Friday, October 23, 2009

Vampire Mania: What's really behind the current vampire craze?

From Forbes

The latest vampire movie, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, opens Friday. This caps a rather otherworldly streak of vampire-related entertainment, including Twilight, HBO's True Blood and the CW's Vampire Diaries.

But that's not all, folks! The Twilight sequel, New Moon, is being hyped ad nauseam for a Nov. 20 release date. Lionsgate's Daybreakers, about a plague that turns everyone into vampires, will hit theaters in January 2010.

A Hamlet-inspired vampire flick, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead, should be out next year. Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire is a 2000 movie that's been rerunning on The Disney ( DIS - news - people ) Channel. And just in case your jones for all things vampire isn't yet sated, you can suck up vampire-themed wine (True Blood Napa Valley Syrah, anyone?), vampire vodka, vampire chocolate, vampire coffee and so on.

read on

Our deep, dark obsession with Vampires

From USA Weekend (it's almost Halloween so expect lots of articles)

Garlic, crosses, daylight and a good decapitation are supposed to be weaknesses for a vampire, but in today's pop culture, the modern bloodsuckers seem unstoppable.

It has been 112 years since Irish novelist Bram Stoker's classic, "Dracula," first swooped into European bookshops, a literary amalgam of the history of Vlad III Dracula, Prince of Wallachia (aka Vlad the Impaler), with a dash of Romanian folklore. That iconic character has given rise to many interpretations, from Bela Lugosi's and Christopher Lee's cinematic takes on "Dracula," to the vamps on the TV cult hits "Dark Shadows" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and even the Count on "Sesame Street" and Count Chocula of breakfast cereal fame.

These days, though, vampires are swarming like bats out of you-know-where, especially the mega-popular book-to-screen vamps of "Twilight," "True Blood" and "The Vampire Diaries." With more than 70 million books sold, Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series is a full-fledged phenomenon, particularly among teens. The first "Twilight" movie adaptation grossed nearly $200 million in theaters last fall, which bodes well for next month's sequel, "New Moon." "True Blood," based on Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels, completed its second season in September and is HBO's second-most-watched series ever, behind The Sopranos. And more people watched the debut episode of CW's "The Vampire Diaries" than any premiere in the network's history.

read on

5 vampires that had the best bite

Since Bram Stoker unleashed "Dracula" in 1897, vampires have long been a part of the world's pop-culture scene. What once was the domain of Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee has opened to the likes of Tom Cruise ("Interview With the Vampire") and Robert Pattinson (the recent "Twilight" film)s.

"I love to watch each generation find vampires and redefine them," says Ian Holt, the vampire expert who co-wrote the new sequel to "Dracula: The Un-Dead,"
with Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew, Dacre Stoker.

A fan of horror films since the age of 5, when he first saw Lugosi's Count Dracula in "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," Holt lists his five most influential vampire movies, in chronological order:

Nosferatu (1922)


A silent German expressionist film directed by F.W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck, Nosferatu was an unlicensed adaptation of Stoker's Dracula novel -- which did not please Stoker's widow, Florence, at the time the film was released. Even though there was a big controversy and copies of the movie were ordered destroyed, Holt says, "it was the first, and it was extremely successful and very well done."

read on

True Blood you can bid on Autographed DVD to raise money for Brentwood theatre


Autographed by Anna and Stephen

Bid here

Get Vamped at HBO !


Thanks, Jennifer for the New " Get Vamped "link from HBO Australia

http://www.get-vamped.com/

True Blood Music Video of the Day: I Will Possess your Heart by Death Cab




I Will Possess your Heart by Death Cab LYRICS
Thanks, Lawliettte