In 2022 we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the film’s release in France Nosferatu by the German Friedrich Murnau, the first true cinematic work with a central vampire character. A century later, the creature is everywhere on our screens and in very different genres. How has this representation of the vampire in fiction evolved over time?
Until the 70s, the vampire as a mirror of our fears
For fifty years, this character is represented as a scary being in numerous films about the famous Count Dracula, with Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee in the title role. VS‘sixIt was a period in which fears were projected on this creature: that of war, recession or abroad. “We don’t care about the vampirereports Jacques Sirgent, historian specializing in vampires. The important thing is what it represents for us, what it evokes in our unconscious. It awakens the fears, anxieties, aspirations, eroticism, violence of people. I don’t find the vampire scary, but commercially a scary movie makes a lot more money than a movie that isn’t. “
From 1967 to the 90s, a creature mocked and softened
We have to wait until 1967 and The Vampire Ball Roman Polanski to see vampires a little mocked. This is still the case with Vampire, did you say vampire? by Tom Holland, in 1985. Then another trend appears: that of vampires represented as sensual and sexual characters, as in the famous and baroque Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola in 1992. “There is this story of teeth”says Judith Beauvallet, from the YouTube channel Horror bridesmaids. In the Dracula of Coppola, vampires do not explicitly have sharp teeth. Gradually, we will try to create this sexier, perhaps more aesthetic ‘bloodsucker’ look and, then, to remove these two large, little-grown incisors to form pointed canines. We will try to attract the vampire towards a more romantic aspect, with a sexy dimension and more accessible to all. He is softer. “
From Buffy et Duska being with whom we identify (almost)
The latest trend: that of captivating and misunderstood vampires, with whom the public can identify and feel empathy. The cult series Buffy the Vampire Slayer he will do a lot in the 90s. Without forgetting the romantic saga Duskin bookstores and then in the cinema, where man becomes the outcast.
