerly anticipated "Twilight" sequel "New Moon" set for release and the next one, "Eclipse," to invade our theaters (and young girls' adolescent dreams) next year, the young, hot and sexy vampire trend is one that (unlike those volcano movies), appears to go unabated. The ardor remains. And with other pictures this year, like the goofy "Cirque du Freak" and the critically acclaimed Korean picture "Thirst," or next year's "Daybreakers" starring Willem Dafoe, Ethan Hawke and Sam Neill, or last year's anti-"Twilight" masterpiece, "Let the Right One In," vampires, writ large, are capturing our hearts and minds and necks like never before. Even Steven Seagal showed up in a vampire movie this year, "Against the Dark." It went straight to DVD, but still. From teen dream to foreign masterworks to goofball comedies to over-the-hill action stars, the vampire genre seems boundless.
Which, of course, makes them perfect for TV. All that melodrama, romance and blood. Television shows like the popular, nudity-loving "True Blood" and the "90210"-like "Vampire Diaries" focus on the young and the bloodless. And I'm thinking more will come from these shows.
So the question remains: Why are vampires so fashionable? Obviously, the first response can be summed up in one title: "Twilight." Once a genre sends legions of young girls into Elvis Pelvis-like hysteria, imitators will follow suit. But I think there's more at hand here than hot and heavy tweens flipping over their beloved R-Patz. In terms of our fascination with all things vampiric, I've considered five points, which have nothing to do with the five vampire clans of the live action role-playing game "Vampire: The Requiem." No, really. Though surely this game will become a movie as well. So with that, here's, well, five thought bites:
Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, Elvis and Robert Pattinson!
Yes, I'm talking about "Twilight," of course. How could I not? As stated above, once a genre movie becomes this enormously successful, once cigar-chomping (well, now, Diet Coke-drinking) studio heads witness girls, en masse, flocking the streets of Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Walla Walla, Wash., in fits of R-Patz rapture, dollar signs flash in their eyes.
I can only imagine the "Player"-like pitch meetings: "It's like 'Twilight' meets 'Transformers' meets 'Juno.'" (Is that how "Jennifer's Body" was conceived?) But taking the studio fat cats out of the equation, the hysteria might be related to girls yearning to express their inner fan-girl. After all, it was girls (not geeky "Star Wars" loving fan boys) who created the concept of massive fandom. It wasn't a bunch of dudes decked in extra-extra-large Yoda shirts screaming for Frank Sinatra; it was bobby-soxers. And though plenty of boys loved Elvis and the Beatles, it was mostly girls who fainted after kissing the King, or who chased the Fab Four in "A Hard Day's Night." And I won't even begin with the Monkees. So let your freaky-fan-girl flags fly ladies. Don't let the boys make fun of you or push you around at Comic-Con. Remember, you were the innovators.
Vampires Are Evergreen
Sure, they're popular now, but like big-budget action movies, fluffy romantic comedies, or any picture featuring George Clooney in a well-tailored suit, vampires in cinema remain classic. We never tire of them because, like their own aging predicament, they're immortal. From their beginnings, with F.W. Murnau's wonderfully creepy "Nosferatu," to Tod Browning's unforgettable "Dracula" (starring Bela Lugosi), to Neil Jordan's Tom Cruise-as-Lestat adaptation of Anne Rice's uber-popular "Interview With the Vampire," not to mention Christopher Lee, Klaus Kinski, George Hamilton, Catherine Deneuve and Gary Oldman (and then some) all wonderfully vanting to suck your blood, vampires are simply too iconic to ever exit popular entertainment. Vampires are the little black dress of horror. They never go out of style.
A Bloodsucking Economy
All right, so I'm digging a little deeper here, but I don't think connecting our current, depressive economy to vampire mania is so off the mark. After all, the financial crisis, running roughly from 2007-2009, is a troublesome, heartbreaking, stressful moment for many Americans. Homes are being foreclosed, working families are forced off jobs, health care creates rabid debates and, depending on your stance, corporations seem to be taking over the world. Never since the Depression have we witnessed such a major divide between the haves and the have nots. But back during the Depression of the 1930s, many theater-goers escaped through movie musicals and gangster pictures. Watching the glamorously goofy idle rich and dreaming of becoming one of them, or reveling in the more down-to-earth grittiness of Warner Brothers' criminal classics, like James Cagney's "The Public Enemy" taking matters into his own hands (and with the help of a Tommy gun), the American public experienced fantasy and power in such visions. Since many Americans feel like they're being sucked dry from big business, insurance companies and financial debt, there might be something to the dream and romance of turning the tables. What if we could suck some blood, metaphorically speaking? We want to not only suck some blood, but also to remain powerful and autonomous in the process. And to maybe look like Robert Pattison, which brings me to ...
Eternal Youth
Unless they're bitten over the age of 50, right when their AARP card kicks in (which would, ahem, suck), most vampires don't have to quote the Who's famous entreaty: "Hope I die before I get old." Vampires don't age, and in their current form of popularity they seem to remain under the age of 25. Vampires, circa 2009, could still join the cheerleading squad, or nab lucrative modeling contracts, or appear on "American Idol" (though that gray-haired Taylor Hicks wouldn't stand a chance in the current vamp camp). It's no secret that we covet youth in this country, from lusting after Scarlett Johansson, to placing Britney, Humbert Humbert style, on her schoolgirl pedestal (and then knocking her down once she had babies and gained a few), to injecting chemicals and toxins into our faces in the name of youth (which seems the most vampiric). So vampires, especially of the "Twilight" stripe, are powerful symbols of what we want: to remain forever young. And our perpetual state of adolescence shows in the teens of "Twilight," teens who are certainly not competing with Max Schreck anytime soon, or even romantic Bela Lugosi. Poor Bela would be considered too old now. So would Gary Oldman in Coppola's underrated, beautiful "Bram Stoker's Dracula." And that's not fair. Though George Bernard Shaw famously said, "Youth is wasted on the young," one could only imagine what he'd have to say about our current crop of vampire vixens. It's now Bella for Bela.
True Romance
I know a lot of people dislike the "Twilight" series. They think it's all a bunch of trashy, silly, romantic fluff. And though I will admit that the extreme baseball game the vamps play in the first "Twilight" annoyed me to no end (vampires don't play baseball!), I admired many things about the "Twilight" saga. Chiefly, that it's un-ironic. And in a culture soaked with irony, one that enjoys making fun of everything (wait for the inevitable "Twilight"-inspired, Wayans-produced lampoon called -- what else? -- "Vampire Movie"), it's refreshing to see teens embracing romance. Even if Kristen Stewart's Bella and Robert Pattinson's Edward exchange a ridiculous amount of smoldering glances in the lunch room (vampires don't eat in the lunch room! Vampires don't eat!), I love that "Twilight" has tapped into our need of the "Wuthering Heights"-style, raging-on-the-heath bodice ripper. Edward is very clearly a Byronic, Heathcliff character to Bella's lovelorn Catherine -- unapologetically so. I know the movies were adapted from writer Stephenie Meyer's successful books, and it's always good to see kids (heck anyone of any age) reading again, but I hope this kind of gothic romance drags kids toward the Bronte sisters, who, apologies to Miss Meyer, were far superior novelists. Again, I hope. But like those sexy vamps, hope reigns eternal.
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