‘Nosferatu’ was the first Vampire film, released in 1922. It was a black and white, silent movie which had a very gothic feel to it and this feel continued to be stretched and moulded to make the Vampire genre we have today. The next version of Dracula was made in 1931, and following this film there was a surge of popularity from directors to create Vampire movies.
There are many other reasons as to why Vampire film sub-genres are so popular, for instance the pleasures that are offered to the audience. Perhaps it could be the identification with the characters within a certain film, for example the innocent virgin. There is also the uses and gratification theory which addresses some of the basic pleasures which can be seen within the audiences’ responses. Jay G Blooer and Elihu Katz used a basic model to form 6 key pleasures that might be experienced when watching a horror film. These are identification, entertainment, diversion, escapism and social interaction. However, in many critics’ eyes, horror offers more than simple pleasures.
There are many techniques used to create fear in an audience. Some are relatively simple to identify such as the use of atmospheric music or sounds to create a feeling of unease or uncertainty. Jump cuts in editing, camera techniques like extreme close-ups and low key lighting can create a similar impression. All sub-genres of horror use a range of deliberate media language choices to promote the appropriate audience responses for the text. While it is important for a genre to be recognisable from its use of iconographies, if overused, the audiences may find the genre too predictable and clichéd.
Again, when considering why there is a growing popularity of the Vampire film sub-genre, we can look at in addition to the audience needing changes to genre codes to maintain interests, society changes. Different eras have different ideas and values and experience different problems, fears and concerns. Successful horror films tap into specific cultural fears and exploit them to meet the needs of the genre. The best way to create fear for the audience is to play on the fears that already exist. Tudor identifies this as he says that horrors provide a ‘monstrous threat’ and this threat is based on notions from the producing society. Horrors won’t meet their primary objective of scaring the audience if they do not in some way represent the fears of those watching them.
In horror films, different monsters are used for different fears. Within the Vampire films, ‘Dracula’ is significant as he plays the monster. In Nosferatu we see that the monster is made to look rat-like, however in the 1931 remake the vampire is represented as a sophisticated, aristocratic figure, which is still scary. Neale identified that horror texts have different types of monster and the monster is the source of the fear. Firstly there is the external monster, an outsider from somewhere else who brings threat to the community, and in terms of the vampire sub-genre, is a good example of this, as the vampire traditionally come from Transylvania and are shown terrorising a British community, invading a safe and peaceful environment. There is then the man-made monster, for example Frankenstein, a collection of body parts is brought to life, the creature then brings death and danger to the community and like the vampire he could never be part of the community; however he is a creation of a member of the community. Finally there is the internal monster, a human man gone wrong. The human may come from within the community but they are thinking or behaving in a way that creates a threat from the inside, and an example of this monster is Norman Bates in Psycho. On the surface he appears normal but the film goes on to reveal he is murderously insane. The external monster is one of the key reasons which may account for the growing popularity of the Vampire film sub-genre. It may reflect fears of invasion and foreigners because of the different communities. The traditional icons within Vampire movies, for instance the Gothic Castle, fangs and so on satisfy the audiences’ expectations, another pleasure accounting as a reason for the growing popularity.
One of the major factors which is important in the pleasures which are created by Vampire films are whether the presence of sexual sub-plots. Within Vampire films there seems to be a beautiful woman whom creates sexual tension with the Vampire. This has been argued in many different ways, however there is a certain sexual pleasure that can be derived from the sub plot of Vampire films which may create pleasure for the audience and a desire for more.