Research On Western Vampire Movies

From ancient times to the present,literary and artistic works about vampires can be found in almost every western country.Vampires,as the unique night elves of the West,display their endless artistic charm in the long river of time.Since the first vampire movie "Nosferrato",vampires have been on the screen for almost a hundred years.With the continuous evolution of history,the image of them has changed continuously with the development of the real society,being rich in more cultural connotations.From the perspective of the origin of vampires,the sprout of vampires can be traced back to the concept of "blood worship" and"blood taboo" in primitive society.After the 18th century,vampires began to appear in literature and played a major role in poetry and fiction.Later,the vampires who came to the movie screen appeared in front of the audience in more diversified forms and naturally became an important part of the current popular culture.With the development of the vampire film,the image of vampire has gradually begun to show a variety of characteristics.The vampires in the movie can be classified into three main types:the image of the "blood demons",the image of the "fools and ghosts",and the image of "the public lover".Behind each vampire image,there are specific cultural connotations and Spiritual appeal.As far as the narrative motif of the vampire movie is concerned,two important motifs can be concluded:the"forbidden love" motif and the "spiritual vagrancy" motif.The motif of"forbidden love" presents the "eternal love" that crosses race bridge between vampires and human beings,and the "spiritual wandering" motif shows the vampire's wandering existence without help.Concerned the video performance of the vampire movie,it presents a typical feature of spectacle.The first is the spectacle of imagery.Whether-it is a body symbol(canine,blood and skin)or a background symbol(sunshine,castle,and bar),both of them are important means to create a horror effect in the movie.The second is spectacle of film and television style.The dark scary atmosphere of the movie inherited the Gothic culture.Shaping the rebellious and extreme characters actually expressed authors' doubts and criticisms of the mainstream thoughts of the society.Finally,the spectacle of the images displayed in the film reflects a deeper spiritual world.This is mainly manifested in the following three aspects:Firstly,the mental dilemma of personality conflicts.The film shows the vampire's struggling and confusion between the desire and the reality,reflecting the plight of human beings in real life.Secondly,the spiritual appeal of pagan culture.The depiction of pagan culture in the movie shows the unique spiritual appeal of the vampire movie.Thirdly,the projection of the movie audiences' dream.It reveals the reasons why the vampire movies are prosperous from the perspective of the audiences' psychology.The vampire movies in the West have survived for centuries,and the social and cultural values behind them cannot be ignored.The vampire film not only expresses concerns for some marginal groups of the society through shaping the image of the vampire,but also provides the ways of imaginative solutions and the alternative satisfaction to deal with the inner fear of the audience,which is the special charm of the vampire movies.