Fantasy and Vampire Book Club discussion

Great topic(*kicks self for not thinking of it before hand*)
ok movies i love are: underworld, interview with the vampire(classic). nosferatu(took me ages to find it but it is on youtube)is brilliant for its time. forget all this sparkly shit. although i must admit i did enjoy the twilight movies, but the would have been better without kristen stewart i think. anyway enough of that, i'm casting aside all sparklyness.
i have never watched from dusk till dawn... but i do own it on DVD. i sense a movie night coming on....

Going off your original idea i set up two more topics. One for Monsters:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
and one for Zombie Movies and TV shows
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Seriously can't stand Kristen Stewart either. and i was switching channels before and what should be on the TV but the Dusk till Dawn TV series... unfortunately as my mother is sqeamish i couldn't stop and watch it..... however i might see if the channel has catchup episodes availible.

Hmm.... Twilight should not count as a vampire anything because Vampires DON'T SPARKLE! I LOVE Interview with the Vampire, Queen of the Damned, Lost Boys, John Carpenter's Vampires, and a lot more. Vampires are right up there with Witches and Zombies. I cannot get enough!

I'm a Dracula fan (swoon, Gary Oldman!) and of course Interview with a Vampire. But my heart and soul belongs to the Lost Boys because of the soundtrack and, hello, it was the 80's so, 'nuff said. =-) Too fun!

Lost Boys. Still enjoy that movie. I also like the original Fright Night from the same time period. But Lost Boys is my favorite by far.

briana, i agree with you the 80's had some awesome soundtracks!
i never did end up watching the lost boys. i might see if it is on Netflix.
speaking of Dracula. did anyone end up watching dracula dead and loving it? i loved that movie.
but yes Dracula was awesome. i havent watched it scince we read the book as a group for the BOM. but i think i am overdue for a vampireathon..... its october. i have been waiting all year for this excuse to watch monster/vampire /zombie movies.

The Original Swedish 'Let The Right One In' is a grim and creepy vampire film for anyone who wants an alternative to the usual Gothic representation of vampires.

From Germany, 'We Are The Night' is a stylish contemporary urban vampire tale.

In mainstream cinema, the first two Underworld films take my awards for best vampire movies.

Interview With The Vampire, Van Helsing, Underworld, Bram Stoker, Dracula Untold.

I saw the Twilight movies, and Stewart doesn't help them.

Lost Boys... I like Kiefer

Adele wrote: "Great topic(*kicks self for not thinking of it before hand*)
ok movies i love are: underworld, interview with the vampire(classic). nosferatu(took me ages to find it but it is on youtube)is brillia..."

I must say foregoing the sparkeliness... I found that Twilight was the only one of the movies that followed the book enough that you could say it is comparable...I agree Kristen Stewart sucked for a Belle character and I dont think Rob Pattison was the right pick for Edward.... I do think the story was unique for the vampire genre but I feel that maybe glitter could have been subbed out for a more reasonable reason as to why they could not be in the sun.. though in the book it says "glittered like diamonds." not sparkled like glitter (lol). I do like all the vampire movies Underworld was another good one that took a twist on the vampire werewolf lore that you normally find out there.

i do like twists in vampire lore as well. but twilight was different enough without the extra sparkle. i honestly think if they hadn't added that on top of not eating humans it would have been better. the sparkle just looked all wrong and didn't sound right either.

oh so veery true....and on a side note every character but Belle and Edward were acted well...even in the book the characters personalities were good but I think the masochistic vampire love theme is also over played out it the vampire movie and stories even Dracula suffered through the pain of not trying to kill the woman he loved....

I think the issue is the fact that they hire for looks, not talent. They want the next big thing and they know teens will eat it up, acting doesn't matter. That is my problem with movies now.

Norma wrote: "I think the issue is the fact that they hire for looks, not talent. They want the next big thing and they know teens will eat it up, acting doesn't matter. That is my problem with movies now."


I think the other problem is that in a book they you descriptions like "the most gorgeous being I have ever seen" and vague things like "he had copper hair that was wild and vibrant" but still are generic enough that the readers imagination fills in the blank spaces and EVERYONE knows that no hollywood star can fit every readers description of male or female perfection as well as their imagination can....lol I think that's why i find it hard to enjoy books turned movie... even City of Bones where the actors were not horrendous still didn't live up to what I had in my head from reading the books... Also I think that book turn movies leaves out many of the details that are important to the story but are not in the movie maybe if they were a series similar to the Dresden Files, but even then its hard to tell....

There are plenty of good ones, depending on your preferences. Interview with the Vampire, Shadow of the Vampire, Underworld, Let the Right One In (Swedish version), We Are the Night, Dracula: Untold, Lost Boys. Wow, I could go on and on....

However, my all-time fave is Only Lovers Left Alive.

I find I've actually really liked relatively few vampire movies, though I've enjoyed plenty of vampire books. For example, I love Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, but I was disappointed in the movie representations, the actors were not how I visualized the character, just not what I wanted. And I've seen Let the Right One In (original Swedish) and did not enjoy it, I was caught off guard by the youth of the characters and the strong horror aspects and grotesque violence...wasn't what I expected and I don't read horror either...

So I think my favorite vampire movies are the Underworld series and Van Helsing, both with kick-ass female characters (both played by Kate Beckinsale, lol), and some good humor in Van Helsing.

My all time favorite vampire movie is Dracula- the one with Gary Oldman and Keanu Reeves. Interview With A Vampire and Underworld are great too. Recently Dracula - Untold with Luke Evans as Vlad was awesome too.

I honestly wish there was a movie that combined "The Lord of the Rings" with "Pirates is the Caribbean" and throw in some "underworld."
My book, "The Rise of the Relique" has all of those elements and hopefully one day would make a great movie!
"It's not the point of knowing someone; it's the point of learning from them."
....
"He scoops down and picks up the girl, who has a single tear in her eye. Just that alone breaks his heart for a number of reasons, and the first one stabs him in the chest. He is an evil man indeed. Her tear is from pain, and yet all he can think of is jealousy. His tears will be of blood. Her tears are from the soul. Her tears are real."
....
"He wonders if he is taking in this information differently than her. She just sits with a blank stare while obviously eternally fighting with possibilities. His brain probably functions completely different than hers. After all, she is a human. They obviously don't know nearly the things his kind does. That must be a pro of being able to live for centuries.
How disgusting. He puts his head down in shame. His sister is human, but that is not a flaw. He is the flaw. He is the one with a brain that functions differently. Hers would be the normal one. He is grotesque. He is changing and he knows it."
The Rise of the Relique
-Crystal Lee

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WryZZWn...

this is not the place to promote your books. your comment was relevant but the added promo was unnecessary. this will be your first warning crystal.

I think Underworld is my favorite Vampire movie. Most others are kind of "meh" though I've certainly watched quite a few, I don't think I own that many.
The Dusk Til Dawn tv series was actually quite good, in my opinion. It stretched a two hour movie out into around 10 hours of tv show and there is now a second season. Some of it is pretty graphic, and although I'm not normally squeamish, some of it made me look away for a bit. The series is on Netflix, for anyone interested in watching it.

ooh i just got netflix. they have shadowhunders on there. they bring out a new episode each Wednesday so i might check that out. but didn't know from dusk till dawn was on there too. cool! might check that out too!

Hmm Twilight, and Dracula 2000

Adele wrote: "ooh i just got netflix. they have shadowhunders on there. they bring out a new episode each Wednesday so i might check that out. but didn't know from dusk till dawn was on there too. cool! might ch..."

The name along, Shadowhunters, sounds interesting! What's it about?

Shadowhunters is a TV series based on the Mortal Instruments books. I've only watched first 4 episodes so far, but it seems worth checking out if you have time and are into YA urban fantasy.
I simply love "Queen of the Damned"! true, it gets silly from time to time, but it's "so bad it's good" kind of silly. Townsend was much better as Lestat than Cruise imo. Daybreakers was also fun and I still watch it every now and then. It's a mix of two of my fav genres: vampire and dystopian/apocalypse.
Having said thad, I think it's definitely harder to find good vampire movies than vampire books. Does anyone know why? thhey're either really cheesy or terribly grotesque.

oooh shadowhunters is on netflix australia! i have been waiting for some more feedback on it. so is it good?
i think with the whole movies vs book vampires. with books you have a description which is not always upheld in movies. books you have a vision of what the vamp will be like and sometimes it is just plain disappointing. as for being cheesy.... that would be down to acting and not fault of the script... well you hope anyway.

Adele wrote: "oooh shadowhunters is on netflix australia! i have been waiting for some more feedback on it. so is it good?"

It's alright. It has some funny moments, some cute moments, a lot of action and it's basically fun. Since the very beginning it's very obvious it's YA series and not adult UF. They also haven't changed that much when adapting th books into script (at least compared to the movie). For me acting is the biggest downside - it's somewhere between "trying-but-not-always-succeeding" and "decent". Obviously, most of them are young actors without much experience and not acting perfectly isn't surprising.
So yeah, it's fun and fast-paced, not perfect but worth wasting 40 minutes of your Saturday afternoon.

let the right one in. I love both versions of this film, wonderfully atmospheric both, and I love the book.

let the right one in. I love both versions of this film, wonderfully atmospheric both, and I love the book.

oh, the original Nosferatu and Roman Polanski's remake are still stunning films.

Hi, I'm new here, and this is my first Goodreads Group post; please forgive me if I'm a bit awkward.
My new favorite vampire movie is "Only Lovers Left Alive." It reaches new depths of vampire ennui and despair. Watched it for the first time after writing my third vampire novel -- maybe a little intellectual/emotional exhaustion was at play there for me too.

Hi joanne, you did well!
haven't seen that movie yet. might look out for it.

for me it's Underworld all the way. every movie in that series.

Someone reminded me today about "Fearless Vampire Killers," with Sharon Tate and Roman Polansky (acting and directing). Pretty funny, as I recall.

"What we do in the shadows" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3416742/,

closely followed by

"A girl walks home alone at night"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2326554/

'Only Lovers left Alive'
and
'Let the Right One In' Both the American and Scandinavian adaptations of the film are great. I'd also recommend the book which the films are based on.

Joanne wrote: "Someone reminded me today about "Fearless Vampire Killers," with Sharon Tate and Roman Polansky (acting and directing). Pretty funny, as I recall."

You do know there is an awesome Australian musical based on that film, right? It's called Tanz der Vampire and is well worth checking out. Perhaps I should start a vampire theatre thread.

Underworld with vampires and lycans and Bram Stokers Dracula.

Julie, which version of Dracula?

Also has anyone heard of the remake of ITWV & TVL!? They want Jared Leto! EWW!

There are loads of good vampire films! I think I'll say Fright Night (80s version) as I don't think it has been mentioned yet.

Nicki wrote:

You do know there is an awesome Australian musical based on that film, right? It's called Tanz der Vampire and is well worth checking out. Perhaps I should start a vampire theatre thread. "

The musical is Austrian, not Australian :) And I agree, it's awesome and hilarious. Especially for fans of Jim Steinman, Meat Loaf or Michael Jackson's "Thriller". The original version from Vienna my favourite, but polish and finnish ones are also great.

I haven't seen it yet so I'll have to see if I can find a copy.
actually I watched Dracula dead and loving it again the other day!
hilarious stuff

I think a good Vampire movie, has to have good character development and story. For me I disliked from dusk till dawn. Started really well, if only had kept in this style, then suddenly big change and pointless and bad ending. No comparison to Lost boys or Interview with a vampire which both had fantastic characters, iconic and memorable. Cannot even remember the name of any persons in dusk till dawn. Which does show that recently no good vampire films have been made, some great series, such as True blood or being human, but films seem to have been YA based, which is a shame, but shows how hard it is too make a good vampire movie well.

totally agree.
its easy to imagine what the vamp will be like but when they are on the "big screen" a lot of them fall victim to script issues, casting issues. lack of proper direction, then there are the public rules( i believe in america they are only allowed one swear word in a primtime show?? i could be wrong). all because of the sensitive public.

but when they do do a show or movie.... it is usually a hit. who knew true blood would take off so well.
they just need the right elements and budget to do it.

i found a treat for you all.
Nosferatu
the original 1922 movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC6jF...

this is the perfect example of elements fitting together.
its not the greatest by todays standards. but back then it was the scariest and the best.

I love "Nosferatu." It's interesting to watch the vampire's evolution in books and movies from object of fear to object of desire.

My favourite vampire movie has got to be The Lost Boys 80's classic.

I love the underworld movies and I do like van helsing. Interview with a vampire was good too. I was really upset when I watched the twilight movies. I liked the books but the movies were truly a disappointment.. I'll have to check out some of these movies listed lol there's a few I never even heard of! :)

Loved the three 'Blade' movies. Ryan Reynolds stared in the last one so... it's a plus for me. x)

I really liked the first Blade film. I think Snipes got a bit too serious in the second two.

No love here for What We Do In The Shadows? It's glorious! Everything about it is phenomenal :D

I also have a bit of a thing for the 1922 Nosferatu, @Adele. German Expressionism at its finest.

I totally adored Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Any film in which someone picks up a horse to throw at their enemy is pretty near the top of my list of all-time greats.

Vampire in Brooklyn! That was a bloody good film! (100% improved by the presence of Angela Bassett).

Twilight Saga -All

I don't like Kristen Stewart as Bella. and I have always hated the sparkling. however tha being said I do like the last two movies , breaking dawn part 1&2. I have watched it more times than I'd like to admit. But only those two get repeated watching. the rest welll I just can't watch them. it was my best friends favorite movies before she passed away. I went to see it at the movies with her and I even have them on DVD. however I just can't bring myself to enjoy watching them and I have become quite overly critical of the acting in the first few movies. the last two were not so bad. it's like the actors got over the stage fright or something. it just seems more natural and relaxed. rather than the tense robotics that KS and others display in the first few movies.