A typical example of what most people think of when they think of a vampire is the evil kind that preys on people, being very pale with fangs and possibly being able to transform into other animals, such as bats or dogs. 'Dracula' and 'Nosferatu' are both examples of stereotypical vampires and the films were some of the first to depict vampires. The 1922 German film 'Nosferatu' was based on Dracula but as the studio could not obtain the rights to the novel, the word 'vampire' was replaced with 'nosferatu' and the main character was names Count Orlok rather than Dracula.
Nosferatu is shown to be very tall and pale white in the film. He has features similar to those of a rodent, with pointed ears, jagged pointy teeth and long, sharp nails.
The Lost Boys, a 1989 film directed by Joel Schumacher, tells the story of a family that move to California and the two sons become involved with a group of vampires. The movie portrays vampires as living a typical 'Rock n Roll' lifestyle and being very good looking and glamourous, but also very cruel and bloodthirsty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_lwtRMg0ts
It does romanticise vampires, with the main female lead, Star, desperate to become one and following the group around all the times. This ties into the traditional vampire idea of men being dominant and women being submissive.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an incredibly popular American television series that started in 1997. It follows a teenager and her group of friends as they attempt to exterminate vampires,
The vampires in this are portrayed as monsters rather than people, as the series is from the perspective of Buffy and her friends. Although the vampires Spike and Angel are thought of as reformed vampires who help Buffy.
The Twilight films, based on the book by Stephanie Mayer, were extremely popular, and seemed to make vampires more popular than ever. There was a different target audience for these films however, with the majority of fans being teenage girls due to the nature and age of the characters. The vampires still crave blood but some are trying not to attack humans and when Edward Cullen falls in love with a human, it tells the story of their relationship.
The vampires also appear pale but are considered to be very attractive and there is hardly any gore sown in these films compared to others.
'True Blood' probably shows the more sexual side to vampires out of all of these, The vampires essentially look like normal people, able to disguise themselves to humans and can retract their fans. Some of them want to continue feeding on humans while some of them use a synthetic substitute to human blood, called 'Tru Blood'. The series mainly focuses on the relationship between a human, Sookie, and her vampire boyfriend, Bill.
Although there are lots of variations of vampires, it does seem that they are all mainly portrayed as having a dark and violent side but also coming across as quite attractive or romantic.
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