Vampire Movies

Wir sind die Nacht is a German film about a group of female vampires which explores the question of gender (in a way that reminded me of Byzantium) as we get to see them in modern day Berlin. It features a few things uncommon in vampire movies (which is good) but at times it goes for a music video kind of vibe which may irk the viewer (that is a rather common thing in vampire movies). The first part is not devoid of substance but the emphasis on style can be slightly jarring. It gets better in the second part. Some of the scenes remain slightly ambiguous which is not a bad thing but one scene in particular is never fully explained and may remain a bit confusing unless you put the pieces together. In any case We are the Night has enough to set it apart from all the countless vampire movies. Whether or not you will see it as an interesting take on the genre or as a gritty Sex & the City with fangs will depend on your ability to get into the story.

I love this film and you've beaten me to it with your review - I've been intending to write about it for ages

I thought We Are The Night had a combination of substance and style that worked pretty well.  It's a slick and stylish film.

Imo the first section does have substance; for instance the scene where the 'newbie' is taught a lesson regarding the need to feed is well realised.

Two aspects stood out for me; one was the juxtaposition between her physical transformation and her internal turmoil; the second was the walking up walls scene where she begins to discover her abilities.  Both were neatly explored.

The gender situ that's described by the head vampire raised quite a chuckle at Frightfest.

It was a very cheap jab considering that what they said about male vampires could have been said about them as well... 

But I don't think we're supposed to side with them anyway. There is this great ambiguity about them being both alluring and incredibly obnoxious at the same time.  

I wasn't too impressed by the walking on the walls scene because frankly it's been shown so many times in so many films that it didn't grab my attention and as far as I'm concerned it didn't stand out that much.

The bath tub scene however did impress me. I thought it was a clever way to show the transformation and it worked really well visually. I would even say that it's one of the most striking scenes in the entire film (this one and the scene just before the ending).

Regarding the substance vs style, it seems to me that this dichotomy is to be found in the characters themselves. The group is clearly all about style (fashion, sports cars, etc) but Louise seem to be looking for substance, i.e. the meaning that keeps eluding them because Louise's companions can't bring any answers. Charlotte is stuck in the past and it is obvious that she can no longer contain her boredom while Nora can only embrace the shallow veneer of her party girl persona to conceal how miserable and lonely she must feel. The irony is that it's Louise who needs them (thus echoing the idea that permeates Rice's novels, i.e. older vampire needing new vampires to embrace the spirit of the age).

Does anyone remember watching My Best Friend is a Vampire? I'm sure I've seen it but I can't remember much about it.

I've never seen it, but the main actor was popular in late eighties/ early nineties.

Yep Dead Poets Society and all that, he was also on House MD.

I've watched a vampire spoof with a young Jim Carrey, Once Bitten, it definitely has that 80s thing going on. Not too bad as far as spoofs go, the funny thing is that the vampire never actually killed anyone so in the end it felt a lot like watching an episode of Scooby Doo.

I'm watching Billy the Kid Versus Dracula. You can't make that up.

Hercules in the Haunted World is another crossover movie and it features Christopher Lee and that's pretty much the only reason to watch it.

I've finished watching the latest Dracula mini series on Netflix. It is a rather odd addition to the genre as it can be at times painstakingly faithful to previous iterations (there are so many references to previous films) and then turn things around and be truly subversive. It's also undeniably modern and immersed in our current time. It can be self aware, LGBT friendly and at times it tends to go for flashy histrionics (something that suits the eponymous character pretty well). It's one of the nicer twists that the nun is definitely the most interesting and compelling character and that she is at the same time very faithful to the character of the same name from the book while being radically different and subversive. I've got mixed feelings about the series (especially about the last episode) but it's definitely worth watching.

I heard good things of the series, I'll check it out!

Subversive can be a good thing, but it can also be a crutch. Where you make the story or character different from previous iteration for the sake of it. Not a vampire movie, but I thought Legion was absolutely awful in that regard.

Like I said I have mixed feelings about it (especially the third and last episode) but I'd like to hear what you'll have to say about it once you've seen it. I think subversive is the right word although it does pay tribute to previous adaptations. It's hard to go any further without posting some spoilers.