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The Message of Twilight

Movies are dangerous things. They send us messages which we are strangely unable to resist, thus moulding our behaviour and forcing us to see the world in ways we might not have noticed by ourselves. Movies bite! Little wonder, in a country, like the United States, that makes so many movies in which the gun solves almost any problem, there is so much gun violence. We, the audience, are passive receptors of whatever message the movie throws our way. Or, so some would have you think. The argument over just how much we are influenced by the media is an old one. It is, nonetheless, one that we should take seriously. Quite how movies affect us, and the extent, may be open to debate. That they do, is not. If you don’t leave the cinema – or the TV - feeling all warm and fuzzy inside after watching Field of Dreams (1989), there’s probably something wrong with you. Likewise, who isn’t aware of the audience response to The Exorcist (1973) upon its initial release? Simply put, you can
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The Seventies Begin: Count Yorga, Vampire

The 1970s have been called “The Vampire Decade” (cf. Stacy Abbott  (2007) Celluloid Vampires: Life After Death in the Modern World ) and you can easily see why. In 1970 alone, Christopher Lee appeared in three films playing his signature role of Count Dracula. Two of these films were for Hammer Films , the other for Jesús Franco, of whom the Guardian said was a “creator of erotic horror” and a “dedicated exponent of weird sex” and a “vast and complex body of work”. That same year, the first of the decade still, saw Ingrid Pitt kick-off Hammer’s ‘Lesbian Vampire’ trilogy in The Vampire Lovers – a subgenre to which Franco was almost destined to contribute (1971’s Vampyros Lesbos ) – and Dan Curtis’ final killing off of Barnabas Collins in “House of Dark Shadows”. And, of course, 1970 gave us probably one of the best vampires ever committed to celluloid immortality in Robert Quarry’s portrayal of Count Yorga, Vampire . Bob Kelljan’s film is to be noted for several reasons. If they’d
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Spot the Difference: "Let the Right One In"; vs. "Let Me In"

Obviously, the first noticeable difference is between the titles – the English title to the Swedish film is a warning, whereas the American title is a command. This simple difference, as much as anything in the two films, should tell you all you need to know about the purpose of each – Tomas Alfredson’s film warns of the choices we make and their consequences, whereas, not unsurprisingly, Matt Reeves’ film portrays victims subservient to the whim of fate. I wasn’t surprised by Reeves’ approach to the material because it is a rare American or Hollywood movie that depicts nuances between good and evil. Most American movies assume a fairly diametrical opposition between the forces of good and evil and rarely place us in a position in which we have to make choices or decide for ourselves. This is why Reeves’ film opens with the cops giving an escort to the ambulance taking ‘The Father’ to hospital after he’s doused himself with acid. Thus, we are told that this is the ‘bad guy’, and don
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