To be honest, vampires haven’t been on my radar screen since Francis Coppola released his version of “Dracula” in 1992. And frankly, once you’ve seen Gary Oldman as the evil count from Transylvania, any other portrayal of genus sanguinis imbibitor (drinker of blood) seems mawkish and ham-fisted.
Vampire tales in literature can be traced back at least as far as the short German poem “The Vampire” by Heinrich August Ossenfelder, published in 1748. There was something of a vampire craze in 18th century German literature, primarily in poetry. Even Goethe made use of the theme in “The Bride of Corinth” (1797).
It was only natural that English Gothic novelists of the early 19th century would make use of the vampire motif, and by mid-century sanguinis imbibitor had become a familiar fixture in Victorian literature.
An early example is John William Polidori’s “The Vampyre,” (1819) which was inspired by the life and legend Lord Byron (Polidori was Byron’s friend and personal physician). Polidori’s tale was originally attributed to Byron, but that same year Byron began to publish his epic masterpiece, “Don Juan,” which might be viewed as a daylight version of the vampire tale, in verse.
Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla” (1872) was another popular version of the vampire motif, with a twist: the vampire was a lesbian. And Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” (1897) is the benchmark of the genre, having spawned countless clones in both pulp literature and films.
Although vampires have appeared in various guises over the past 250 years, a common feature has always been a strong sexual or fetishistic component. While this element is undoubtedly present in “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” the general tone seems to be an amalgam of prime-time soap and traditional horror. There’s a heavy dose of GGI, which is de rigueur for any film geared towards an audience too young to recall 8-track tapes, and (Baby Boomer alert) the lead players all look like poster kids for “Tiger Beat.”
Kristen Stewart is clearly the front-and-center attraction in “Twilight,” and she’s certainly not awful to look at. There’s been talk that she might be tapped to play the lead in the Americanized (read: trashed) version of the Swedish hit “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” but I’m not sure she could pull it off.
The lead character in the Swedish franchise, Lisbeth Salander, is a maladjusted, semi-autistic savant and hacker whiz, with a photographic memory. Noomi Rapace, the actress who played her in the film trilogy, was able to suggest an abundance of troubled waters beneath a spookily calm surface. Stewart usually looks pouty, as though she’s feeling peeved about a bad case of split ends. I’m skeptical that she has the depth to draw on to suggest the complexity of the Salander character. Moreover, I can never decide if her general affect is sultry, sleepy or anemic. Perhaps that very ambiguity is a large part of her appeal. Then again, maybe she needs to give in to her vampire urges, and fortify her blood.
The film stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Peter Facinelli, Jackson Rathbone and Elizabeth Reaser, and was directed by David Slade. Theatrical release is scheduled for June 30th.
From the Press Kit:
In THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger as Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between Edward and Jacob — knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella is confronted with the most important decision of her life.
– Summit Entertainment