The Forgotten History of the Vampires Movies
When we mention horror movies, especially monster movies, we often turn into zombies and vampires before the more monster-like monsters like King Kong, Godzilla and Water Monster. This is because these two monsters appear very early, can be said to be the ancestor of the monster movie; on the other hand, naturally, because the film industry is very keen on these two film themes, shooting very much The film, which is more classic. Why are these two monsters so popular, and even independently formed the two popular movie types of “zombie movies” and “vampire movies”?
In the earliest zombie movies and vampire movies, they all appeared in horror movies. At that time, the most classic zombies and vampires appeared. At that time, there were already many elements of later zombies and vampire movies. In “Night of the Living Dead ” of George A. Romero, the first five minutes of the movie, He’s wandering through a cemetery, wearing a shabby blazer, with the air of a distracted groundskeeper (Parker).
This is to describe the image of the zombie in the movie and how he appeared. It was in the American in the 1960s that the appearance of this film was explosive. Historians even believe that the film has brought “a devastating impact” to the American culture of the Vietnam War, affecting the values of a generation; its release is a “great cultural event” in American history. He veered toward the mainstream in the early 2000s and currently enjoys a cultural profile unmatched even by his fancy-pants cousin, the vampire (Parker).
The earliest vampire movie was even earlier than in 1932. “North Fetura”, the first horror film in the history of the movie with a vampire, was born in 1922 and was born a decade earlier than the zombie film. Although the shooting time is long, the modern audience’s strangeness in watching this film is not so strong, and even there is a sense of intimacy. The shadow of the distortion in the film, the strange expression, the gloomy castle, became the standard configuration of the same type of horror film in the future.
At the beginning of its birth, vampires had a comprehensive advantage over zombies in the movie field. Even today, vampire movies are still hot. This is closely related to the cultural status of vampires. It is said that the first ancestor of the vampire was Cain, whose history is as old as the history of mankind itself. Medieval people enthusiastically believed in the existence of vampires, and the popularity of a large number of vampire legends made people culturally identify the existence of vampires. Enlightenment can’t completely eliminate the influence of vampires. The film art born in Western culture favors the image of vampires, and it is logical.
The corpse is not as important as the vampire. In fact, only the werewolves can be compared with vampires in folklore. The zombie is nothing but a horror legend from the Voodoo in Haiti, and the voodoo is just a primitive religion from the West African witchcraft that is mixed with Catholicism. It is barbaric and rude, and its status in Western culture is conceivable. know. Zombies are the most famous symbol of voodoo.
The curiosity of Westerners dealing with zombies is more of a curiosity and adventure. It is a famous director and a famous work to change the fate of zombie movies. In 1968, after 31 years of the first zombie movie, the first master-class zombie movie “The Night of the Dead” was finally released. Modern types of zombie movies are also finalized. “Night of the Dead” reverses the decline of zombie movies and injects vitality into this ancient theme. Since then, a large number of zombie-type film and television works have been filmed. These rising stars, “Dawn of the Dead” and “Amazing 28 Days”, have completely made zombie movies an independent film type.
The popularity of zombie movies and vampire movies is a fait accompli. Almost every year, there is a major impact on zombie movies or vampire movies. For example, the “Twilight City” series and the “Resident Evil” series in the previous two years. Many films have actually jumped out of the framework of horror movies. The first feeling that zombies and vampires bring to people is of course fear. However, pure fear is unable to prop up a film type.
For each type of film, there must be a corresponding culture behind it. Only with the support of culture can we guarantee that the subject matter will last forever and have a lasting vitality. The American in the 1960s was at its peak in the cold war. The horrors of nuclear war shrouded the entire Western world, and the temporary defeat of the Cold War dragged the country into the abyss of despair. The black affirmative movement, the civil rights movement, the feminist movement, and even the hippie movement, for a time the American society was in chaos. The end of the world depicted in The Dawn of the Living Dead is just a catering to people’s imagination.
This has also become the usual mode of zombie movies. The culture on which vampires depend is very clear. Various legends of the Middle Ages have created the legend of vampires. The Middle Ages was originally a time dominated by religion. At that time in Europe, the castle was everywhere, and the lord divided the party and had unrestrained power over the people under him, so that the people could be arbitrarily bullied. In the eyes of the people, these cruel lords are no different from monsters. Coupled with superstition, various legends have been created to form a vampire culture with a unique medieval character.
The nobility is the key word of modern vampire culture. As mentioned earlier, the horror of a vampire is its predator positioning. It is always high and ready to hurt humans. Aristocratic status seems to provide more rationality for this ability. In many vampire movies, vampires are not just monsters, but also organized and disciplined creatures that rule the world in the dark. And the vampires are highly hierarchical, and the family concept is extremely heavy, and they are more realistic about their aristocratic attributes.
It is said that the nobility may still be inaccurate, saying that the feudal aristocracy can more directly reflect the cultural source of the vampire. Predator attributes represent the absolute power of the lords of the feudal era to the people. This fear of absolute and unrestrained aristocratic power, which existed for thousands of years, has been deeply embedded in Western cultural memory.
Because of its external irritability, and its inherent connotation, it led to the extreme popularity and unusual richness of zombie movies and vampire movies. Perhaps in the future, as society changes, zombie movies and vampire movies will have more development.
