Flying Rights

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Remember the days when vampire movies didn't need super powers and the ability to fly in order to compete with other CG thrillers? I do. Their peculiarities aside, vampires used to be shlep around and suck blood somewhat normally. No longer. When did they become flying bullets? Was it with Len Wiseman's Underworld? Before? If vampires can stop cars from slamming into people, does this mean they can also stop falling jumbo jets from slamming into baseball stadiums? Can they now theoretically lift ocean liners out of the water and hurl them into space orbit?

Thriller- and monster-movie producers these days don't respect anything. Accepting boundaries or a semblance of within-the-genre genre credibility be damned! The term for such behavior is "professionally sociopathic." All they want to do is put enough cool stuff in their films so kids won't say "the other film was cooler." Directors are just as guilty (i.e., willing). Twilight will make money, but this is malevolent thinking all the same.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on May 10, 2008 at 4:23 AM

comment #1

EDouglas says ...

Seriously, how did Summit get their hands on this franchise? Even without seeing this trailer, I imagined something between "Blood and Chocolate" (teen werewolf movie) and "The Covenant" (teen witches movie)... and it looks just as bad as both of them. I'll never understand today's teens but if this movie does well, I'll really feel as if I've crossed that old curmudgeon barrier where there's no going back.

Posted by EDouglas at May 10, 2008 5:12 AM

comment #2

nemo says ...

All your old school vampire had to do was look fabulous, like David Bowie.

Posted by nemo at May 10, 2008 8:35 AM

comment #3

Edward says ...

Yuck!

Posted by Edward at May 10, 2008 9:14 AM

comment #4

Edward says ...

Looks like it should be a series on the CW next season.

Posted by Edward at May 10, 2008 9:15 AM

comment #5

dangovich says ...

Most notable to me is that the guy is walking around in the daytime. The whole vampire myth was based on the idea that you were giving up something in return for immortality. Now, you gain a bunch of superpowers and apparently lose nothing. Where's the conflict in that? I guess a nocturnal, feral creature doesn't appeal to the teen demo, so they go with the emo dreamboat aesthetic instead.

Posted by dangovich at May 10, 2008 10:50 AM

comment #6

D.Z. says ...

Just read http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Knight-1-Matsuri-Hino/dp/1421508222/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210446930&sr=1-2
instead.

Posted by D.Z. at May 10, 2008 12:16 PM

comment #7

Bocephus says ...

Super powered vampires are nothing new. Stroker's Dracula could turn into a black wolf, could control minds, and I think I could remember him being able to fly. In Herzog's he could summon swarms of rats. In the old movies they could turn into bats. Anne Rice's vampires have had super-speed, strength, and other powers since 1976. There is actually a vampire superhero named Morbius who first showed up in the seventies.

That said, what annoys me about these movies is that they are action films, and usually bad ones. They are not scary, and that's the problem with them. Give me another one like Herzog's Nosferatu, which was more a classic tragedy than a horror film. Or something low budget and creepy like The Addiction. All you need for a great vampire movie is a good pair of fake fangs.

Posted by Bocephus at May 10, 2008 12:28 PM

comment #8

Pelham123 says ...

There was a story on NPR yesterday about the author of the books this movie is based on. They are calling the books, what else, the new "Harry Potter". Her latest, not of this series, has a first printing of 2.5 million copies. As Edward mentioned, this looks like a new series for the CW and that ain't good. Yuck, indeed.

Posted by Pelham123 at May 10, 2008 12:29 PM

comment #9

scooterzz says ...

i read sometime ago that the cw was trying to bag this as a series.....with only three books out (soon to be four) this series of novels is every bit as popular as the 'gossip girl' books......

Posted by scooterzz at May 10, 2008 10:06 PM

comment #10

folio says ...

Vampires have been super-powered from the start in writing. Some of these powers became lost or changed as they were put on film. In the book Dracula, he has the following abilities:

1. Can walk in daylight albeit not strong sunlight.
2. Is very strong
3. Is extremely fast
4. Can change his form (smoke, a wolf etc.)
5. Can see through the eyes of those he has marked.
6. Can call others to him.

IIRC, the vampire women can also fly as they appear out of the sky when they attack Harker, but i don't remember Drac himself flying.

His major handicaps are:

1. Cannot cross running water unaided.
2. Is not as strong/fast and cannot change form in daylight.
3. Must sleep on his native soil.

Initial movies focused on the scary and seductive qualities rather than the super powers.

While stopping a car from smashing him may not be vampire cannon, it is not that far away from the original skill set.

Posted by folio at May 10, 2008 11:53 PM

comment #11

bb says ...

Every vampire movie I can remember sets the ground rules for that particular movie at some point. And they are always different. And often characters comment when the rules differ from what they thought.

But this does look like a CW series.

Posted by bb at May 11, 2008 11:00 AM

comment #12

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comment #13