I don’t know about you but I can never go to the cinemas without raiding the candy bar first. Well, I’m a self-confessed creature of habit so armed with a choc-top and a barrel of popcorn (I was good, I only got a small), I sat down and readied myself for Daybreakers with the very delicious Ethan Hawke!
Crossbow anyone?
If I left the cinema with one thing in my mind after seeing this vamp flick (yes, obviously vamps are quite popular at the moment but shows like Buffy and Angel were doin’ this stuff week in, week out long before Edward and Twilight! And no, I just can’t help myself, I have to mention Buffy and Angel whenever it’s remotely appropriate to do so), it was a piece of very memorable dialogue: “Life’s a bitch and then you don’t die.” Hmm… where do you go from there? Well, let’s just jump headfirst into the storyline!
Someone's not happy!
The world’s population has been transformed into vampires thanks to a pesky plague. While the vamps aren’t exactly sad that humans are steadily on the decline, the near extinction of the human population is going to create a severe food shortage for the undead. With this in mind, they intend to capture and farm every human and time is of the essence. Businessman Charles Bromley (Sam Neill) and hematologist Edward (Hawke) combine with the intent to save the humans but when they run into Audrey (Claudia Karvan) and her small but loyal band of humans, have they just met someone who holds the secret to saving the human race? While we won’t give the ending away, we will say that Daybreakers is a valid addition to the vampire genre.
Edward's appeal is all in the eyes...
Speaking of the vamp genre, can we really refer to it in any way without taking a look at Twilight? No… I didn’t think so and who am I to spoil the fun? This flick puts a new spin on the usual ‘boy meets girl’ tale, telling the story of when ‘girl meets vamp’. 17-year-old Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is the new kid on the block in Forks, Washington where she’s moved to live with her father, Charlie (Billy Burke). The sparks between her and another student, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) immediately fly (well, he is very easy on the eyes in a spooky “I’m severely pale but effortlessly mesmerising’ kind of way) concerning her best friends Jessica (Anna Kendrick) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner – and for the record, I’m a Jacob fan!). Apparently, they read signals quite well because Edward is a vampire who has waited 90 years for Bella (wow, imagine the expectations you’d have after waiting that long!) but there’s a little (or very big) problem that’s about to spoil their passionate love affair… Edward’s family (can anyone hear the alarm bells?).
Gotta love that coat!
Something tells me I love this next flick mainly for one reason: Hugh Jackman. If you’re thinkin’ Van Helsing, then you’d be correct! Gabriel Van Helsing (Jackman) is a man on a mission: to exterminate the famous and highly seductive Count Dracula. And while that seems to boil the movie down to one sentence, this flick is about so much more. You see, Van Helsing is a very complicated man cursed by a past he can’t even remember and driven only by his mission to exterminate Dracula. Instead of being lauded for his efforts to rid the world of its worst creature, he’s known as a murderer and roams the globe as an outcast (what a waste! Oops… thinking out loud again!). Hey, I’m hardly going to claim that Van Helsing is the best ever film to hit the big screen but with the hunky Australian in the lead role that everybody loves (seriously… even Oprah!), it sure is entertaining!
Open wide... come inside!
Now, for the last flick I want to pay homage to, I’m going to take you back to a time before I was born (seriously… two years before), Fright Night. I have to say I first enjoyed this movie back when I was a teenager while looking through some of my Mum’s old movies. And unlike many other movies of hers that I remember watching, this one was really good. Charlie (William Ragsdale) is a horror film fanatic so when he sees a coffin being moved into the abandoned house next door, his interest is automatically tweaked. His initial fears are confirmed when he finds out that Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon), his new next door neighbour is a vampire (now, don’t go thinkin’ that if you see something odd next door that your neighbour is a vamp, okay? I don’t want to be blamed for anything later on). Now Charlie has a big problem because he knows something that no one else believes. Fright Night is 80s horror at its best!
Aww… is my trip down vampire memory lane over already? Oh well, I’ll be back on Monday with a look at some quality television titles on DVD.
