Vampire Movies and Tropes

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I wouldn’t say that I’m a huge vampire fan, but I have seen a lot of vampire movies. Throughout the years, vampire movies and books have adapted throughout the years. We’ve gone from creatures that can’t go in the sun and are evil to “heart-throb” boyfriends that sparkle in the sun. I’d like to review some movies in how they’ve stayed true to tropes or changed drastically.

1.     Byzantium
Probably one of my personal favorite vampire films, Byzantium follows a mother and daughter as they try to find a place to call home. The only problem is they’re both vampires, the daughter falls in love with a boy with leukemia, the mother is reckless, and a board of vampires are hunting them down.

This story throws away all vampire tropes except for the sucking blood thing and immortality. Like “Interview with a Vampire” there is a search of humanity through the daughter’s character Eleanor. Eleanor only kills people who are dying or are old and ready. Throughout the story, she writes a journal to tell her truth and is often shunned and scolded for it.

These vampires are women who don’t try to seduce people (well the mother runs a brothel,) they can walk in the sun, control their thirst to a degree, and the antagonist isn’t people. The antagonist in this story is a board of vampires who are hunting the mother Clara down. Why? Because she’s a woman who turned herself into a vampire.

Speaking of which, this is another trope that’s been thrown away. People become vampires in this movie by going to an island, standing in a cave, and being killed by themselves in the cave. Bats fly all around and the waterfalls of the island turn to blood.

Interested yet? Good! It’s a great movie.

2.     Only Lovers Left Alive
When a vampire couple lives forever, they obviously want time apart. This story focuses on a sad vampire musician who is tired with life and misses the past. The only thing that can bring him out of his sadness is his love, who enjoys the times. Together these two vampires face annoying younger sisters, accidental murders, and the death of vampires. Here’s a movie that holds some vampire tropes to heart.

The lead vampires, played by Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton, can’t go out during the day, they need blood to survive and are immortal. This movie also throws in some of its own rules. For instance, vampires must wear gloves when they are in a new location.

This story is fun in that it’s a more modern take on vampirism and poses the question of what happens to vampires when they’ve been alive from the 19th century to now? There are some exciting moments, but for the most part it’s a quiet film.

3.     A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
This movie is very different from the rest. Although it’s a vampire film, it doesn’t really focus on vampirism. It’s more of a love story between a boy, whose father is a drug addict and a girl, who is a vampire that only kills bad people.

Because this film only takes place over one to three days not much is revealed about vampires and what their tropes and commonalities are. We can assume that vampires only come out at night (because of the title and when we see the vampire,) but other than that there isn’t much we’re given. There's only one vampire in the movie as well.

The setting of this movie is a great place for a vampire to live, however. Why? Because there’s a pit with a bunch of dead bodies that people can drop off. It’s like no-mans land. No cops and no rules.

While the story of this film is simple, the production value and quality are amazing!

Some other Vampire movies that I’ve seen and recommend:
-       Let the Right One In (2008 don’t watch Let Me In a remake)
-       Van Helsing
-       Interview with a Vampire
-       The Hunger
-       Underworld

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