🩸Why Do People Like Vampires So Much❓

Ten years ago, when the doomsday legend became widespread, two dramas about vampires become popular at the same time, and people were obsessed with the vampires in The Vampire Diaries and True Blood.

A decade has past, and the doomsday hasn't come yet, but the subject of vampires is still so popular. That is exactly my first reaction when I saw the news that Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles is being remade.

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)

The movie "Interview with the Vampire" was released in 1994. It’s a year that Classic films such as The Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump, Léon: The Professional, and Pulp Fiction were all released. The remade reasons vary much, but the most possible one may be related to Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, the male lead pair. And thanks to their attendance.

And in the film history there are many more such classic vampire works. Today, taking the opportunity of "Interview with the Vampire" being remade this year, let's take a look at those classic vampire-themed works and characters.

And why do people love vampires so much?

Where do vampires come from?

Vampire fans all know the legend of the vampire. The ancestor of vampires is said to be Cain, who kills his brother out of jealousy. In fact, this claim, derives its basis on the description of the setting in the 1990s RPG "World of Darkness", and is not an official one.

In the 18th century, vampire literature became popular in Europe. It's not hard to understand that most of these works have some erotic elements. Vampires sank their teeth into people's carotid arteries and ate blood for a living, this act was notoriously sexually suggestive.

When it comes to 19th century, with the birth of film, the vampire films also emerged. Some of the early films with the title "vampire" simply borrowed some elements of vampire, such as Les vampires released in 1915.

Les Vampires (1915)

Most of the rumors about vampires, on the other hand, are more deeply associated with epidemics or wars. If you consider what's the relationship between 2022 and 2012, do they have some connections? In fact, the former is related to doomsday legend, and the other is related to an unprecedented epidemic of infectious diseases, which gives you some idea of why people are falling in love with vampires again.

Dracula, the superstar of vampires

Dracula was called "Nosferatu" for the first appearance on the big screen. The vampire count, who lives alone in an old castle, made his debut in 1922 with a pointy-toothed, bald look.

In Horror of Dracula (1958), he transformed into an aristocratic gentleman. Beginning from this time, the vampires become more and more handsome in vampire-theme works.

Nosferatu (1922)

The first impression of Dracula of most fans comes from 1992's Dracula. In the film, Dracula is no longer a bloodthirsty monster, but a character who rebels against divine authority and is thus trapped in eternal life.

Since then, more and more creators incorporate richer interpretations of vampires, rather than just linking them to thrillers and pornography.

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

Love, of course, is the most classic theme, and can be most widely promoted. "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (1992) chooses a good entry point – their past and present lives. For the vampires, they have endless lives, what can be better to express the tension of love than they lose love again and again?

But love theme is more like a double-edged sword; after too much repeating, it finally declined with "The Twilight Saga". The vampire genre also seems to return to the beginning, people felt bored about it again.

Twilight (2008)

Innovation in the new version of "Interview with the Vampire"

After the continuous deconstruction and reconstruction of the vampire theme, the vampire story seems a little old-school. Fortunately, in the episodes of "Interview with the Vampire", we see some new things.

The most controversial point of the series previously, Jacob Anderson, a black actor, who has been chose to act Louis. The previous images of vampires were almost white handsome men and women. And the series also opens with a direct shot at Lester and Louis' identities as gay men. It is for this reason that "vampire" represents a brand-new meaning – living in the "dark side".

As the name implies, vampires fear the sun, just as Louis fears of admitting his gay identity in the 1910s. The process of Lester's transformation into a vampire also become complex.

The Vampire Chronicles (2022)

It is true that the first lesbian vampire character showed as early as 1960 in the French film Blood and Roses. Instead of expressing an attitude of 'embracing yourself', the homoeroticism elements in the film seems strange.

Et mourir de plaisir (1960)

Perhaps we can regard this kind of creation, which associates vampires with LGBTQ as an inevitable product of the times, instead of obeying the "political correctness", the subject of vampires get something new in the current times.

TNT Magazine once conducted a reader survey, asking the question "why are vampires so popular today" and their answers seem to indicate the root cause. Vampires are not bound by the daily routine; they are able to express their true desires. Erin Collopy summarizes their views as "the popularity of vampire culture reflects a projection of people's inner anxieties and desires.”

One reader writes a poetic definition of vampires, "Vampires are the decency of an old age and new represents the freedom of new era."

And how would a real vampire feel when he reads this compliment from a human?