Alternate Takes 11.21.09: Modern Vampire Flicks

Posted by Shawn S. Lealos on 11.21.2009

New Moon hits theaters this weekend and the recent vampire craze continues. This week, Alternate Takes looks at the last vampire craze with movies ranging from The Lost Boys to Shadow of the Vampire.



Welcome to Week 78 of Alternate Takes. I am your host Shawn S. Lealos and you have now entered my world.

Let's start with your comments:

* John Cusack himself checked in pimping the following movies: Grosse Pointe Blank, Better off Dead, One Crazy Summer, Say Anything, The Grifters, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Runaway Jury. Well, Mr. Cusack, all these are fine choices and I did include Say Anything in my list of 5 Alternate Takes. The Grifters and Grosse Point Blank were the last two movies I dropped from the list, choosing instead to use the action movie Con Air, for the main purpose as to contrast it with 2012's release. I want everyone to understand these movies are ranked by my preference but are, basically, alternate movies to watch instead of (or in addition to) the movie coming out that weekend and not necessarily the Top 5 movies ever in the specific subject matter, although High Fidelity would be number one regardless.

* Zman wanted to see Grosse Point Blank on my list. Diavo liked the choice of High Fidelity for my number one movie but doesn't like either 1408 or Con Air. Michael L wanted Sure Thing, but I have to admit to having never seen that movie. Paul Allen also believes Better Off Dead, The Grifters and Runaway Jury belonged on the list.

* Norm Peterson was a little more in depth with his thoughts, so I'll reprint them here: "Better Off Dead is by far my favorite Cusack movie. I was born in 82 so I grew up watching that movie over and over in the 80's. Hell in the 90's and even now since I own it. I'm surprised and a little disappointed that didn't make the list. And I agree with the person who mentioned The Sure Thing. I thought that was a decent 80's flick. I could see that being part of one of those Double Feature DVDs with Say Anything... someday. Although I do love High Fidelity. That movie is awesome and never gets old. And thank fucking Christ, Jeremy Piven isn't in it." I have to disagree here with the Jeremy Piven hate because he was awesome in P.C.U., a movie that came out around the same time period.

* Antigomus apparently believes Grosse Point Blank is the only John Cusack movie worth talking about and scrolled down the article, choosing not to read it because it was not one of the five I talked about. Thanks for the page hit anyway!

* AngryTas hated 1408, and we will have to agree to disagree. Andrew wanted some love for Serendipity but I really didn't care for the movie that much. I'd take America's Sweethearts over it any day of the week. He also mentioned Sixteen Candles but I featured that movie a few weeks back when I talked about The Brat Pack.

Onto this week's column...

The second Twilight film New Moon hits theaters this weekend and all I read online is people moaning about the state of the vampire movie. With the Twilight series, as well as TV shows like True Blood and The Vampire Diaries, the blood sucking freaks are back in a big way. But is this the type of vampire we know and love? I argue that it is. Sure, it is not Dracula, neither Bela Lugosi's version nor Christopher Lee's. But this is not the first time the legend of the vampire has been morphed to fit in with the times. Many, many years ago - all the way back in the eighties, when I was a teenager - it happened as well. It was a new time, a yuppie influenced world. There was a resurgence of vampires at that time as well, a world with comedic vampire tales such as Once Bitten and campy, crazed vampire films like Fright Night. It was a different time back then, a time when young kids went hunting to kill the vampires and a time when the legend of the vampire was used as a movie within a movie. It all came to a head when Dracula was resurrected in cinemas and almost died when his mythos tied into the death of Christ. But along the way there were glorious films featuring the undead and, in this week's Alternate Takes, I am going to look at five of those movies, some as old as 1987 and one as recent as 2000. New Moon might not be for you, but here are some alternate vampire movies that might be right up your alley.

5. FROM DUSK TILL DAWN (1996) Directed by Robert Rodriguez Written by Quentin Tarantino Cast: Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Juliette Lewis, Ernest Liu, Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Tom Savini, Fred Williamson, Michael Parks When Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez first teamed up, I expected something special. I love Tarantino thanks in large part to Pulp Fiction, and found the brilliance of Reservoir Dogs after the fact. Robert Rodriguez remains an inspiration to me as a filmmaker, making El Mariache for a shoestring budget and following it up with the awesome Desperado. I couldn't wait to see what they could accomplish together. Tarantino wrote the script and Rodriguez directed the movie and the results are brilliant. From Dusk Till Dawn starts off as a typical Tarantino flick as The Gecko brothers, two bank robbers played by George Clooney and Tarantino, are on the run. Most kids today don't know of a time when George Clooney wasn't a "movie star" but when he was cast in this movie, he was not. Tarantino cast Clooney, who at the time was only known as Dr. Ross from ER. Some might even know him from as far back as George, the handyman from The Facts of Life. While Return of the Killer Tomatoes! is a minor cult classic, Tarantino introduced Clooney to the world of big budget films and he has never looked back. The movie starts as a Tarantino-esque caper with the brothers on the run, taking a former minister, experiencing a crisis of faith, and his kids as hostages. They reach an old bar past the Mexican border where the brothers are to meet their contact for the job. When I saw this movie the first time, knowing nothing about the plot, I was enjoying the ride. Then Salma Hayek comes out and does a solo performance with a large snake and when you think the movie is heading in one direction, the bar's patrons turn into vampires and attack. The movie went from fun to epic in that one scene. Add points on for two vampire hunters in the bar known as Sex Machine and Frost, played by genre icons Tom Savini (Dawn of the Dead) and Fred Williamson (Black Cobra). It also includes an awesome scene where a young boy is ripped apart by vampires, ala Dawn of the Dead. The movie is great fan, with added pathos by superior actors such as Harvey Keitel, Rodriguez favorite Danny Trejo and Tarantino muse Michael Parks. For added entertainment, look for the documentary Full Tilt Boogie, a two hour film which chronicles the making of the movie.

4. VAMPIRE'S KISS (1989) Directed by Robert Bierman Written by Joseph Minion Cast: Nicolas Cage, Maria Conchita Alonso, Jennifer Beals I find that many people both misunderstand and underrate this Nicolas Cage film. The film is a precursor for the superior American Psycho in that the movie may, or may not, all take place in the mind of the lead character. Cage stars as Peter Loew, a yuppie literary agent, who lives his life through one-night-stands. When Peter possibly is bitten by a vampire (Jennifer Beals) he suddenly believes he is becoming a vampire as well. Peter begins to grow increasingly insane, flipping his couch over to serve as a self-made coffin, buying fake fangs from a novelty store and attacking a girl in a nightclub, and most infamously, eating a live cockroach. By the end of the movie, Peter is completely psychotic, possibly killing the woman at the club, stalking the "vampire" who turned him and raping a coworker. People going into this movie expecting a vampire movie or a dark comedy were taken completely off guard. But a closer study shows the strong link between this movie and Bram Stoker's original tale of the vampire named Dracula. Vampire's Kiss echoes the sentiments of the original vampire novel closely. It is almost a reaction to Stoker's story, using the idea of AIDS as a symbol for the advent of the "disease." Beals character bears a strong resemblance to the vampire women in Stoker's novel as well, possessing the male victim and sending him into depths of madness, similar to that of Jonathan Harker in the original novel. By this time, it doesn't matter if Peter is really a vampire or not because he believes himself to be one and his attack on the woman in the club pushes him over that line. There is only one place to go, and that is the end of a stake, which the movie supplies us with as well. Just as in American Psycho, we never know what is real in this movie and what Peter has imagined in his mind. Regardless of those facts, we get an allegory of sex and violence prevalent in all vampire tales. Nicolas Cage has often been accused of going over-the-top but in this case it is warranted. There is a popular column here on 411 called Misunderstood Masterpieces and, not to steal his taglines, but Vampire's Kiss is a misunderstood masterpiece.

3. THE LOST BOYS (1987) Directed by Joel Schumacher Written by Janice Fischer, James Jeremias and Jeffrey Boam Cast: Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Jami Gertz, Edward Hermann, Barnard Hughes, Dianne Wiest The Lost Boys is a movie that screams eighties. Directed by Joel Schumacher, this movie fits his style to a tee. While many Batman fans decried his "colorization" of the Caped Crusader and homosexual undertones (especially with the Robin character), those themes fit perfectly in this teen vampire flick. While it is not widely known, The Lost Boys was originally conceived to be a vampire reworking of the Peter Pan story. All that remains of the original ideas are the title and the missing father figure for the lead character. What results instead is a horror flick that fits in well with the other kid flicks of the era such as The Goonies and Teen Wolf as directed by the man who made St. Elmo's Fire. The original script also called for the vampires to be kids around 12-13 to fit into the Goonies dynamic. When Schumacher came aboard he retooled it to be teenagers which he considered "more sexy." I don't know about "sexy" but the cast is an iconic one increasing my love for this film. This is, by far, the best movie starring the Corey's as a duo. Corey Feldman is especially brilliant in this movie, giving him memorable roles in two of the best cult genre pictures of the generation (along with Goonies). His performance as Edgar Frog is my favorite performance of his in any movie and he gives some of the best lines, many of which I can still recite today. Corey Haim is less interesting, but that is normal for him at the time. He is an actor who gives his all but is always upstaged by others. He is upstaged here by Corey Feldman, upstaged in Silver Bullet by Gary Busey and upstaged in Watchers by a freaking golden retriever. What he does possess is a unique ability to make you believe he is going to die at any minute. The guy seems that helpless and watching the short-lived reality show The Corey's, it might just be the way he is. Jason Patric is just the right amount of cool as the brother who starts to become a vampire. However, the stars of the movie are the vampires, led by Kiefer Sutherland's cool-as-ice David. Don't forget to take notice of Alex Winter in the only role of his career that matters outside of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. And the movie also possesses the coolest grandpa ever in Bernard Hughes. It isn't a great movie. There is too much glossy filmmaking, trying to be cool instead of scary. Whenever things get too frightening, they cut to a comedic moment and the movie feels like it is trying too hard to feel like a Spielberg fantasy instead of a horror movie. The pretty boy vampires might annoy some but the entire glamour with vampires is to live forever, to stay young and live hard. This movie pushes that envelope to the edge. The kids do a great job in this movie, the soundtrack is killer and "Cry Little Sister" is still one of the best original songs to come from a horror movie. The movie is silly and over-the-top but it is still something I will stop and watch anytime.

2. SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE (2000) Directed by E. Elias Merhige Written by Steven A. Katz Cast: John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Udo Kier, Cary Elwes, Catherine McCormack, Eddie Izzard, John Aden Gillet A few times, there is a movie that I hear about and will drive any distance to see it. These are always low budget affairs that don't make it to major cities and only play in smaller, more prestigious venues. I hear about it through word of mouth and the rest of the world discovers it by accident when it finally hits DVD. Memento was one of those movies. That same year another movie came out that received great reviews and was hard to find. I found it, drove some distance to see it in theaters and was not disappointed. That movie is Shadow of the Vampire. The movie uses the classic vampire film Nosferatu and supposes that the actor who played Count Orlok was, in fact, a real vampire hired by the film's director F.W. Murnau to authenticate his movie. In exchange, Murnau offered the neck of his lead actress as payment for the services. Willem Dafoe portrays real actor Max Shreck and is completely unrecognizable in the role. John Malkovich plays Murnau, the German Expressionist filmmaker who brought the world movies such as Nosferatu, The Last Laugh and Faust. Also starring in the film are German legend Udo Kier, Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride) and comedian Eddie Izzard. The film is very careful to portray the filmmaking techniques during the silent era as accurately as possible. It also takes time to show certain scenes in the same style as the original Nosferatu was shot in. It is an amazing film, even more-so considering the director, E. Elias Merhige, a man who has not done anything of note since then (and I include Suspect Zero as nothing of note). Screenwriter Steven A. Katz has also been MIA since the movie and it seems this work of brilliance might be a one-time shot-in-the-dark for these filmmakers. But luckily for them, if they never make another movie, what they accomplished with this one is more than most filmmakers accomplish in a lifetime.

1. NEAR DARK (1987) Directed by Katherine Bigelow Written by Steven-Charles Jaffe Cast: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein, Bill Paxton This year a movie came out that raised a lot of eyebrows and sits atop many critics best-of lists. I have not seen The Hurt Locker yet, but having seen Near Dark, I am not surprised at Katherine Bigelow's ability to make a movie like this. Now, I am not saying that her vampire western is anywhere near the quality of the Iraq war movie but she proved to me in this early effort that she is a talent to watch. Bigelow has made some great movies over her career including Point Break and Strange Days but before this year, Near Dark was her masterpiece. Made the same year as The Lost Boys, Near Dark is better than that movie in every way, a high compliment considering my feelings about Schumacher's film. It is a vampire movie that never uses the word vampires in the entire script and has a cast that brings so much greatness to their roles you can't help but be impressed. Where The Lost Boys is a bright, vibrant MTV movie in every aspect, Near Dark is a dark, brooding movie. While modern day vampires are a beautiful pack, Near Dark portrays them as a travelling brood, ready to slaughter and maim anyone in order to get what they need. The leader of the pack, Civil War veteran Jesse ("We lost"), is played with reckless abandon by horror legend Lance Henriksen but the true star of the movie is Bill Paxton as the sociopath Severen. Paxton steals every scene he is in and, outside of Aliens, this is the best role of his career. There is also a very nasty old man played by 13-year old Joshua Miller. Owing as much to Walter Hill and John Ford as to Bram Stoker, Bigelow made a movie that avoided the camp of The Lost Boys and Fright Night and remains a serious look at the nomadic children of the night as they terrorize and kill bikers and country boys, all while traveling the country like a band of gypsies. It is one of the best overall horror films of the eighties and one of the best vampire movies of all time.

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