Top 10 books made into movies – by EmJ

#1 Lord of the Rings

#2 Harry Potter

#3 Twilight

#4 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

#5 Eragon

#6 Interview with the Vampire

#7 X-Men

#8 Bram Stoker’s Dracula

#9 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

#10 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Top 5 books made into TV-series

#1 True Blood

#2 Alice in Wonderland

#3 Smallville

#4 Vampire Diaries

#5 The Little Vampire

Brought to you by OBS Staff member Emily-June.

Vampires: Myth, Superstition or Reality?

Today vampires are like rock-stars – rock-stars into a chamber of horror. They are mostly gorgeous, cool, smart, well dressed and they are rich. But not in the beginning. It began all as a tale, a myth. The myth about bloodsucking creatures is well known since thousands of years ago – mostly popular in Eastern Europe. Who was  the first vampire? That’s a question which has not been decided.

Actually one of the first is named in the Bible – deduced from the fratricide. After Kain killed Abel, God banished him from his land and he started to eat flesh and drink blood – because he wasn’t able to farm any more. It’s also told that Kain hide himself in caves because he was afraid of other people’s thirst for revenge. Kain is also bond to Lilith – originally a female ‘Mesopotamian storm demon’ associated with wind. She was thought to be a bearer of disease, illness, and death. According to Martin Luther, she is kind of a night-ghost. You see, a lot of parts of vampire faith here: blood, air-creature, night-active.

But the most reliable stories are about mass-murderers which wanted the people to believe that there are bloodsuckers around them. Like the one about Vlad III. Tepes Draculea.

One of the most well known vampires is Vlad Tepes – his life and doing was basis for Bram Stocker and his novel ‘Dracula’. It’s told that Vlad III., loved to stake his enemies – what gave him his name ‘Tepes’ (staker), posthumously. And Draculea means ‘Son of dragon’ – because Vlad’s father was part of the ‘Order of Dragons’. And not what wrong translations tell sometimes ‘Son of the devil’, because ‘Drac’ means devil in Romania.

Vlad hated his father (because during the Turkish invasion he left him and his brother as dead pledge to Sultan Muhrad II) and he was very rebellious, so he was flogged very often. His custodian also gave him human-meat, animal-balls and dirt to eat. All of these early experiences made him a cruel and hard-leading man. 1459 he staked about 30.000 German settlers and officials. He learned this method during his Turkish imprisonment – there stalked people had been pilloried in towns for determent. Vlad Tepes did his kind of stalking in varieties but mostly his prey lived on for hours or days.

During his raids against anarchy in Wallachia he destroyed huge areas in very short time and he killed ten thousand people.

His subjects where very afraid of him. The headpiece was nailed to everybody’s head who refused to put it down when Vlad was around. It’s also affirmed that enemies had been cooked and roasted or they had to eat their own family. Beggar, poor and ill people had been like thieves for Vlad (he invited them to a feast, locked the building and burned it down) and he cut of the boobs of cheating women.

But he also was a hero for his nation, because he defeated rebellion and requicked trade and culture after the time of war and starving.

The Turkish conflicts lasted Vlads whole life. He poisoned rivers and lakes, resettled people and animals (to make the Turkish army walking through abandoned land) and recruited even women and kids to fight them. He also made ill people (with tuberculosis and pestilence) to join and weak his enemies. But the Turkish leader Mehmed went on, he wanted to siege the capital. But this was unnecessary, because the gates where open and the town was abandoned. There had only been 20.000 staked Turkish and Muslimism Bulgarian people. Now stories about Vlads supernatural energy began – and the outmanned Turkish army backed out.

At the end his fight against the Ottoman Empire took his life. In 1476 he fell into a trap, his bodyguards were stalked and Tepes beheaded. His head was brought to Konstantinopel, his body buried in an abbey near Snagov. But when his grave was opened, there was nothing in …

Another story is about Elisabeth Bathory, the Countess of Blood. Born at the end of the 16th century, Elisabeth Bathorny was one of the richest royals in Hungary and she became a very influential monarch – what was very rare at this time.

There are many tales and myths about her family – like her brother was an insane Satanist and her sister a witch who sacrificed her own child as blood-victim. When Elisabeth was a child she had to watch two of her siblings being raped and hung up. Later when the offenders were caught they were tortured to death in front of her – and it’s told that she enjoyed it.

The night before her wedding with Ferenez Nadasdy (he was famous for his cruel raids) the drunken King Matthias II entered her room to ask her to marry him. After he left Elisabeth he beat her chambermaid near death. The whole wedding party got poisoned and so the king’s privilege about ‘the first night’ was irrelevant.

After the wedding Elisabeth was mostly alone, her husband was at raids. She killed time by orgies and torturing young women, mostly virgins. One of the girls yelled loud that Elisabeth pierced a scissor into her throat and cut the vocal chords. When pestilence came to Hungary the countess buried all people near her, ill or healthy, alive. Her mother told her in deathbed that two babies of her nanas died because Elisabeth needed so much milk.

But the name ‘Countess of Blood’ arose by reason of Elisabeth Bathory killing 600 women and then bathing in their blood. During the torturing blood was spread on her skin and she thought it made her look much younger. The torturing became more and more brutal – she ripped flesh from her prey and chewed it, virgins had been tortured under her supervision before they’d been killed. She didn’t care about the dead bodies (without blood) and so she only told her footmen to take them to near fields.

Her cousin Count Gyorgy Juraj Thurzo attacked her in 1610. He found her next to a girl which was empty of blood – and in her other rooms there had been a lot of other alive tortured girls. That was the end of the ‘Countess of Blood’ – the people who helped her were executed and Elisabeth was murdered in her room (only a little spot for food was left open) where she died four years later.

But let’s come back to 2009. There are two elements which are similar between the vampires 400 years ago, for example Edward Cullen. One is the fact that they are not dead anymore, and the other is that they need this fascinating essence, this red fluid which is running through our veins and which is a symbol for life: blood!

Humankind recognized very early that too much loss of blood means the person is going to die. That’s why they thought blood is the secret of life. But also blood is a symbol for ruin. Normally we only see it if something bad happens and all the knowledge about blood-infections it’s some kind of a loose cannon. It’s life-safer and life-taker.

According to the Islamic world Allah formed people from a blood-lump. Warriors from natives drank blood to gain strength. Aztecs made blood sacrifices to influence nature. Other traditions and religions say to respect or to avoid blood. Even in the Catholic Church (symbolized) Christ’s blood is to be drunk during the sacrament. On the other hand some sects forbid blood-transfusion.

Today we are in a civilized modern world – but still blood has something very mystical and is more than only organic matter. Blood is red and red is attached to interdictions and to erotic, too. And no other of all the horror-creatures is that bond to human blood than a vampire. Maybe that’s the reason why vampires inspire so many feelings in us.

So what do you think, myth, superstition or reality? Join us in the Forum for discussions.

Check back by the end of the month we’ll be featuring Werewolves!

International Trailer for ‘Inception’ Has More Scenes With Ken Watanabe

via Ace Show Biz
An international trailer for “Inception” has been debuted on Japanese TV during an interview with one of the stars, Ken Watanabe. Mixing scenes from the previously released sneak peek videos, the new trailer also includes some never-before-seen footage which feature the Asian actor.

The upcoming film focuses on Dom Cobb, an expert in stealing people’s secrets through their dream. His rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved.
Read More here

‘Splice’ Director Vincenzo Natali on His New Film and the Future of ‘Neuromancer’

By Jenni Miller at Black Book Mag

In [Splice], Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley play unusually good-looking geneticists who let their ambitions get the better of them when they create Dren, a strangely beautiful creature of mixed human and animal DNA. Things get wacky, and, well, you’ll have to see the thing to find out what we mean by that.

I understand that your point of inspiration was the Vacanti mouse experiment.
The Vacanti mouse was such a shocking image because it was basically a naked mouse with what appeared to be a human ear growing out of its back. It wasn’t a real ear. In fact, it wasn’t even a genetic experiment, but it was such a powerful image, and I think part of its power came from how vulnerable the mouse looked. I immediately identified with it. I really felt for it. It was speaking to some pretty strange avenues that are now opening up to us with the advent of this new technology, so I really think from its very earliest stages, Splice always put the emphasis, the emotional connection, on the creature.

Read More here

Movie soundtracks are designed to freak us out on an evolutionary level

By Cyriaque Lamar at io9

According to evolutionary biologists, movie music contains “unexpected” sounds that trigger primal reactions from audiences. In other words, our brains are hardwired to respond with fear to the Jaws soundtrack.

In a study led by evolutionary ecologist Daniel Blumstein of UCLA and published in the journal Biology Letters, researchers analyzed popular horror, drama, war, and adventure films for “non-linear analogues.”

These manipulated soundtracks contrast with the organic sounds of nature. For example, Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds relied on synthesized, artificial bird calls. No wonder Jaws made everyone afraid of sharks, what with John Williams’ jarring score.
Read More here

“Atlas Shrugged” to Begin Filming Next Month

from Worst Previews

For the last two decades Hollywood has unsuccessfully tried to bring Ayn Rand’s 1,100 page “Atlas Shrugged” to the big screen. Now comes word that John Aglialoro, who paid $1 million for the book rights over seventeen years ago, is tired of waiting and has now announced that he is financing the film himself. He has set a June 11th production start in Los Angeles and the project will be the first of four films made from the book.

Aglialoro is only weeks away from production and he has yet to cast actors to play Dagny Taggart, Hank Rerden, John Galt and other role. He is currently in talks with Charlize Theron and Maggie Gyllenhall to play Taggart. Word is that negotiations will fall apart, since both actresses are not willing to begin work by next month.

Read More here

20 Vampire Movies that break the Vampire Mould

By GreenGoblin at HorrorMovies.ca

There’s more than just Dracula, Lost Boys, Fright Night etc. of having the same old vampires of bloodsucking, to fangs to sun burning etc. even in novels, stories, TV shows, comics and movies because there are other breeds of vampires in world mythology such as in Africa, South America, Hawaii, Australia, Asia, New Zealand and even in Native American/Native Canadian myths.

1. The Hunger (1983): Excellent example of how a vampire isn’t the same creature you see in Ann Rice, Buffy, Dracula or Blade! John and Miriam played by David Bowie and Catherine Devenue are of the Egyptian breed of vampires where they have no fangs but sharp as razor blades human teeth that can still infect a human (Much like the ones in Near Dark and Twilight) and walk in the daylight without being killed, but they also have a sharp object to slit throats then suck blood and can age rapidly if not given treatment of more blood. They can be killed in the chest.

See the whole list here

What did you think of the new Inception trailer? Have you seen any of the movies on the different vampire list?

DRACULA: A VILLAIN IN BLACK AND WHITE

Source: Jane Sullivan at The Sydney Morning Herald

If you want a bestseller these days, you have to put a vampire in it. Or so it seems to me in a city bookshop, surveying the rows and rows of books under the “Paranormal” heading, all of them either by Stephenie Meyer or one of her numerous clones. I’m surprised the shelves aren’t dripping blood.

It’s an uncanny phenomenon, and in order to understand it better I decided to go back and read the mother of all vampire novels, Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It’s not the first vampire story by any means, but for more than a century it has captured the imagination of countless readers and has launched a dynasty of films.

Because of those films, we think we know Dracula. Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee in a cape and fangs, right? Heroes rushing around a crypt, a madman who eats insects, pale maidens languishing with mysterious puncture marks in their necks, and stakes through the heart. Hoary old cliches, good for a belly laugh rather than a shiver.

READ MORE HERE

This is a really interesting write up of the Classic tale of the most well known Vampire of them all (if you haven’t read the article – no, I’m not talking about Edward Cullen). I really like that Jane Sullivan was compelled to read Dracula to try to understand the vampire phenomenon.

What do you think? Are you a fan of Bram Stoker’s Dracula?

Join us in the forum to discuss!

moviesblog.mtv.com:

Forget the idea of retro-fitting old movies for 3-D, which sometimes reminds me too much of when Ted Turner thought it’d be a good idea to colorize classic films back in the mid-80s. Vampires are a much better trend. If you don’t believe me, just check out the mash-up video “Gone with the Wind with Vampires,” which takes the all-time top-grossing (adjusting for inflation) classic and tosses in a plot involving bloodsuckers. Rhett Butler as a Civil War-era Dracula? Or is he more like a 19th century Edward Cullen? Either way, it fits.

Here are five more classics that could be retro-fitted with vampires:

“Casablanca” (1942)
Never mind that WWII backdrop, this is now a story of a city in North Africa taken over by vampires. For the most part they let the humans there function normally, as long as the undead are kept moderately fed via regular donations (and gambling losses). But if the humans attempt to flee Casablanca, the deal is off and the rampant bloodsucking begins. Keeping things somewhat in check is the neutral Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), nightclub owner and intermediary, who deals directly and indifferently with the head vampire, Renault (Claude Rains). That is until the one human he cares about shows up.

More here

Lol this is hilarious, though it would kill my teacher to see one of his favorite classics like this . And I love how Dracula blends so well in some scenes.

What do you think of these vampire retro classics?

This OBS Speaks Out article was written by Anastasia Albom, a journalism student of OBS staff member Bertena.

Sasha Badreeva tells me, “Vampires are not real, but they are like a dream come true”. They may not be to everyone’s taste, but Vampires have got women, and fans like Sasha, in a frenzy. Despite these damned creatures of the night feasting on the blood of humans, many mortal women find them irresistible.

The infatuation with a Vampire seemed to be rooted in dark sadistic sexual thought that most would not even think of revealing. Then in stepped Edward Cullen.

The protagonist of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series is a tall pale and handsome new age vampire. He is a vegetarian, studies in the high school of a small US town and by the way does not sleep in a coffin, have an unconvincing Romanian accent or wear a tuxedo and cape. He even can’t get too close to a lover for fear of loosing control and killing her, which just makes women want, teenage girls, him even more.

The first Twilight film has grossed about £230million so far and Twi-mania has spread like wildfire, so much that the mortal Cullen, Robert Pattinson, is being hounded everywhere by women begging him to bite them as if that would do anything but be quite painful.

Of course now everyone’s feeling the vampire love with the trend growing from raunchy TV series True Blood and the increase in sales of vampire novels. Everyone seems ready to cash in on a woman’s vampire fantasy.

So what is it that makes vampires so appealing to so many women and, has cinema always made vampires seem attractive?

“There are three main themes in the way that women view Vampires” explains Bertena Varney, who is the advisor of Fantasy Book Club, which centres around vampire novels and writes for examiner.com, “as an escape, as a soul mate or as an erotic lover.”

Women who use them as an escape are independent and don’t need a man but have a longing to be used and to choose the path of loving a vampire. Mina from Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a good example of this. While being drawn to vampires as an erotic lover gives you someone with centuries of sexual experience that you can have for life.

Varney believes that women who see them as a soul mate are usually career women who for most of their lives and now they’re looking for that life-long partner. She says: “The vampire will love them for who they are and not offended by the powerful women of today. They will be there to support you and the best thing is unlike mortal men is that they will love you forever.”

The original vampire film from 1922 is the German silent film Nosferatu. It carries some of the most important scenes in cinema recognised even if you have not seen the entire film. It sees Count Orlak, Dracula, stiffly rising from his sleep on the ride he has hitched from Transylvania to Germany. The gruesome vampire with a crooked nose bushy eyebrows and protruding forehead are hardly the features of and modern eligible vampire. Dracula seems represented as an unnatural creature to be feared and you hardly feel envious of the pure young maiden he has chosen to lecherously prey upon. Hardly husband material.

However, fast forward exactly 70 years later and you have the next adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel with Hollywood’s finest Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves and Gary Oldman. The difference with this film is that it develops Dracula as a character showing him as a wolf that prowls the night and a polite handsome well dressed man that walks the day.

In recent cinema, Dracula and vampires in general have become creatures with different sides. While being a monster, they still have human qualities and are still being capable of loving, and something which a contemporary girl, like Mina, is ready to be with despite some setbacks. Bram Stoker’s Dracula also shows Dracula before he became a vampire with the women he loved and lost and as a vampire tries to rekindle that love with Mina.

The success of other vampire films before Twilight, such as Interview with a Vampire and Underworld also show beautiful vampires that are wrestling the monster within which women seem drawn to. These films pull women into the cinema because they use a Romeo and Juliet style plot which show star-crossed lovers trying to be together against all odds, which is so appealing.

But if vampires mean different things to women, what do female vampires mean to men? The answer is, not much. If you consider the Hollywood manly vampire films like Blade, it shows male characters armed head-to-toe in silver weapons ready to destroy the vampires, not love them. Also in the home-grown comedy Lesbian Vampire Killers- remember that flop- female vampires are seen as erotic lovers, but then the realisation that they could kill them quickly prompts the men to drive a steak in their hearts.

Now that teenage girls are under the spell, vampires have been ushered into the mainstream, but has this caused the original vampire story to be lost? Varney doesn’t believe it is wholly a vampire story. She says: “Twilight is basically a Romeo and Juliet story between a human and a character that says he’s a vampire.” Eventually, however, teenage girls will either move away from their vampire phase or continue into it.

“What will end up happening is that the young girls and teens will read another “vampire” book and decide no I don’t like it and go for romance or another genre or yes I do and continue with the traditional vampire stories.” She adds: “ Yes there is a vampire story out there for just about every teen, but vampires will always be a little main stream while still putting fear in you.” So for those looking for an age long relationship, your vampire soul mate may be out there.

What do you think?  Do you agree with the reasons cited in the article for vampires seem to be so appealing?