11 BATs A- BITING What the @#%&!? Were you expecting maybe Ozzie Osbourne? No other monster in folklore has had more different personas than “the fiend who feeds.” In Western literature they exist as some truly gruesome characters: Thomas Priest’s Varney, J. S. Fanu’s Carmilla, Stephen King’s Mr. Barlow, Ann Rice’s Queen of the Damned, and of course, Bram Stoker’s legendary cursed count. The mythology expanded in film and televsion, and in the process cast many prominent performers in vampire roles: Lionel Barrymore, Lon Chaney, Jr. (Alucard), Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Jack Palance, William Marshall (Blacula), George Hamilton, Gary Oldman, Keifer Southerland, Jonathan Fried (Barnabas Collins) and Louis Jordan, to name only a few. Even music stars like Grace Jones, Harry Nilson, and Aaliyah have done it. Four actors played the Dracula character so well that they will be forever linked to it. Max Schrek created the standard in the silent movie classic, "Nosferatu." Frank Langella and Bela Lugosi both first mastered the role on stage and then transferred it to motion pictures. Lugosi elevated the character to cult status, and destroyed his career after he became typecast in the role. However, thanks to Hammer Films, the face of the Dracula character for the past 40 years has been Christopher Lee. Maybe I shouldn’t say character. Today it is commonly believed that the Dracula legend is based on a real person: Vlad “The Impaler” Tepes, a 15th Century ruler of Transylvania. Romanians still consider him a national hero. I even encountered a Romanian student in one of the college courses I teach who claimed to be related to Tepes by blood: pun intended. Here’s some trivia points about movie vampires: - Martin Landau rendered an Oscar-winning performance of substance abusing, terminally bitter Lugosi in the 1994 movie "Ed Wood." Lugosi’s last vampire role was in Wood’s "Plan Nine from Outer Space," popularly regarded as the worst movie ever made. Lugosi died before production ended, but his scenes remained in the final cut. At his request, he was buried in his signature cape. - For many years, folks in the movie industry believed that Max Schrek was such an excellent vampire on screen because he actually was one. That was the premise of the 2001 movie, "Shadow of the Vampire." William Dafoe was nominated for an Oscar and earned a Golden Globe award for his truly scary portrayal of Schrek. - Horror films producer Wes Craven presents a radical new explanation for vampire mythology in "Dracula 2000:" that the original inspiration for vampirism is not Vlad Tepes, but Judas Iscariot. The movie attempts to defend its audacious assertion by encouraging viewers to consider connections between The Passion of Christ and many symbols of vampire lore: crosses, stakes, silver, the Communion Host, a body that does not decompose, sunset (the start of a new day on the Jewish calendar), and of course, blood. Judas certainly didn’t help his case by committing suicide, an act which in many cultures is a sure way to be cursed as one of the Undead. But perhaps it’s just another thinly veiled exercise in Anti-Semitism. I hope y'all are enjoying the series!! Dr Zik

I am so fascinated by Vampyres!

Don't forget about "Nosferatu".  This movie was meant to be destroyed back in the 1930s. In a way you are watching the ultimate bootleg, and because of that the film suffers.  The original score was lost and the reproduced score doesn't fit the film. It's still creepy, but kind of disappointing.