News
Feb 2, 2001
Every now and then a film comes along that you know is just
begging for controversy. It would seem that Odessa Filmworks is more than
fitting the bill with their forthcoming release of "Jesus Christ Vampire
Hunter."
Jan 30 2001 -
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Jan
2001
“Living
by Night”
In what sounds like an attempt to create a modern-day version of Dark Shadows,
writer Dana Windsor has created a vampire soap opera called Living by Night. Reportedly
the pilot will be a cross (no pun intended) between Anne Rice’s Vampire
Chronicles titles and East Enders, a British soap opera. Production
of the pilot – which chronicles the undead life of a 500-year-old vampire
named Rain – will take place in Wilmington, North Carolina.
“A
Breed Apart”
Apparently
unable to get enough of playing an Immortal, Highlander star Adrian Paul
has been cast a vampire named Aaron Gray in the movie A Breed Apart. In
the film, which starts production this month, Gray teams up with a cop to help
solve the murder of the cop’s partner by another vampire.
“Dark
Commandos”
Filming has commenced on the live-action Internet series Dark
Commandos, which chronicles the adventures of a military unit of the
government consisting of vampires. What follows is an interview with series star
Amber Phillips, provided to us by the official website at www.darkcommandos.com.
“The
Life, Death and Rebirth of Sue Janic”
There are days that Amber Phillips must wonder why she made the journey
in the first place.
Not, it should be pointed out, because of her experiences as one of the
stars of Dark Commandos (in which she portrays newly transformed vampire
Sue Janic), but rather because of the overwhelming odds against anyone with
ambitions of becoming a successful actor in Los Angeles. Back home in Michigan,
Amber had a fairly full plate, appearing in such plays as Happy Birthday,
Wanda June and Arthur Miller's The Crucible, as well as being a
member of a musical theater. In other words, hitting the boards was a fairly
regular achievement for her in Michigan, but Michigan is not Los Angeles.
"It's definitely been a long, arduous process," admits Amber,
whose credits include a number of short films as well as the independent
feature, Minimum Wage. "I sat around for a while when I first got here. I
took acting classes and that sort of thing. That was probably the most
distinctive difference. When I studied in Michigan and did theater in Michigan,
it was all sort of musical theater where all you needed was a sad look on your
face when it called for it. When I started taking acting classes in Los Angeles,
I was taught about the process and the craft and a way of working that just goes
deeper than 'How is this going to make me look? What is this going to look like
in the end?' They kind of walk you through the feelings, and the emotion comes
from that and the results come from the process.
"Business-wise," she continues, "I was really fortunate
because I got a manager pretty soon out of the gate and he's taken me through
part of the business and shielded me from a lot. It's hard, you have to hustle
and it's a really daunting process. I get frustrated all the time. Actually, the
more involved I get in the business side - with my agent or casting directors or
producers - the more frustrated I get, because it's not necessarily whether or
not you're talented. A lot of times it will come down to things that you can't
control. That becomes frustrating because, at this stage of the game, I'm in
such a powerless position. The truth is, I like to get in there and make things
happen for myself. I can do that to a certain extent, but my fate is left up to
hundreds of other people.
"It's not just about getting the job, really. You have to go through
the casting director, you have to audition for the producers. There are all of
these steps along the way. Even after you're hired - especially in television -
they can fire you the next day. They can fire you at the table read. There are
all these steps where you can be completely annihilated. It's such a tricky sort
of thing. It reminds me of that arcade game 'Pitfalls', where you have to keep
swinging across vines and there are always new ones ahead of you."
"It's really hard and a really transitional lifestyle, and I'm
always in a state of anxiety. But I wouldn't do it if I didn't love it.”
For Amber, a great deal of satisfaction has come from the opportunity
she's had to work in the independent world of short films as well as her latest
gig in Dark Commandos. "I feel that independent filmmaking is being
part of a group," she offers. "You're along with a bunch of other
people who really want the project to succeed. You're not just there to get a
paycheck for that day."
An example, she emphasizes, is her relationship with
director/producer/co-creator Tom Sanders on DC. Having worked with him on
a short film she produced and he edited, Amber felt completely confident putting
herself in his hands. "I believe in Tom," she says, "and I
believe in this project and I really like everybody that he's working with.
Plus, I get the opportunity that I wouldn't get on a bigger project to interact
with the crew and be involved with the preproduction. Also, Dark Commandos
is a great idea. I'm really looking forward to it and I'm always calling him and
saying, 'When are we going again?'
"The project reminds me of capillaries in that everything branches
off into this complicated backstory. It's so great coming into that and saying,
'I'm obviously in great hands because everybody is so interested and they've got
this massive backstory.' I've never been involved with anything like it."
Amber's role in Dark Commandos is pivotal in that Sue Janic
essentially serves as the audience's introduction into the world of vampirism.
The audience is along for the ride when Sue is first bitten, is then reborn,
embraces her new destiny to serve with the Undead Brigade and then gradually
changes as she becomes more immersed in the vampire existence.
"Originally when I auditioned," Amber reflects, "I went in
with a different idea than the writers had in mind. She's changed from my
perception of her, which is not bad at all. My idea was that she was just a kid;
a girl. I went in there with the black garb and the dark makeup and my hair in
pigtails and was just kind of very flippant. I think the scene we read for is
when she meets with Non in the chapel, and I just played her very flippantly. I
may have even have had gum in my mouth. She just struck me as such a kid. Almost
like in Interview With a Vampire, where the girl, Claudia, is stunted at
a certain point. She's irresponsible because she doesn't have life lessons to
dictate to her responsibility or any of those things. 
"I think what's going on now with Sue instead is a whole seductress,
femme fatale kind of thing" elaborates Amber. "I'm fascinated by the
arc, because it's something I've never played before. I'm usually cast as the
geeky girl, or the girl who's a little bit off. So when I went in to audition, I
definitely took in all of the "girl", because I don't see myself as a
seductress or a femme fatale. If there's a sexuality involved, I tend to play
toward the innocent sexuality. But I'm all for going in the other direction.
(Sue will) inevitably have very girlish traits because she's being played by me,
but I'm all for the other side of it. It'll be a great thing for me to play as
an actress, simply because I've not played it before. I think it will be
liberating for me and certainly difficult in a lot of ways - but I'm all for
it!"
Despite her enthusiasm for the concept of Dark Commandos and for
her character, Amber admits that she is not a genre fan. "I liked The
Matrix, but I'm not a big science fiction fan.
"Vampires are really the only thing I can get interested in science
fiction or fantasy wise," she closes. "There is a certain sexiness and
allure to vampires; a darkness. They're humans, for the most part, but then
there's something darker about them. Because they are sexy, because they are
relatable characters - most of them - they can be normal people and can
interact, and you can have believable circumstances while you still have this
other thing going on. There's a seductive sort of darkness about it, and as an
actor it's hugely appealing because you play all human emotions and draw from
your own register of life, just like you would from a 'normal' character, but
then there's this other thing that you can put on it that just allows you to do
anything that you want to.
"I'm not alone in feeling this way. People that I wouldn't even
think were into vampires were very jealous when I got fitted for fangs."
NOVEMBER 5, 1999
"DRACULA VS. SHERLOCK HOLMES"
The worlds of Sir
Arthur Conan and Bram Stoker seem like a natural fit, a point driven home by
today's announcement in the Hollywood Reporter of Sherlock
Holmes and the Vengeance of Dracula.
Columbia Pictures
has paid newcomer screenwriter Michael Valle somewhere between $700,000 and a
cool $1 million for the spec script. According to the Reporter, the project will
be developed and possibly directed by Chris Columbus, whose credits include the
first two Home Alone films, Jingle
All the Way, Mrs. Doubtfire and Stepmom.
Columbus, it
should be noted, is not a stranger to the world of Holmes, one of his early
script sales being Young Sherlock Holmes,
which was produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Barry Levinson. Neither
is this the first time that Holmes and Dracula have come together. In 1978,
Doubleday published Sherlock Holmes vs.
Dracula, written by Loren D. Estleman; and in 1992 Tor Books printed Fred
Saberhagen's The Holmes-Dracula File.
NOVEMBER 2, 1999
Although virtually everyone involved with the production of Angel has tried to downplay it, there is no doubt that Glenn Quinn
will be leaving the series and his on-screen role of Doyle.
“This is a supernatural
show where people die and things change,” says a studio source. “That’s
one of the compelling elements of the show. We aren’t afraid and we don’t
have to protect our characters. Joss’ comment is that you always go for the
pain, go for the dark, because that’s what makes people care. The fact that
there’s been such a furor, only tells me that people care about this
character. It’s like when we killed Ms. Calendar. People went wild. When we
turned Angel bad, you wouldn’t believe the mail we got telling us that we
couldn’t do it, that it was horrible. The truth of the matter is, people will
watch. It’s part of the ongoing narrative. Narrative drives the show and
everything else is secondary. Joss has never been a guy who resets to zero at
the end of every episode. I think that’s one of the reasons that the show is
so compelling, because anything is
possible. They’ll kill people and they’ll bring back people. Things will
change and it’s all about driving the story and making us care about these
people.”
Howard Gordon, currently
serving as a consulting producer on ANGEL,
has taken on the Americanized version of England’s ULTRAVIOLET for
Fox Broadcasting. Although very early in the process, Gordon took the time to
discuss this early gestation period with VAMPIRES & SLAYERS.
V&S: How
did this project come about for you?
HOWARD GORDON: It will be interesting to see how this
thing translates. My agency represents the British company that owns the
underlying rights to ULTRAVIOLET. Essentially they brought it to me and to Fox
simultaneously. Fox saw it and liked it. I had been talking to [X-FILES
producer] Chip Johansson about possibly doing something together, so it was a
confluence of events. It was material that Chip and I wound up being interested
in. My initial reaction when I
heard the idea was that it felt a little familiar in terms of vampires and
conspiracies. It felt like a kind of fusion of ANGEL and THE X-FILES, and
material I had dealt with before. Then I watched the tapes and was completely
transfixed. I found it really sophisticated and interesting, and in a way found
a kind of governing metaphor there that interested both Chip and I.
V&S:
What was that metaphor?
HOWARD GORDON: Basically that there’s a hidden
world. We’re living in times that are incredibly prosperous and there’s an
underlying tension of when is it going to collapse? There’s an anxiety that is
less Millennium-based and more tied to our prosperity along the lines of the
higher things fly, the further they can fall. The vampires, to me, represented
not necessarily good or evil, but simply a very uniquely American kind of
appetite. Why does everyone want to get rich? Why is everyone having plastic
surgery, getting their eyes done, their nose done? In a way it’s a very
vampiric kind of desire.
V&S: Do you mean in the way that we’re always
trying to gain immortality for ourselves?
HOWARD GORDON: Very much so. In some ways
they’re like human beings, only more so. And in the end it’s kind of a soap
opera. What differentiates it from THE X-FILES
and ANGEL is its tone, and also the fact that it’s a more adult
approach. I see it as a more serious show, and more of an emotional storyline
within which you can tell a variety of stories, whether they’re capers or
moral parables. At the same time, having a set of characters interact as
characters with their temptations, their loves and their losses.
V&S: In England, television series are often
created as a short-term affair with a finite number of episodes, and aren’t
designed to go indefinitely. In fact, I recall you once telling me that you felt
BEAUTY & THE BEAST should have been a short-run series.
HOWARD GORDON: I think everything should have a
beginning, middle and end, whether it be 12, 22 or 56. One hundred episodes is
kind of an arbitrary number, and whether something can stay fresh that long is
not always an easy task. I think in some ways the British model is more
forgiving on the creative people that have to do it; to actually sustain the
quality. In some ways what American TV asks of its producers is an impossible
task. Again, until you get in to it, it’s hard to project. I would hope that
there’s enough material here because it’s a soap opera, so we should be able
to reinvigorate it when necessary.
V&S: Is there anything in particular that has to
be changed from the British version to make it more palatable for American
audiences?
HOWARD GORDON: I think at some level the way the
story was originally told was so understated, some of the points of view have to
change. I think the way the stories are told needs to be endowed and in some
ways made more emotional. These are the challenges and I’m so at the beginning
of the process right now, that I don’t know how I’m going to answer some of
these questions. But, certainly I’m aware of them.
V&S: Is there a danger of being compared to BUFFY/ANGEL
in the way that everything was compared to THE X-FILES when that show first
caught on?
HOWARD GORDON: Of course there’s a danger of it. You
run that more specifically with a subject like vampires. It’s not like every
time someone does a cop show you automatically compare it to NYPD BLUE, or
compare lawyer shows to THE PRACTICE. But the tone of BUFFY/ANGEL and
ULTRAVIOLET is so different, and the audiences they serve are so different. I
think ultimately this is both scary and sexy, and I think that’s not really
what BUFFY and ANGEL are. Those aren’t the first two things you think of in
terms of those shows. There’s a very ironic sense to them, and I think this
one is going to be quite emotional and scary.
V&S:
What is the appeal of the vampires?
HOWARD GORDON: The appeal to me is kind of what I said
before: in Angel’s case, he was born out of this impossible love relationship,
very much like BEAUTY & THE BEAST. In that case, it was the impossible love.
In the case of ULTRAVIOLET, I think it’s going to be a way to examine what
this life is about. Vampires give us a way to confront our greed and our
appetites in kind of a wish fulfillment, which is exciting and enticing, and at
the same time can be tragic. They work really nicely as a metaphor for part of
us, and we’ll sense that as the story is told through our hero’s eyes.
That’s the other thing, the stories will deal with an undercover element,
being closer to DONNY BRASCO and WISEGUY than BUFFY/ANGEL.
The undercover element is one way we’re twisting it, dealing with
someone who infiltrates the vampire organization. It’s going to be about a
relationship between two best friends and a love triangle at the center of it.
It’s also a love story set against a war that’s very much being fought in
plain sight.
DRACULA 2000
Considering the enduring popularity of vampires, it seems only
fitting that someone unearth Bram Stoker’s Dracula once again.
Dimension Films has announced production of Dracula
2000, a modern updating of the classic novel. To be produced under Wes
Craven’s “Wes Craven Presents” banner, the film will be directed by
Patrick Lussier, from a screenplay by Joel Soisson, who also wrote the
adaptation of Phantoms. Little is
known about the plot, although the film is expected to be released in time for
Halloween of next year.
November 1, 1999
Howard Gordon, formerly of Beauty
and the Beast, The X-Files and Strange
World, and currently serving as consulting producer on Angel, is tackling for Fox Broadcasting the vampire series Ultraviolet.
Ultraviolet
is based on the six-episode BBC show of the same name, which attempted to
modernize various vampire mythologies. Although little is known at this point
about how this incarnation will differ from its predecessor, Ultraviolet
creator Joe Ahearne discussed his motivations in creating the series on the
British show’s official website (www.world-productions.com
).
“Ultraviolet came
about when I was trying to come up with an idea for a TV series which wasn’t
cops or docs or lawyers,” he said. “I wanted to see something different, a
subject that doesn’t usually get tackled on British TV drama. I’d written a
couple of vampire ideas before, but as one-offs. This time I thought I’d have
a go at a series.”
It occurred to Ahearne that little had been done over the years to
update the myth of the vampire. Certainly England’s Hammer Films attempted to
do so in the last few entries in their Dracula film series back in the ‘70s,
but only the count himself had been transported to the present. “Vampire
hunters still went around with holy water and crosses – nothing really had
changed,” he noted. “In the eighties, I’d seen movies which used
contemporary settings but never really treated the vampires themselves with much
seriousness. Vampires had become camp. I thought about taking one logical step:
what if vampires really existed?”
He proposed the notion of stripping away all of
the tongue-in-cheek aspects that had become a part of the genre through sheer
repetition. What, he mused, if they really
existed? How would humanity fight against them? “Science,” Ahearne said,
“would be the weapon, not superstition. Stakes and garlic do not work, but
it’s the chemicals inside – carbon and allicin – that are the key.
Daylight kills them because it’s ultraviolet radiation they can’t withstand.
Religion is uncertain and no defense. The vampires have their own technology,
too – cars with tinted windows, hi-tech caskets for transatlantic transport.
And as quickly as we develop countermeasures – like laser treatment for bite
wounds – they’re developing ways of infecting us that don’t even involve
biting. The myth ceases to become about one vampire being hunted. This is a
war.”
Vampires, he pointed out, are immortal and tend to take a long
view of the situation. Thanks to global warming and AIDS, their food source is
under threat. Previously, vampires have allowed humanity to roam free. “In the
future,” he emphasized, “they want to
control us. It’s not just the technology that’s updated. Vampires are
supposed to be evil, but evil is a difficult concept for modern man to deal
with. Vampires are intelligent and persuasive. Do we have the right to kill them
without question? Especially when they may look like old friends, family or
lovers. In the investigations our heroes undertake, there’s the risk they may
lose their own humanity without ever becoming vampires.”
More on the American version in the near future.
October 27, 1999
“NEWBLOOD” DEBUTS ON THE WEB
The web has unearthed an all-new live-action
vampire series called NewBlood. The show is described as a stylish thriller set
in contemporary London clubland and bar culture. A network of third generation
descendents of vampires known as the “NewBlood” work to keep the peace
between “Bloodkind” and humankind.
The story unfolds over a series of 3-minute weekly episodes which are
available for free at www.newblood.net.
Each episode features music by some of the world’s leadest artists who
are contributing new tracks to support the NewBlood project.
Below is an interview with one of the show’s guiding forces, Chris
Birch.
V&S: What was
the creative genesis of the NewBlood
storyline?
CHRIS BIRCH:
NewBlood started life as an amusing side story in a
mystery TV series we were pitching about pacifist vampires who stole
blood rather than bite people for it. Some two years later we were talking about
a story centered on London and its colorful and vibrant club culture. We didn't
want to make just another “club culture” movie so one day we were talking
through a whole lot of angles and then suddenly
we're bouncing this story off each other about a group of 3rd generation
vampires who keep the peace between their kind and humans.
V&S:
Who are the main characters?
CHRIS
BIRCH: I can't say too much about all the characters yet as you’re going to be
meeting them as you watch the series. So far we've cast four people and have our
eyes on several more. The
NewBlood are everywhere, but our group are one of many across the world,
specifically charged with watching over “bloodkind” and humankind. Remember
these
are not your usual vampires. They're people just like you and me who, because
of a virus they carry, will turn in to vampires if they don't take a hit of
blood every day. Jake's the first main character to appear. Jake's the rogue
element, he doesn't follow the rules and is always willing to push things just
far enough to get his own way. Jake is one of the leaders amongst the NewBlood.
Though some fear his methods might get them discovered one day, most realize
that it's the only way when dealing with their “bloodkind”.
V&S:
When and why was the decision made to turn "New Blood" into an
Internet series rather than try and sell it as a feature film or television
series?
CHRIS
BIRCH: We made a 5 minute action film, “Uplink”, back in February
specifically for a computer games company. They only wanted it to be available
for 24 hours and 6,500 people
downloaded the film in that time. Seeing the success of that we knew that we
wanted to develop our own project, taking the idea to the next step. So right
from the start we knew we were making this for the net and that has helped
immensely in focusing our plans and actually getting it made. Long term we plan
to develop the story on the net, prove it works, develop a fan base and then
perhaps produce a NewBlood feature film. The thing with the Internet is that it
doesn't really have any rules - everyone's still
experimenting with the net and few people have tried what we are doing. That's
why it's exciting to make something like this - we had to re-think established
methods of shooting - to produce something that worked on a small screen and
within a more interactive medium.
V&S:
How difficult has it been to do this yourselves rather than having the backing
of a studio?
CHRIS
BIRCH: We talked about making this for a long time. It actually took me getting
fed up and setting a date to film and then suddenly we're all thinking - uh oh,
we're filming in four weeks let's sort this out. We did have one helping hand.
We were approaching various well known music artists to appear in the film or
supply music and New York DJ Roger Sanchez happened to love vampires so much he
suggested we come up with ideas for his new video. We ended up making the video
for “I Never Knew” for Sony Music's INCredible label in the UK out in New
York. It's based on a New York team of NewBlood led by Roger Sanchez. Originally
the track was due to be out in late September so we had to make sure the series
was online by early October at the latest to make the most of this
fantastic promotional opportunity. Luckily we've got a great team who all
helped make NewBlood happen – Syndicate have a lot of experience having won
awards for their short films and pop videos. Jamie Matson, one of their
directors worked with us on the previous online movie, Uplink, directed Roger
Sanchez's video for Sony. They also produced the first ever live webcast. Cruise
Control does a lot of online PR and promotional work has worked with most of the
top bands and DJ's around and the Digital Film Assassins is myself (creative
producer), Tony Potter, the writer behind NewBlood
and Yan, who's our editor. Yan is one of the people behind New Music TeleVision
(NMTV), the new satellite channel. We're lucky enough to have access to our own
editing studio, digital cameras and talented people - however these are all
things everyone can find if they're willing to try. You don't need to get
Hollywood's backing all the time. Hopefully NewBlood will
point out that you can get your project made and off the ground very quickly
through the Internet. We're going to be trying to show people how we did this
through our Production Access section.
V&S:
Why vampires? What appeal did this particular genre have to you that made you
decide this would be the appropriate beginning for an Internet series?
CHRIS
BIRCH: It's clubland, it's late at night, it's music, fashion, clubs, sex,
relationships and action - vampires were the obvious choice. We love changing
the rules though so our vampires had to be different. Vampires have always been
popular, though they've always had this
crushed velvet, gothic image and we wanted to update this. Buffy's
been having a go, Blade kicked ass, so
we thought it was about time old cool London had a bite.
V&S: In your opinion, why does the vampire genre remain
so strong today? The Success of Buffy,
Blade and productions like your own and Razor
Blade Smile
all attest to the vampire's enduring popularity.
CHRIS
BIRCH: Vampires are a classic genre - one that will probably never go away. I'm
sure there will be vampire stories springing up in 100 year's time. Whether
there's something deeper to the
story that appeals to different people, I don't know, but the story like many
other mythical genres takes us on an adventure which perhaps we'd all like to be
a part of.
“ANGEL” GETS FULL SEASON ORDER
In
what has to be filed under “Duh!”, the WB has picked up Angel
for its back nine episodes, meaning that the show now has a full 22-episode
commitment. Considering the fact that the series has actually been improving on
its Buffy the Vampire Slayer lead-in,
this really is something of a no-brainer.
In
other Angel news, it has been
confirmed by Glenn Quinn’s publicist that the actor will indeed be leaving the
series after its ninth episode. Also keep in mind (like you could possibly
forget) that the first actual crossover storyline between Buffy Summers and
Angel will take place during November sweeps.
Real Audio Angel Interview.
THE V&S NEWS ROUNDUP
October
21, 1999
MORE ON “ANGEL”
It seems that the rumors about Glenn Quinn leaving Angel have more validity than originally thought. The New
York Post, in an article about David Boreanaz’ pending divorce, reports,
“the decision was plot motivated.”
In all likelihood, that is probably the exact reason. Series
creator Joss Whedon has always strived for what has worked creatively for his
series, and the shows themselves are the bottom line. Last summer, while talking
to television critics, Sarah Michelle Gellar noted how Buffy
often writes itself.
“On our show,” she said at the time, “we always have
characters come and go, and sometimes there are surprises. Harry Groener, who
played the Mayor last year, who was just so brilliant and such a phenomenal
person to have around, was originally supposed to be in two episodes. Harry came
in and everyone just took to him, and Joss aid to him, ‘Hey, Harry, you want
to spend the rest of the season here?’ and Harry’s like, ‘Yeah, great.’
And that’s sort of where that storyline came from. It was supposed to be a
story about Trick, not the Mayor. You just sort of see how it goes and where the
storyline takes us.”
That being said, it will be interesting to see how Doyle’s fate
plays out. As has often been established on Buffy,
few people, with the obvious exception of Angel, just pack their bags and leave
town for a while. In other words, how often have there been happy endings for
departing characters? Anyone remember Jenny Calendar?
DARK HORSE
COMICS’ “OUT FOR BLOOD”
Beginning last month, Dark Horse Comics began publishing the four-issue
mini-series, Out for Blood, in which a
Los Angeles cop finds himself involved in a gang war between vampires and
werewolves. The official press release describes the series as follows:
Detective Sanger, a hardboiled resident gang violence expert for the LAPD,
thought he'd seen some monsters in his day. But nothing prepares him for the
carnage that is tearing his city apart.
It
starts with the gruesome, ritualistic murders of two dog catchers and soon
escalates to a series of seemingly gang-related killings. But the closer Sanger
gets to the truth, the more alarmingly clear it becomes that he can trust no
one--including himself. 
What
Sanger uncovers is no ordinary turf war between rival gangs. Two ancient,
unspeakable evils have secretly vied for control of the streets for centuries,
and now Los Angeles is the final battleground for warring creatures who are Out For Blood.
 Come
with creator/writers Michael Part and Steven Grant on a full-tilt excursion into
horror. Out for Blood features the art
of Gary Erskine and covers by fan-favorite horror enthusiast Kelley Jones. The
first issue of this four-part creepy crime comic stains the shelves of your
favorite comics shop September 29. Out for
Blood #1 is a 32-page, black and white thriller, on sale for $2.95.
"I
thought it was time people saw my L.A,"
said Michael Part.
SHADOW OF
THE VAMPIRE
Lions Gate Films International recently picked up the foreign rights to
Nicolas Cage’s producing debut, Shadows
of the Vampire.
Coming right from the Saturn Films (www.saturnfilms.com)
website is the following description of the film:
Two
time Academy Award nominee, John Malkovich (In
the Line of Fire, Dangerous Liaisons, The Killing Fields, The Sheltering Sky,
Con Air, Places in the Heart) is set to star in Shadow
of the Vampire, a thriller directed by E. Elias Merhige (whose visionary
classic, Begotten, was proclaimed by Time
Magazine as "One of the Top Ten films of the year").
The
first film from Nicolas Cage's three-year-old production entity, Saturn Films, Shadow of the Vampire was chosen by the company to launch its foray
into the independent market, after an aggressive review of available product.
Cage and his partner Jeff Levine's intent is to brand the company as a leader in
high quality independent film.
The
film marks the box office superstar's ascension to the rank of producer. Also
producing is Saturn partner Levine (co-producer of Cage's 8mm
and associate producer of Face/Off, City
of Angels and Snake Eyes) and Paul
Brooks, co-founder of British indy production and distribution entity, Metrodome.
Also named as co-producer is London-based BBC Films, who also holds U.K. rights.
Lions Gate Films International is selling the film internationally (excluding
the U.K.) with Saturn Films holding U.S. rights. Production begins April 14 in
Luxembourg.
Shadow of the Vampire is written by Steven Katz, a prolific screenwriter
who has credits for such screen adaptations as Interview with the Vampire and American
Gothic as well as original screenplays (Tri-Star's The Big Bang, Paramount's Morningside
Heights and Universal's The Just).
The script for Shadow of the Vampire
was inspired by the brilliant and eccentric director, F.W. Murnau's iconic
classic, Nosferatu, the first and most
haunting cinematic representation of Bram Stoker's classic,"Dracula."
Cage
comments, "As an avid supporter of independent film, this project is
personally exciting for me. I also love both the history and folklore that
follows Nosferatu's memory, which is considered to be the best vampire film
ever made. While happy to continue working within the studio system, I am also
committed to broadening the company's filmmaking activities to encompass the
independent arena. This is an exciting debut film for Saturn Films."
Producing
partner Levine concurs, "Steven's script is startlingly original. We were
fascinated by the enigmatic question he asked: what if, in Murnau's pursuit of
cinematic authenticity, he went beyond the accepted moral limits imposed by
society? It seemed like a must for Saturn Films."
"We
are tremendously excited to be working with Nicolas Cage and Saturn Films on Shadow
of the Vampire," comments Alan Howden, head of the program acquisition
group for BBC Television/Film. "This film is the type of intelligent
product with which we are always seeking to be involved, to enhance our
slate."
DARK SHADOWS NOVEL #2
Following on the heels of the enormously successful Angelique’s
Descent, Harperprism has published its second Dark Shadows novel, Dreams of
the Dark, written by Stephen Mark Rainey and Elizabeth Massie. The official
description of the novel is as follows:
Angelique and Barnabas. Lovers once upon a time, through treachery
and deceit they have now become immortal enemies. Punished for her evil jealousy
that left Barnabas damned to feast on the blood of humans, Angelique has been
banished to the netherworld. Meanwhile, Barnabas lives a lie, carefully guarding
his hellish secret from the unsuspecting mortals with whom he lives –
including Victoria Winters, the etherally beautiful governess to the Collins
family.
Determined to escape her dark imprisonment, Angelique conjures a
diabolical plan that will make her flesh again. Using her psychic powers, she
will send another vampire to destroy Barnabas, completely. But as she will soon
discover, the powers of darkness will find their match in the burning light of
innocence…and love.
The novel is available now at booksellers, or you can order it
through our Vamporium section’s link to Amazon.com.
October 19, 1999
 QUINN
TO LEAVE “ANGEL?”
Although we were unable to confirm with Fox by
posting time, Ultimate TV has reported that Glenn Quinn has been dropped from
the new hit series, Angel. In the
series, Doyle, a veteran of ABC’s Roseanne,
portrayed the human-demon hybrid whose visions – as cryptic as they were –
provided Angel with the clues he needed to initiate his soul-saving activities.
Reportedly the reason for his departure is that the character was not serving a
useful enough purpose. More on this as it develops.
SHAKESPEARE WITH
FANGS?
Variety reports that Meet Joe Black’s Claire Forlani and Velvet Goldmine’s Jonathan Rhys Meyers are being courted to star
in an undead twist to Romeo and Juliet,
called Johnny Domino. Taking place in
an isolated fishing village, the film will have Meyers portraying a musician who
becomes “a local phenomenon” once he’s turned into a vampire. Eventually
he falls in love with Forlani’s vampiress, and together they work on
destroying an evil preacher before deciding to end their undead existence.
STAKING THE HEART
OF INNOCENCE
An Appreciation of ‘Vampire Circus (1971)’
by Eric Wallace
"A circus is for the young," says Anna, the leader of a
mysterious circus troop which arrives in the village of Steitel.
While this is true most of the time, it’s definitely not the case
with VAMPIRE CIRCUS (1971), a revisionist horror masterpiece made during Hammer’s
waning years. The film is, in fact, the third greatest vampire film ever made, running
just behind #1 HORROR OF DRACULA (1958) and #2 NOSFERATU (1922). CIRCUS earns such a high
place in vampire cinema thanks to an effective combination of visual inventiveness,
narrative subversity, and balls-to-the-wall horror. Just how good the film is can seen in
the film’s prologue, which is twelve-and-a-half minutes of pure cinematic intensity.
It all begins innocently enough with Anna, the wife of the village
schoolmaster, Mueller, leading a little girl into the woods. Before Mueller can react,
Anna leads the child inside the castle of Count Mitterhaus, vampire. Mitterhaus kills the
child, leaving her body indiscriminately on a table, then proceeds to fuck Anna. Mueller
and rest of the town elders break into the castle sometime later. Mitterhaus is staked,
but not before brutally slaughtering several villagers. Afterwards, Anna is ritually
beaten and banished from the village. When Mitterhaus sets a curse of revenge on the town
of Steitel with his dying words... the stage is set for a true horror gem.
The sheer amount of carnage and nudity in the film’s opening will
surprise those unfamiliar with the film. That the film is over twenty-five years old makes
it all the more apparent just how radical it was for its time. With CIRCUS, the filmmakers
were clearly trying something new. After all, Hammer’s vampire films (as well of
those of other studios) were becoming less and less effective by the early ‘70s.
Thomas Schatz, author of "The Genius of the System," offers up a model for the
standard rise and fall of film genres. The model states there are five stages in every
genre: experimental, classic, baroque, parody, and destruction. Italy’s I VAMPIRI
(1956), a take on the legend of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, was the first film in the
modern cinema era to tackle vampirism head on. It was an experiment that largely failed.
It did, however, kick off a golden age of international horror. It would be England’s
hammer studios that used the lessons in I VAMPIRI to create the first classic vampire film
in years: HORROR OF DRACULA (1958). This was followed in the "classic" stage by
several gems, including BRIDES OF DRACULA (1960) and KISS OF THE VAMPIRE (1964).
By the early Seventies, however, audiences were tired of the formulaic
nature of the vampire genre. Victorian settings, garlic, and holy water were subsequently
traded in for motorcycles, contemporary locales and sprinkler systems... and the vampire
genre’s "baroque" phase was suddenly underway. It was during this climate,
one where filmmakers were trying desperately to come up with something new, that VAMPIRE
CIRCUS came to fruition.
The greatest, or most disturbing, aspect of CIRCUS is the film’s
psychology. By playing on a child’s fears concerning clowns, death-defying stunts,
and terrifying animals, CIRCUS becomes the embodiment of our worst nightmares. The Circus
of Nights is a place where one might become lost in the hall of mirrors forever.
The animals just might escape into the stands and eat everyone in the front row.
And yes, that short little clown in the silly makeup really is a sadistic murderer.
This deviant psychological underpinning, a cinematic manifestation of childhood fears,
gives CIRCUS its power to horrify. For this reason alone, it is the most frightening
vampire film made up to that time; even moreso than HORROR OF DRACULA (1958), although the
latter film is clearly a superior filmmaking achievement.
But it takes more than inventive psychology to create a
"baroque" work. Also needed are updates or clever reworkings of
traditional/classical story elements. CIRCUS has this in abundance. For example, the
concept of vampire changing into bat or wolf is as old as the novel DRACULA (1897) itself.
Witness, however, CIRCUS’s clever reworking of this premise: The vampire Emil, Count
Mitterhaus’ cousin, masquerades by day in his other form as a caged panther. Next,
there is the cross as a traditional foil for creatures of the undead. In a formula begun
in HORROR OF DRACULA, where candlesticks are used to fashion a makeshift cross, CIRCUS has
its heroes using upturned daggers and even the t-shape of a crossbow to create the image
of the cross. The nicest baroque touch, however, concerns how to kill a vampire. The film
dispenses with the traditional stake-through-the-heart for what may be the most inventive
vampire deaths ever filmed.
During a suspenseful sequence in a boarding school church, the
film’s heroine, Dora, is chased by her two symbiotically-empathic vampire siblings,
twins named Heinrich and Helga. Whatever sensations one twin undergoes, the other twin
experiences. This is demonstrated earlier in the film when Helga puts her hand in the
mouth of a tiger. The tiger attacks her, but it is Heinrich who feels the pain. When Helga
finally removes her hand from the animal’s mouth, it is unscathed. Unable to outrun
her pursuers, Dora races to the church’s ceiling. As she climbs precariously along a
ceiling beam, she knocks over a large wooden cross. The cross falls to the ground,
impaling Helga in an excellent special effects sequence (courtesy of Hammer’s
longtime SFX whiz, Les Bowie). Now here’s the baroque twist: not only is Helga
killed, but Heinrich is also destroyed via the sibling’s symbiotic relationship.
Nailing two vampires for the price of one is the type of updated stylization that makes a
baroque film effective.
The demise of Helga and Heinrich are a part of a dramatic and unique
visual style which runs throughout CIRCUS. This stylization--a combination of camera
trickery, special effects, and inventive editing, are what set CIRCUS apart from its
"classic" counterparts. A great example of the film’s baroque visual style
can be seen during the murder of Herr Hauser’s two young sons. After accepting an
invitation from the returned Anna to enter the Hall of Mirrors free of charge,
Hauser’s two sons do so and are attacked by Helga and Heinrich. After killing the
first boy, the vampire siblings corner the second child, then move in for the kill. The
film’s creative team then cutS to an on-axis shot of Helga lowering her fang-bared
mouth directly into the camera. She then disappears off camera, only to rise back into
frame, her lips now covered in blood. Her image suddenly freezes... and is then framed in
a double-exposure with the silhouetted images of Emil and Anna, who then have a
conversation. All-in-all, it’s a daring combination of visual imagery and symbolic
storytelling, the likes of which wouldn’t again be seen to such an effective extreme
in a vampire film until BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA (1992).
This type of visual storytelling is as far removed from the more
simplistic style of say HORROR OF DRACULA (1958), as silent movies were from their sound
predecessors, making CIRCUS "the ultimate baroque vampire flick." The sequence
of the boys’ deaths is just one example among many of CIRCUS’ penchant for
unusual imagery. Others include: 1) the rapid editing of shots between humans and animals
to create the psychological effect that humans are animals, especially in the way
that we treat each other, 2) the acrobatic flight of Helga and Heinrich (a clever
combination of double exposures, practical effects, and exacting camera composition), and
3) the wide rack focus shot in the forest during the Schilt family’s escape from
Steitel. In an amazing incident of foreshadowing, we watch Michael (the Circus of
Night’s evil dwarf/clown) leading the Schlit family toward a black object in the
foreground. At this point, the audience has already seen movement in nearby bushes. The
implication here is that they are being watched... and something is going to jump out of
hiding and get them all. As the group nears the camera, the object in the foreground looks
more and more like the back of a panther’s head. The implication here is that Emil
is watching them in his panther form. However, the camera racks focus as Michael
marches into close-up. The change of focal plane reveals the panther-like object to be a
tree stump. The audience’s suspicions are momentarily allayed; it’s not a
panther in the woods. It’s something else. That’s when the scene takes a baroque
twist and Emil does indeed jump out of the woods in his panther form and tears the family
into gory pieces.
The ending of this sequence points out another, and probably the most
effective, manner in which CIRCUS can be defined as a baroque vampire/horror film. This
refers to the final shots of Schilt family murders. Here, the film cuts continually to
Michael as he laughs hysterically and with high-spirited glee at the killings. It’s
as if he were celebrating this act of slaughter, reveling in it for slaughter’s sake.
It is the sadistic pleasure with which the killers in CIRCUS enjoy killing that’s a
true baroque touch. This is because it brings realism to the murders. When the
audience sees Emil, Michael, Anna, and the rest of the circus’ murdering carnies
reveling in their acts of depravity and murder, we feel disgusted by their acts. In this
manner, the killers’ depraved psychology becomes real. 
This realistic approach to vampirism can also be seen in other, more
simple ways. For example, the way in which Mitterhaus defends himself from human attackers
in the opening sequence: he’s like a wild animal. Not only does he cut throats and
stab innocents without hesitation, but he also bites his victims. Using the natural
weapons God (or it is Satan?) has given him is completely natural when looked at from the
point-of-view of a vampire. Yet this type of realism was practically non-existent in
vampire cinema before CIRCUS, and would remain so until films such as MARTIN (1977) and
NEAR DARK (1987) came onto the scene.
As the early Seventies continued, the vampire genre went into decline
with its films moving into the parody phase. This is perhaps most clearly exemplified by
ANDY WARHOL’S DRACULA (1974) and Hammer’s own CAPTAIN KRONOS: VAMPIRE HUNTER
(1973). The vampire genre eventually died, the last stage of the genre chronology, before
being reborn in the Eighties with gems such as FRIGHT NIGHT (1985), THE LOST BOYS (1987)
and the previously-mentioned NEAR DARK. But despite these later successes, the vampire
genre has yet to see an unequivocal, uncompromising, and apocalyptic masterpiece like
VAMPIRE CIRCUS. And at a time when laughs are valued over breaking taboos in modern horror
films, it’s unlikely we’ll see one anytime soon. So, check out CIRCUS today. You
may have trouble finding it (it’s currently available only on the
quickly-disappearing format of laserdiscs!), but it’s one buried treasure definitely
worth digging up.
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