We have all seen a monster film at some point, but what was memorable about it? Who or what was the monster and what do you think the role of that monster was?
By far the most memorable monster film for me is actually the animated series Castlevania. The show has a myriad of vampire characters with diverse and colorful personalities, morals, appearances, and roles in the narrative. The season one and two primary antagonist is Dracula while the secondary antagonist is Carmilla. Carmilla is one of Dracula's generals, yet she is secretly trying to undermine and usurp him. Through these two, we are able to see the dichotomy of human emotion. Dracula's love for his human wife was so strong that when she was killed, he decided to destroy all of humanity against her wishes. On the other hand, Carmilla's heatless, unemotional distaste for humanity makes her simply want to turn all humans into livestock. Dracula's role is to show the dangers of too much passion and how easily they can destroy everything good, while Carmilla's role is to show that monsters and evil can appear in many forms. She has a fearsome reputation despite her femininity, as the vampires in this show appear to be unconservative. Still, she uses her sexuality to manipulate others when she can, which is something we never see the male vampires do. I do not think the show follows all of the principles of vampire cinema laid out in Weinstock's Introduction to Vampire Cinema. Specifically, Principle 2: The vampires are always more interesting than those who pursue it. While I would normally agree with this statement in a cut and dry manner, it feels much more subjective in this show where our 'heroes' are are as layered, harsh, and complicated as the vampires. The greatest testimony to this is the dhampir character Alucard, Dracula's son with his mortal wife. He wants to honor his mother and knows his father is wrong; he never strays from his righteous path. And yet, consistently, we learn more about him in categories that should define a vampire yet make him different and more agreeable- his want for companionship, love for his family, journey with sexuality, and selfless altruism. These all make him not a monster, considerably human, and just as contextually rich as the vampires he is fighting. That being said, the show is an excellent example proving the other 6 principles quite well. Technology plays a tremendous role in exacerbating or aiding the parties, nearly every vampire is inevitably queer, and Dracula will always haunt his son.
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April 2021
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