It’s been one week since Twilight ended, and the world is still talking about it. What will the next big movie trend be? We’re predicting that vampires will be back in a big way.
Sure, we’ve had our ups and downs over the past year. Sometimes it felt like the perfect movie wasn’t made—until the next one came along. But now that the final nail has been hammered into Dracula’s coffin, it’s time to let his ugly half-brother out of the coffin once and for all.
While we’d love to believe that Twilight was the end of the line for Dracula’s clan, it certainly wasn’t. With Midnight Sun coming out next year, and the cast list being finalized, it’s clear that Dracula is far from finished. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why…
New Vampiric Character
If you grew up during the ‘90s, then you’ll probably remember the plethora of vampires that were born in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Counted among them were Blade, the Originals, and, of course, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While those characters had their unique take on vampires and werewolf mythology, they all had one thing in common: each of them could be killed by a stake through the heart. As a result, vampires didn’t exactly have the ‘greatest’ reputation when it came to surviving the night.
That all changed with The Twilight Series. Twilight popularized the ‘white-coat’ vampire and his ‘new’ approach to vampirism. Unlike his predecessors, Edward Cullen is a ‘half-vampire’ and doesn’t need to suck blood to survive. As a result, he’s able to walk in the daylight and doesn’t have to fear being attacked by other vampires. In fact, in some respects, he’s an upgrade over traditional monsters because he has a higher tolerance for pain and doesn’t need to sleep during the day. While that may sound like a perfect recipe for success, it still comes with its pitfalls. Chief among them is the fact that vampires aren’t exactly famous for holding a grudge (spoiler alert: they never forget). As a result, it’s often a battle of wits against weapons in these films, with the victor often determined by who has the upper hand at any given moment.
Expanded Werewolf Mythology
Amongst the most recent additions to the vampiric family are The Hunger Games. Not only do these films bring a whole new group of characters into the mix, but they also update the werewolf mythology to reflect the 21st century. In the end, the ‘big bad’ in The Hunger Games turns out to be a hybrid—the result of a human and a werewolf pairing. This new form of monster threatens to destroy everyone in its path. But the most interesting aspect of this new mythology is how it expands the definition of what it means to be a werewolf. In the past, werewolves were often depicted as mindless creatures who only ‘changed’ when forced to by a cruel alpha. This new version of the werewolf is driven by a single-minded desire for conquest and power.
What does this mean for the future of monsters or fairy tales in general? It’s an excellent reminder that monsters don’t always have to be ‘human in shape’ to be considered monsters. The best example of this is the aforementioned Frankenstein. While the original Frankenstein may have been motivated by a desire to see what humanity would look like if it were born again, Mr. Hyde is a completely different monster. Even though he shares some similarities with the original Frankenstein (mainly in terms of being human-like), Mr. Hyde is the result of a mad scientist’s experiment gone wrong. As a result, he’s not only a monster, but he’s also a scientist.
Revisiting Old Friends
Last but not least, we have the return of Sherlock Holmes. Yes, the great detective’s return to crime-solving seems like a mere formality now that he’s working for the Big Bad of the piece. But it also marks the return of another classic character in Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘Sherlock Holmes’ Stories’. Since the inception of Holmes’ adventures, every subsequent adaptation has featured his old friend and colleague Doctor Watson. But in the latest installment, we see Holmes and Watson team up with yet another member of the famous sleuth’s ‘wannabe’ family. While it’s great to see Sherlock Holmes back on the big screen, the film adaptation of Doyle’s most recent work leaves much to be desired. But it also serves as a reminder that while some characters may age gracefully, others do not. It is ultimately up to the viewers to judge for themselves which ones are the former and which ones are the latter.
All of these examples point to one thing: while there are certainly ‘vampires’ in today’s world, the real monsters may not be human after all.