Vampires: From Monsters to Sex Symbols

     As probably many others from my generation, my first visual encounter with vampires was from the movie Interview With the Vampire. These vampires did not look like Count Orlok. They were handsome and ultra sexualized, nothing to do with the monster-like figure that we see in Nosferatu. Growing up, I associated good looks with Vampires as much as garlic or coffins. I assumed they were charming and that their charm was their most powerful weapon. It is only much later, after reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula, that I first encountered scary looking vampires and even then, the idea did not really stick. Ironically, Count Dracula and his story are the ultimate reference in terms of vampires so how did this change? Maybe it is our appearance based society; maybe a director once thought that it was not lucrative to have a repulsive protagonist; maybe it was some producer’s weird fantasy... Regardless, the fact is that vampires are now sex-symbols.

Murnau in 1922 apparently did not get the memo yet because he created Count Orlok: a creature so ugly it is almost camp. So watching Nosferatu, especially after the vampire craze that had been hitting for the past few years, was quit a bit of a culture shock. Seeing an ugly vampire was almost uncomfortable. I sincerely had trouble connecting with the character because he seemed so absurd; a repulsive vampire was simply not credible. Murnau gave probably the most accurate depiction of what originally vampires should be like and my 21st century-self can sadly not accept it. It sincerely saddens me to realize it but I am a victim of my time.