All language subtitles for Eli.Roths.History.of.Horror.S01E06.1080p.BluRay.x264-BORDURE-HI

Vampires are about sex
and death.

When the vampire bites...

[women gasping]

Women swoon...

[gasps]

They're dangerous
because they're seductive.

What is seductive

is often bad for us,

is often dangerous.

[skin crinkling]

- [roars]
- [hisses]

It's not brutality
for the sake

of being brutal.

It's survival.

[rat squeaking]

[screams]

They are a drug addict,

a historian,

a serial killer,

a hopeless romantic

all at the same time.

[screeches]

It deals with the exchange
of fluids.

It deals with blood.

It's too late.

My blood is in your veins.

Vampires are supposed
to be awful...

the stink of the grave,
his fetid breath.

It was supposed to be ugly
and nasty.

- [croaking]
- [screams]

And then
there was "Twilight."

[dark music]

What's good about
a "Twilight" movie is,

it makes everybody
who watches it

feel like a 13-year-old girl.

Vampires are the only ones

that you can really
make sexy and beautiful.

- [breathing heavily]
- We are immortal.

They've always been...
since Anne Rice, anyway...

allowed to be gay
or bisexual.

- This idea of...
- Do you wanna do me now?

- The taboo...
- [hollering]

- [growling]
- Darkness.

And, you know, if you're
gonna tangle

with the darkness...
with the sexuality

- and all of that...
- [screams]

Well, death
is all around you.

[vampires screeching]

[sinister music]

♪♪

[chain saw revs]

[foreboding music]

Naughty little girl.

- [screams]
- Over the last 25 years,

we've seen an explosion
of vampire stories.

♪♪

- [hisses]
- [growls]

- You're wrong.
- "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"

gave us bloodsucking bad boys

the heroine both detested
and desired.

"Underworld" and "Blade"

recast vampires
as action heroes.

[dramatic music]

[growls]

Art-horror films like

"A Girl Walks Home Alone
At Night"

and "The Addiction"
used vampires to tell

allegorical tales
about drug abuse.

The "Twilight" books
and films doubled down

on vampire romance...

- [breathing heavily]
- While sex and splatter

dominated the teen drama
"The Vampire Diaries"

and the very adult series
"True Blood."

Modern vampires
come in many guises,

but they all address
a singular hunger.

It's bringing together
the two things

that media culture seems
to love the most:

sex and violence.

You know, it allows them
to coexist

in one figure.

Vampires have been
violent avatars of the erotic

going all the way back
to the king daddy

of bloodsuckers.

[dramatic music]

I am Dracula.

- I am Dracula.
- I...

am Dracula.

[wood creaking]

Created in 1897
by novelist Bram Stoker,

Dracula is a true icon
of horror.

But Stoker's Dracula
was far more monstrous

than the polished aristocrats
we think of today.

[fire crackling]

I grew up reading "Dracula"

and reading about
the stink of the grave,

the graveyard earth
that the vampire was in

with the worms crawling in it,

about his fetid breath.

It was supposed to be ugly
and nasty.

Yeah,
he's the original stalker,

the original scary stranger,
you know,

the original serial killer.

[hisses]

- [exclaims]
- One of the reasons

that Dracula has persisted
for so long...

as opposed to
the Frankenstein monster,

as opposed to the Wolfman
or the Mummy...

was, he was a character.

He was a genuine...

character.

[sinister music]

The first unauthorized
adaptation of "Dracula"

was the German silent film
"Nosferatu."

It was released in 1922,

four years after the end
of the First World War.

♪♪

The makers of "Nosferatu"

intended that vampire

to represent war itself...

♪♪

War as a cosmic vampire

that had drained the blood
out of Europe.

And you watch
the original "Nosferatu"...

- Yeah.
- It was terrifying.

And I thought it was so cool
that Tobe Hooper went

to that kind of vampire
in "Salem's Lot."

- [hisses]
- The bald vampire

with the teeth like that
always freaked me out.

[screeches]

♪♪

The first official
adaptation of "Dracula"

starred the incomparable
Bela Lugosi.

Listen to them.

The children of the night...

what music they make.

We all know the story:

looking for new blood,

the undead Count Dracula

relocates from Transylvania
to England.

Once in London,
the vampire begins to feed.

[woman screams]
He takes a special interest

in corrupting a young woman
whom he wants

to turn into
his vampire bride.

In 1931,

which was the worst year
of the Great Depression,

Universal took a chance

on "Dracula"
and "Frankenstein."

We have this American public
that has just endured

the beginning
of the Great Depression.

They wanted to have some sort

of foreign presence
to go and blame

for everything
that was happening around them:

for losing their jobs,
for not being able

to feed their family.

People were on edge,

and "Dracula" was
the mysterious draining force

that was at everybody's door.

My blood now flows
through her veins.

I find it fascinating
that anybody

for years, decades to come

who wanted to imitate
Count Dracula

did it with a Hungarian accent.

- I am Dracula.
- Greetings.

It is I, the Count.

Welcome
to Hotel Transylvania!

I didn't know Bela Lugosi

was the name of a man.

I thought all
the horror film monsters

and all the actors

worked as a team...

- [laughing]
- And the name of the team

was Bela Lugosi.

Lugosi was a hard act
to follow.

It took nearly three decades
for another Dracula

to make his mark.

But Christopher Lee
made the role his own.

Mr. Harker.

I'm glad
that you've arrived safely.

Count Dracula?

I am Dracula,
and I welcome you to my house.

Lee was both dapper,
aristocratic,

and terrifying.

[sinister music]

♪♪

[screams]

Very different
than Lugosi's count.

Bela Lugosi's Dracula
never had fangs.

They felt that fangs
would have been

too suggestive of penetration.

Well, Christopher Lee...
not only did he have fangs,

but as he's approaching
these women,

who at first
are intimidated, they...

start undoing their blouse,
and they're like,

you know, "Come at me.

This is awesome."

♪♪

It's so interesting,
the fear of female sexuality

that is so powerful
in "Dracula,"

the idea of a woman
after having had sex,

basically,
after having been bitten

and then transforming
into this ravenous

sexual creature.

[hisses]

[growls]

It's... it's, like, so...

it's great,
'cause horror allows you

to really express your fears
in a very obvious way.

[laughs]
You know, go to town on them.

Come.

Let me kiss you.

There have been
many Draculas since Lugosi

and Lee,
but one truly stands out...

[foreboding music]

Gary Oldman
in Francis Ford Coppola's

epic 1992 adaptation.

♪♪

Gary Oldman,
who plays Dracula,

we have him being suave
and sophisticated and sexy,

and then the next minute,
he's transforming into a wolf...

a large wolf.

And he is just maiming people.

He's vicious.
He's terrible.

And somehow, it works.

- [screams]
- [growls]

[eerie music]

I loved Coppola's "Dracula,"

just the level
of art direction,

just how creative that was
as a film...

[speaking foreign language]

And what a mood it set.

[ominous music]

When he was doing
Dracula point-of-view stuff,

the way that he shot that
was so exhilarating.

- [growling]
- [screams]

[barking]
[glass shatters]

I think that helps paint
a pretty picture...

[laughing]
Over the brutality of it all,

and I think that is specific

to the vampire genre.

We're strong in the Lord
and the power of his might.

[speaking Latin]

[screeches]

I bring you from shadow
into light!

I cast you out,
the Prince of Darkness!

We see this
extremely sympathetic Dracula

because he misses his...

his wife, who was killed,
and then sees

sort of her reincarnation
in this modern-day gal.

That completely revolutionized

Dracula performances.

It changed the... the filmic
Dracula mythos.

[dramatic music]

[snarls]

[growls]

And, in fact,
you could argue

that we're still riding
the wave from that film

- even today.
- [hollers]

Mina.

What Coppola did was,
he portrayed

a very tragic figure.

The guy just wants
to be loved.

I mean, that's what all of
the Universal monster movies

have in common
is that they're all just

male archetypes who want

the love and affection
of a woman

but because they're monsters,

they're sort of scorned
and rejected.

[screams]

The story of Dracula
continues to resonate today.

[both breathing heavily]
But its fear

of female sexuality
is firmly rooted

in 19th-century England.

In the late 20th century,

novelist Anne Rice created
a new breed of vampire

suited for the modern world,

vampires as tortured heroes,

amoral villains, and avatars

of alternative sexuality.

Pretend to drink, at least.

[ominous music]

♪♪

Such fine crystal
shouldn't go to waste.

Anne Rice dominates
modern vampire fiction.

Her books turned the genre
inside out.

Rice's vampires
were beautiful monsters

with tortured souls.

As soon as I started to write
what's called fantasy,

I was able to touch reality.

I was able to talk
about my world.

I was able to talk
about good and evil

and guilt and pain
and suffering,

but I had to do it
in that context,

with that frame
of fantasy around it.

Rice's first novel,
"Interview with the Vampire,"

was made into a film
in 1994.

The story follows

the centuries-long
relationship

between the vampire Lestat

and Louis, a troubled
New Orleans aristocrat.

Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt...

two of the biggest stars
of modern times...

played the leads.

The Paris opera is in town.

We can try
some French cui... cuisine.

Forgive me if I have
a lingering respect for life.

The Louis character
didn't want to be a vampire,

and he didn't like
the brutal killing aspect.

- [hollers]
- And then you have Lestat,

who just enjoys and revels
in all of it.

- Why do you do this?
- I like to do it.

I enjoy it.

There was a lot
of controversy

about casting Tom Cruise,

but between Tom Cruise,
Brad Pitt,

and Kirsten Dunst, I thought
they really nailed it.

I was surprised.

I went in skeptical
but came out a fan.

[tense music]

You see the old woman?

That will never happen to you.

You will never grow old,
and you will never die.

That goes down as one
of the great

child's performances.

Once in a while, it happens

that a kid can kick
so much ass in a movie.

You give her to me, Louis!

Do this before you leave me!

[crying]

Oh, God.

I love you still.

My dark angel,
when you are gone.

[somber music]

What do you think she is,
Madeleine?

♪♪

A doll?

♪♪

A child who cannot die.

[locket snaps]

And the child who did die?

Claudia's probably
the best part of the movie.

You know, the idea
of a vampire

being forced to age
in the body

of, what, a ten-year-old girl?

To see a character
that is granted immortality,

but the downside being
she never gets to grow up

to become a woman,
like, that's heartbreaking.

[tense music]

Anne Rice lost a daughter

at a very young age,

and Claudia in the novel
was an homage to that.

- Mama.
- Oh, shh.

Hush, now.
Don't cry.

- We'll find her.
- Mama.

Oh.

The vampires Lestat,
Louis, and Claudia

form a family of outsiders

headed by two fathers.

The arrangement
suggested gay marriage

years before that was accepted
by mainstream society.

One happy family.

The novel was intentionally
homoerotic.

Even though I think
they downplayed

a little bit
of the homoeroticism

that was in novel,
it was still there.

I've drained you
to the point of death.

Using it as a cultural link

with homosexuality...

- Yes.
- Has been part

of the vampire mystique,
but I mean,

when you couldn't deal
with homo... homosexuality,

you could deal with it
to some degree or another

in vampire movies,

even going back as far
as the '30s.

- Really?
- Yeah, "Dracula's Daughter."

I suppose you'll want these
pulled down, won't you?

Yes.

Probably the most famous

lesbian sequence...

- Mm-hmm.
- In an American movie

made in the '30s.

Why are you looking at me
that way?

Won't I do?

Yes, you'll do very well
indeed.

The suggestion
of a female seduction

is just right there.

That's just... it's just there.

It's not even subtext.

You are out of your mind.

[intimate music]

♪♪

It was commonplace,
particularly in the '70s...

lesbians would, like, say,
"Oh, wow, I-I just saw

"this magnificent movie

"about these two women
that were in love, and it...

"and it really played
the relationship

"for all it's worth.

I mean, they're vampires,
all right, but..."

- "But..." That's... yeah.
- [laughs]

Well, this is one

of the cool things
about horror

is that historically,
it's always been able

to deal with taboo subjects.

[dark music]

In recent times,
the challenging of taboos

was taken to new levels

by the television series
"True Blood."

It cut open the veins
of vampirism

and let the pansexual
eroticism gush out.

[roars]

The many sides of vampires...

the danger and the romance,

the threat and the fun...

were all on full display
in the long-running

HBO series "True Blood,"

which debuted in 2008.

I...

never thought I would be
having sex with you.

Who said anything
about sex?

[foreboding music]

♪♪

"True Blood" was based on
the Southern Vampire Mysteries

by Charlaine Harris.

Over seven seasons,
the series followed

its heroine,
Sookie Stackhouse,

as she made her way
through a world

where vampires emerged
from the shadows

and entered
mainstream society.

♪♪

The epicenter
of "True Blood"

is in Louisiana,

and, basically, vampires
have been around forever,

but they kind of come out
of the closet...

or the coffin,
I should say...

and they decide to live
amongst the living.

As you can see,
I did not burst into flames.

[scattered laughter]

It becomes a metaphor
for so many

different rights movements

and how they're both
ostracized.

When I started
on "True Blood,"

all we knew
about Pam at the beginning

was that she was
the lieutenant

to this vampire, her maker,

and that she cared
about nothing else.

I find myself doubting
whether you were ever

truly human.

Thank you.

Pam...

objectifying,

murdering,

literally eating men

was one of
my favorite parts.

[roars]

I don't know a lot of men

who are aware
of where to park

in a parking lot...
not next to a minivan,

to carry your keys
between your fingers;

when you're parking
at the airport,

to look for where
it's most lit.

It's just part
of a woman's life.

To be the top of the food chain

was so refreshing.

I'll give you 24 hours
to deliver that witch to me.

And if you don't,
I will personally eat,

[...], and kill
all three of you.

[tense music]

I was never good
at the vampire teeth,

- and I never got better.
- [squeals]

Huh?
What... what's that?

I-I can't understand you.

The thing I struggled with
the most was the teeth...

talking with the teeth.

What do you expect
when you come into my house

and [...] with me?

It's hard trying to act

with a piece of your body
that you don't normally have.

[hisses]

It's been a long time
since I've done this.

- A man?
- No.

A vampire.

"True Blood's"
often comic tone

masked its serious intent:

trying to make sense
of sexual identity

in the 21st century.

♪♪

My character
was mainly gay...

There's vampire
in your cleavage.

♪♪

[gasps]
Okay, ew.

She just had it with men.

She came from a time...
in early 1900...

where women had
a very hard time.

- [hollers]
- That's right, whore.

[screaming]

Vampires just in general
kind of go both ways.

They're kind of bisexual.

They kind of... whatever,
and so I love

that writers explored sexuality

in relationships
with characters that wouldn't

normally, I think, maybe have
a relationship like that.

It's appealing because
we live in the United States

and a culture
that is very sexual

and yet very
sexually repressive.

The idea of the vampire
as a kind of sexy monster

fits very well with
the United States' kind of

complicated relationship
to sexuality.

"True Blood" reflected
America's gradual acceptance

of gay rights,
but it made a point

of showing those rights
could be taken away

at any time.

Got to season six,
and it was about

the vamp camp
and how the vampires

were sort, of like,
being herded into these camps

because of who they were
and they were a threat.

[vampires hissing]

[all screaming]

And that directly correlates
just to social issues in life,

of just being minorities
in life that sort of

aren't feeling equal.

So you're not gonna
read me my rights?

You don't have any rights,
vampire.

I am sure that
there's a lot of people

in the "True Blood" audience

who would not vote
for equal rights

- in a lot of arenas...
- [hiccups]

But because they were
just being entertained...

I did not see
that [...] coming.

That opens the opportunity

through entertainment
to go, "Well,

"you like this character,

"you're rooting for him,

and he sleeps with men
and women."

[both grunt]

"True Blood"
used the vampire metaphor

to explore the shifting sands
of adult sexuality,

but vampire stories
have also perfectly captured

the joys and agonies
of being a teenager.

What's happening to me, Star?

[sinister music]

The teenage years are filled

with big emotions
and raging hormones.

It's a time
when everything seems

like a matter of life
and death.

So when Joel Schumacher's
1987 film

"The Lost Boys" put vampires
and teenagers together,

a new kind of horror film
was born.

"Lost Boys" was great,
'cause who would imagine

of taking the legend
of Peter Pan,

of the boys who never grow up,

who are just kind of rowdy
rock-and-roll vampires?

[engines roaring]

The whole thing is set
to this kind of, like,

'80s rock-and-roll thing:

big hair; oiled-up,
shirtless saxophone players.

That's "The Lost Boys."

[dark music]

You've got a family
that moves to this town.

The older son,
A, falls for a girl

and, B, discovers
that the town is overrun

with some very dark things
that are happening.

♪♪

You had this incredibly dark,
sexy component

of, like, Kiefer Sutherland
and Jami Gertz.

Like, that was...
they were beautiful.

I'm over here, Michael.

So it was sort of, like,
dark, glamorous, sexy...

Be one of us.

And it was about kids
saving the day.

Hey, man.

Read this.

I told you, I don't like
horror comics.

Think of it more
as a survival manual.

We identified with it
because the two kids,

you know, hung out
at a comic book shop,

and they knew every rule

about how to kill monsters.

So that's what we were
all about.

Awesome monster bashers.

- The meanest.
- The baddest.

[all grunt]

Well, I-I based them
on Rambo.

I told them, "I want you
to be like little Rambos."

Okay, where's Nosferatu?

- Who?
- Prince of Darkness.

The night crawler.
The bloodsucker.

El vampiro.

For 13-year-old boys,

I mean, they were obsessed
with it.

[engines revving]

"The Lost Boys"
was vampire and horror

for the MTV generation,

so the way it was edited,
the way it was scored,

and the whole look
of the vampires.

I told you to stay off
the boardwalk.

Even when I was auditioning,
it was like,

"You guys are gonna be
riding Triumphs.

You're gonna have
leather jackets on."

Like, I thought I was gonna die

when I saw what he wanted me
to look like.

Marko.

Good night, Michael.

Bombs away.

I was, like, you know,

this scrappy NYU film student

from, like,
the Lower East Side.

I mean, who the hell else
was gonna get me

in 14-inch hair extensions?

But I did... and I wore chaps,
you know?

So that tells you a lot about
wanting to keep Joel happy.

[engines revving]

[breathing shakily]

- Come on, Michael!
- [grunts]

I said to everybody
at Warner Brothers,

"Let's not make excuses
for this movie.

It's a teenage vampire film."

Come on!

Can we make the best one

that's ever been made?

We can die trying.

[shouts]

[grunting]

[engine rumbling]

I think Joel may or may not
kill me for saying this,

but I mean, the movie...
it's "Rebel Without a Cause."

It's really a Nick Ray movie.

[tires squealing]

[engines roaring]

[dramatic music]

It's a straight-up

teen-sploitation,

burgeoning sexuality.

It's death, fear of mortality.

I mean, it gets into
all the things

that great vampire stories
get into.

They must have hidden
their coffins

around here someplace.

There's nothing here.
Let's go, guys.

- Jesus!
- [screams]

[dark music]

I end up getting staked
in the chest

by the two Coreys...

Good night, bloodsucker.

- [hisses]
- No!

[roars]
[boys screaming]

And then die in a bath
of glittery glue blood.

[roaring]
[boys screaming]

So that's... to not spoil
all of it for you,

that's basically my demise.

[hisses]

[pipes gurgling,
sinks rattling]

[both shouting]

[pipes clanging]

All right, not to get
too heavy, but obviously,

there's no way
it was lost on Joel

that the movie was made
in the... in the era of AIDS,

when that was really exploding.

To date, the AIDS virus
has claimed

over 24,000 lives,

the majority homosexual men.

The stigmatizing
of the gay population for,

"Well, if you're gonna have
that kind of sex,

then you're gonna die"...

That was very much in the news
and in writing

- at the time in the '80s.
- [hisses]

It's too late.

My blood is in your veins.

When the AIDS crisis hit,

there was suddenly
this renaissance

of vampire movies.

Vampires are metaphors,
clearly, for sex and death.

[screams]

I think it's a good example
of how a real-life trauma,

especially one that seems
uncontrollable,

is responded to by the creation
of horror entertainment.

[screaming]

If people just want to see it

as an entertainment,
that's fine.

If they want to read
other things in it,

that's fine.

And if they don't enjoy it,

well, that's a reaction too.

[spits]
[laughter]

Vampires remind us
that looks can be deceiving.

We never really know
what lies beneath

the surface of a stranger.

[distorted voice]
I love you too, Seth.

[roars]

Back, spawn of Satan!

[laughing]

[tense music]

My favorite thing, I think,

about horror and fantasy
and science fiction

is, you can make it up.

It's... there are no rules.

Any genre,
every individual project,

you have to invent
your own rules,

so in some movies, vampires
can't be seen in a mirror.

In other movies, they have
to be killed with silver.

[flesh sizzling]

What about crucifixes?

Actually, I'm quite fond
of looking at crucifixes.

How about the old
stake-through-the-heart thing?

The vulgar fictions
of a demented Irishman.

You can follow the rules
of the genre

that have been placed down
by other movies

or other stories, or you can
kind of come up with your own.

[man singing in Spanish]

[rousing rock music playing]

This is my kind of place.

In "From Dusk Till Dawn,"

two violent criminals
take refuge

in a Mexican strip club.

[sultry music]

The main attraction
turns out to be the queen

- of the vampires.
- [grunts]

[screams]

♪♪

[skin crinkling]

[roars]

[dramatic music]

- [screams]
- Dinner...

[distorted voice]
Is served.

[screeches]

I love the vampire makeup
in "Dusk Till Dawn."

That, for me, was one
of the coolest reinventions.

[man shouts]

Robert Kurtzman came up with
the original treatment of it.

His vampires did kind of point

in this weird direction

that I had never
quite seen before

for vampires.

They could take on
the shapes of humans,

like they do
in the Danny Trejo character,

but their true selves

were these bat-like creatures.

- [growls]
- [screams]

[hisses]

- [roars]
- I-I came up with

a few mythology things
that would be specific

to these creatures.

One was, okay, yeah, they could
definitely be killed

by a wooden stake
to the heart.

That still worked.

- Their blood was green...
- [hollers]

And the reason I made
their blood green

is because I knew
there would be vampire blood

all over the place,
and it would be

the color red, in particular,
that would get you an X.

- NC-17.
- Yeah, an NC-17.

So if we made
the vampire blood green...

You could spray it
all over the place.

We could spray it
all over the place,

and then the MPAA wouldn't be
so freaked out by that.

And that ended up
actually working.

[roars]

[flesh hissing]

"From Dusk Till Dawn"
reinvented vampires

as nightmarish creatures
that used sex

to lure in their victims.

[sinister music]

The horror masterpiece
"Let the Right One In"

is another
brilliant reinvention.

♪♪

The vampire here lives within

the classic boundaries
of only going out at night

and viciously feeding
on humans.

[body thuds]

But this is not a story
about sex.

It's about love and how much

we are willing to accept
in the name of love.

♪♪

"Let the Right One In"
is about a boy called Oskar

who is getting bullied
in school

and is a bit lonely.

And one day, he meets a girl
called Eli,

and then they became friends.

♪♪

What's special about
my character, Eli,

first of all
is that she's a vampire.

[eerie music]

She has lived
for a very long time.

♪♪

They cut off my lashes
and my eyebrows

to not make me so female,

and it's also not my voice
in the film.

They wanted a voice
that wasn't so feminine.

[speaking Swedish]

Vampires could be, like...

they're, like, sexy
or dangerous

or something like that,
and she's, like,

the opposite, I think.

Once you realize
who this girl is

and how long
she's been around and...

then it's very haunting
in the sense that, you know,

she's taken on this kid
as her companion.

And we already know
what's gonna happen to him.

♪♪

Probably the scariest
and most powerful sequence

in modern horror

is the final sequence
in "Let the Right One In."

A gang of bullies sees

a very vulnerable child

and shove him underwater.

And there is
a 2½ minute shot

of the boy's head
being held underwater,

and you're seeing him
desperately trying

to get back to the surface
and breathe.

♪♪

But meanwhile,
above the water...

[sinister music]

This pipsqueak vampire,

who loves the little boy,
has turned up...

♪♪

And is beginning
to butcher the bullies.

[muffled splash]

♪♪

What was beautiful
about that story

is that a monster
comes to the rescue

when humanity fails
this young man,

and who could blame him
for choosing the monster

when humanity was so horrible?

The title has
a double meaning.

It could mean
that you should let

the right person
get into your life,

or, as it is for Eli,

someone has to tell her
that she can come in.

[tense music]

♪♪

For me, the part
of the vampire legend

that has always remained
really powerful

is this idea that they have
to be invited in.

[scratching on glass]

Open the window, Mark.

[mimicking scratching]
"Let me in.

Let me in."

Let me in.

It's okay, Mark.
I'm your friend.

So many times
in people's lives,

you know,
whatever that thing is

that's draining them
of their life and vitality,

so often, they invited it in...

♪♪

If it's drugs,
if it's alcohol,

if it's someone
who's just abusive,

you know, who's cruel to you.

A lot of vampire stories

are about
inviting in something

that you think
will bring you bliss...

What's wrong, baby?

And that destroys you
instead.

Do you think,
with your crosses

and your wafers,
you can destroy me?

Me?

Traditionally, vampires
have split personalities.

They're both charming
and terrifying,

passionate and deadly.

But in the 21st century,

we've seen
the two halves separate

into the vampire
as monstrous killer...

- [snarls]
- [whimpers]

And the vampire
as dreamboat boyfriend.

[dark music]

Vampires, ever flexible,

are being reshaped
to suit audiences

whose needs
are often overlooked,

like the millions of women
and teenage girls

who made "Twilight" the most
commercially successful

vampire film of all time.

[gasps]

[intimate music]

♪♪

Based on
the best-selling books

by Stephenie Meyer,
"Twilight" reimagines

the vampire story
as a teen romance

told from a young woman's
point of view.

The thing that's
kind of cool about "Twilight"

is, you have an ordinary girl
that moves

to this small town
in Washington.

She has to live with her dad
for a while.

She feels like a misfit,
awkward.

And first day of school,

she is kind of attracted
to this amazing

and strange kid, Edward.

Stephenie Meyer,
she had a dream

about this vampire.

When the vampire was out
in the sunlight,

instead of withering,
it did the opposite.

It glowed and glittered
and sparkled.

This is what I am.

[mystical music]

Well, my vampires
break a lot of the rules...

if there can really be rules
about fictional characters.

Really, you can do
what you want.

Obviously it's a fantasy...
[laughing]

That you're gonna have
the most handsome,

beautiful, amazing guy
in the world

that's madly in love with you
and will take care of you

and protect you.

[tires squealing]

- [gasps]
- [grunts]

I mean,
it's a great fantasy.

It's not,
"We shouldn't kiss

"because maybe won't
like each other

or maybe we're gonna make
someone else upset."

You're adding this element of,

"If I lose control,
I might kill you,"

which is so dark
and so dramatic,

but at the same time,
that's what it feels like

when you're young.

It feels like life and death.

Just stay very still.

I really thought it was
a fantastic challenge

to create that
emotional intoxication

- of first love.
- Don't move.

[intimate music]

I thought, "Can I show that
on-screen?

"Can I make people as crazy

"about a cinematic version

as the book
made people crazy?"

♪♪

And yeah, I think we did

make them pretty crazy.
[laughing]

[crowd screaming]

You can't dismiss something
that had such a giant hold on...

on fandom.

I remember going
to Comic-Con a few years back

when the second
"Twilight" movie

was coming out,
and kids were camped out

on the lawn for 24 hours.

So obviously,
it had something to say.

♪♪

You don't know how long
I've waited for you.

I honestly find its gender
and sexual politics

pretty problematic,
but that being said,

I think it takes

women's desires seriously

in a way that most
Hollywood cinema does not,

most popular culture
in general does not.

The focus is more
on her desire for Edward,

on her attraction
to Edward

and at some points Jacob.

It's not about them
lusting after her.

[soft music]

[chimes tinkling]

There was a photo
of one kid at Comic-Con

when "Twilight" came out...
there was, like,

some angry kid
with a huge placard that said,

- "Nosferatu didn't sparkle."
- Yeah.

And I was like, "That's me.
I'm that kid."

The whole vampire idea,

the romantic vampire,
has always been popular

with teens,

early 20s and things...
particularly women...

because it's seen
as almost, like,

no-fault sex.

And after all,
what's he really gonna do?

He's gonna give you
a great big hickey,

like on Lover's Lane.

[dark music]

But that's not the way
it's supposed to... to be.

To my mind,
I'm a classicist, man.

[growling]

- [hissing]
- Hey! Stop!

- [hissing]
- Who are you people?

- [screeches]
- [grunts]

- [screams]
- [screeches]

"30 Days of Night"
took vampires back

to their dark
and vicious roots.

There are no sparkling,
romantic demigods here...

- [screams]
- Just ancient

evil predators.
[vampires screeching]

[sinister music]

Well, in "30 Days of Night,"
my character is...

is a sheriff
up in Barrow, Alaska.

And in Barrow, Alaska,

apparently, the sun is down

for almost a month
in the middle of winter.

Hence the "30 Days of Night"
title.

♪♪

Vampires have figured out
that this is

a really good place to go
and have a low-effort meal.

We have to cut off,
or they'll hear you.

The vampires close in
on the town...

I'll call you back
when it's safe.

And then the rest of us
who are there

try to survive for a month.

- [loud bang]
- [gasps]

Jesus!

Christ!
[banging]

[engine revving]

- [yelps]
- [screeches]

We spend a lot of time
running away.

[laughs]

David Slade's
"30 Days of Night"...

which was written
by Steve Niles

and based on
the graphic novel...

that was
the complete antithesis

of what "Twilight" represented.

[hissing]

[suspenseful music]

With "Twilight,"

there was always
this friendly side.

They always managed to find,
like, a friendly human side

to the vampires.

When I was doing the scripts
for "30 Days of Night,"

I really tried to go against
what everybody else was doing.

[growls]

You had vampires returning
to their feral form,

almost Nosferatu-like

but something
completely different.

- [screeches]
- [hollers]

- [screams]
- These are land sharks

that will kill you, you know,
just as soon as look at you.

[sinister music]

- [screeches]
- By stripping the sexuality

out of the myth,
"30 Days of Night"

drilled deep
into the primal fear

at the heart of every
vampire story:

- the fear of death.
- [roars]

[dramatic music]

One of the most
beautiful things about

the horror genre
is that the stakes

are implicitly high,

because you're dealing
with life and death.

[hollering]

And that gives horror

a certain operatic quality
to it,

where there is no choice

but to survive and thrive

or be one of the body count.

♪♪

- [croaking]
- [screams]

Ultimately, the story
of the vampire

is the story
of our tenuous grip on life.

- I don't want to die.
- [screams]

The bite of the vampire
symbolizes

the hundreds of things
that could kill us

at any time,
no matter how healthy or safe

we think we are.

[screeches]

Your life force
will never be

steadily drained
by an implacable

supernatural foe.

[eerie music]

But some people

will face cancer

in their life.

- [screams]
- Fiction gives us

a safe playground
to consider

what it would be like
to be in

a life-or-death battle
with something draining us.

♪♪

Vampire stories
will remain powerful

as long as we are organic

and full of blood.

And the blood
can be corrupted.

- [gasps]
- So I think the fanged ones

will be around
for a while longer.

[vampires hissing, growling]