Vampires in popular media
today are far from terrifying monsters. There are still monster vampires
in films and literature. The movie Priest, which came out in 2011 is one such movie but according to Flixster it got a 16% rating by Rotten Tomatoes and 42% from users. The
vampire characters that gain the most popularity look like they belong
on the cover of a magazine rather than in our worst nightmares.
According to an article by Bernard Beck, this deviation from horrifying
monster to sexy immortal began with Bella Lugosi's portrayal of the
title character in the movie Dracula in 1931. His Dracula was "...richly dressed, impeccably groomed,
and mellifluously spoken. In his mysterious, dramatic
black cape, he offered a dashing, handsome, though eerie
figure." Today's vampires look just like humans, albeit very beautiful, alluring humans. Even when they're "vamped out" they still don't look terribly horrifying.
A vampire from the movie Priest.
Damon from The Vampire Diaries.
Selene from Underworld.
Eric from True Blood.
In the 3 pictures above you can see that when the characters "vamp out" they pretty much just grow fangs and, in the case of Vampire Diaries and Underworld, their eyes change. In The Vampire Diaries blood rushes to their eyes and in Underworld the color of the vampires' eyes becomes very vibrant. The vampires in Twilight don't change at all, not even growing a set of fangs. On the other hand, the vampires from the movie Priest, seen in the top picture, don't resemble humans at all.
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