Much ado about Yutte

If you've heard of Danish actress, Yutte Stensgaard, at all, chances are it's because of her role as Carmilla Karnstein in Lust for a vampire (1971). If that flick doesn't ring, a bell, this still–or minor variants thereof–might:

The grim gallery

In fact, that's probably one of the few reasons it's remembered at all–unless you're a fan of Tracy's pop tune, 'Strange love'.

Anyway, I was having a read of her IMDb profile yesterday. Two things surprised me. Firstly, she appears to have stopped making films in 1972. Second, the user-submitted bio by 'Dez'. Why did it surprise me? Well, the entry starts off ok:

A former au pair and model, Jytte Stensgaard emigrated to the UK in 1963, hoping to have a successful international film career. Changing her name to the slightly easier to pronounce "Yutte" Stensgaard she ironically didn't make her debut in a British film, but in the Italian movie La ragazza con la pistola (1968) (Girl with a Pistol) which did have some British backing. She then went on to appear in various British movies, mainly of the comedy or horror genre, most famously the lead role in Lust for a Vampire (1971), as well as several television guest roles.

But after mentioning she had 'a six-month stint hosting a game show with British king of comedy, Bob Monkhouse', things take a turn for the decidedly impartial:

After struggling with myopic casting directors, who could not see the beauty and budding talent before them and were happier to just keep casting more established but less beautiful women, Yutte finally gave up and emigrated to the USA in the mid-seventies and took up a job selling air time for a Christian radio station in Oregan [sic].

It then diverts lapses into overt snobbery–despite the author acknowledging her main claim to fame was playing a vampires countess. Once.

Understandably reluctant to make appearances at horror conventions when British film publicists finally started to notice her when it was too late, she did relent and start appearing at a select few in the late 1990s, giving the non-fickle amongst her fans a chance to see her unique radiance once more.

If you thought the slavish adoration of her appearance (at the expense of her acting talents) stopped there, you'd be wrong!

An inimitable beauty the likes of which has never been seen since, Yutte Stensgaard was possibly the biggest loss to movies since that of Sharon Tate.

And that how it wraps up. Going by this summation, it's hard to fathom how cinema's thrived without Yutte's glowing presence. 

The Tate comparison–perhaps inadvertently, going by the author's critical ability–provides another vampire connection. Tate starred in Roman Polanski's 1967 film, Dance of the vampires. However, 'loss' probably wasn't the greatest choice of words, given the circumstances of their departure.

After all, Stengaard merely dropped out of the film industry; Tate was brutally murdered by the Manson Family in 1969. Dez could've shown some restraint with that one.

Dark Shadows trailer

First, disclosure. I'm not a Dark shadows fan—only because I've never watched the original series. Or the remake. But I have seen the first movie spin-off: House of dark shadows (1970). Kinda liked it.

I've known Tim Burton was slated to direct an adaptation for a while. Before I saw the publicity stills, I thought it might even be a good flick. He's an interesting director; Sleepy Hollow (1999) was an entertaining, Hammeresque flick. But when the stills were released and I saw Johnny Depp in what looked like pancake make-up—or one hell of an airbrush job—and my apprehensions rose.

Today, I saw the upcoming movie's trailer shipped around on Facebook. And, well, let's say it hasn't allayed my concerns. You'll see what I mean:

Sorry Burton fans; this thing looks utterly and completely stupid. Not in a good, fun way, either. I'm savvy enough to know the original series was kinda campy, but what the hell is this supposed to be? I'm sure this adaptation wasn't intentionally meant to piss all over the series fanbase, as I also know Burton and Depp are included in their ranks. Still, it's hard to reach any other conclusion. At least, going on the trailer.

Cushing's contribution

Alex Bledsoe

The final scene of Dracula (1958)—better-known by its American title, Horror of Dracula—is, according to Jordan Buckner, 'truly incredible and has become legendary in itself. It's often regarded as one of the movie's best features. And here it is.

But did you know it wasn't the movie's original ending? It turns out the film's Van Helsing—Peter Cushing—greatly influenced the film's climax:

In the original script Van Helsing was sort of like a salesman for crucifixes. He was pulling them out of every pocket. He was giving them to children to protect themselves, and putting them in coffins and so on. At the end of the film, he pulled out another one, so I asked if we couldn't do something exciting instead. I remembered seeing a film years ago called Berkeley Square [1933] in which Leslie Howard was thought of as being the Devil by this frightened little man who suddenly grabbed two big candlesticks and made a sign of the cross with them. I remembered that this had impressed me enormously. I suggested the run along the refectory table to jump onto the curtains and hit Dracula square in the face with the sunlight. He would, of course, be trapped. Then I could come along like a hero, grab the two candlesticks and make the cross with them in his face. They agreed. Originally the candleabrae they had were the type with four candles on each base. You could tell what I was doing, but it didn't look like a cross, but they changed to the ones you see in the film. At least it wasn't another crucifix coming out of my pockets.¹

You can watch Berkeley Square, in its entirety, here—the scene which inspired Cushing begins at the 1:12:56 mark. Cushing's claim about the film's original ending correlates with Jimmy Sangster's 18 October 1957 final shooting script, in which Van Helsing locks Dracula in a room, and 'runs towards DRACULA taking a crucifix from his pocket.'²

Indeed, there's no mention of Van Helsing's 'run along the refectory table', no curtains are torn and Van Helsing merely forces Dracula further into the sunlight—which is streaming from a stained glass window—with his crucifix, after literally standing on his exit route.

It's likely Cushing's input inspired the 'improved cross' trope featured in other Hammer Dracula and vampire movies; from Van Helsing's manipulation of the burning windmill's blades in The brides of Dracula (1960), the blood-smeared cross on Gerald Harcourt's chest in The kiss of the vampire (1963) and Carl Ebhardt's cruciform dagger in The vampire lovers (1970), to note a few examples.

The trope found its way into many other books and movies, but perhaps nothing so overt as the 1996 film, From dusk till dawn. The following exchange takes place between Seth Gecko, Jacob and Scott Fuller, and Sex Machine while they're holed up in the Titty Twister:

Seth: Do you have a cross? 

Jacob: In the Winnebago. 

Seth: In other words, no. 

Scott Fuller: What are you talking about? We got crosses all over the place. All you gotta do is put two sticks together and you got a cross. 

Sex Machine: He's right. Peter Cushing does that all the time. 

Seth: Okay, I'll buy that.

Later, Jacob Fuller forms a cross out of a pump action shotgun and baseball bat in cruciform shape as an effective ward against the undead. The film's script goes into more detail on the effectiveness of impro-crosses:

SEX-MACHINE

He's right. Peter Cushing does that all the time.

SETH

I don't know about that. In order for it to have any power, I think it's gotta be an official crucifix.

JACOB

What's an official cross? Some piece of tin made in Taiwan? What makes that official? If a cross works against vampires, it's not the cross itself, it's what the cross represents. The cross is a symbol of holiness.

SETH

Okay, I'll buy that. So we got crosses covered, moving right along, what else?³

The script also differs in the film in that Jacob does, indeed, wield 'a cross made out of two sticks', while 'reciting appropriate verses from the Bible',⁴ rather than the shotgun/baseball bat combo. The improved cross—a major addition to vampire lore—also highlighted why the cross is effective against the undead, rejigging it as a channel of the wielder's faith, rather than a 'magical' item in its own right.

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^{1. 'Peter Cushing', Dracula, A house that Hammer built special, May 1998, p. 7. The quote is derived from 'Little Shoppe Of Horrors #8, p. 61; interview by James Kravaal.'↩}

^{2. 'Jimmy Sangster', Dracula, A house that Hammer built special, May 1998, p. 20.↩}

^{3. Q Tarantino, From dusk till dawn, Faber and Faber, London, 1996, p. 67.↩}

^{4. ibid., p. 106↩}

Catch-up time

My entries on here can be fairly sporadic, as I don't feel compelled to write just for the hell of it but only when I've got something to say or find something particularly compelling. That said, I don't like to let this thing go dormant, either. So, occasionally, I'll do a little 'catch-up' time with my readers to see what I've been up to and whatnot.

Firstly, you may've noticed that I've reinstated LinkWithin after banishing it several months ago. Wow. October. Time flies! I brought it on the same day I wrote the previous post. What inspired me to do that? You might be surprised. 

The article's full of useful tips for getting your stuff 'out there', but here's another: quantity may be more important than quality, according to a study by The British Psychological Society. The theory's not without criticism, however.

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I've noticed Hammer's interested in making another Dracula flick. They've already had a recent stab at the vampire genre with Beyond the rave (2008). Prior to that, Hammer tried 'keeping up' with the young'uns by adding more sadism, more boobs and more groovy theatrics in the flicks that (not coincidentally) served as the last gasps of their reign over British horror films. 

Yes, I'm talking about Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972), The Satanic rites of Dracula (1974) and, let's not forget, the kung-fu 'spectacular' that was The legend of the 7 golden vampires (1974). Christopher Lee patently refused to star in that one and was replaced by John Forbes-Robertson.

I'm a fan of the Hammer Dracula flicks. Taste the blood of Dracula (1970) is one of my favourite vampire movies and I also enjoy their non-Dracula effort, Vampire circus (1972). What I'm saying is, these guys knew how to do it 'right'. Mostly.

So I can't help wondering whether they're gonna 'update' Dracula like they did in the latter stages, only to compete with other hyper-modernisations of the vampire myth like the Blade and Underworld series. Hopefully, Beyond the rave's not a warning sign. Point is, that angle's been done.

The thing that worked best in the Hammer Dracula/vampire flicks, in my opinion, was their 'gothicness'. That angle's lost when you update the vampire too much. They just become run-of-the-mill leather-jacketed action antiheroes—with fangs. Boooooring. I'm so over it. And enough with the bloody ramping, already (see point 3)! This isn't the bloody Matrix. And get offa my lawn!

Anyhoo, if there's anything that demonstrates what an updating of Hammers' gothic Dracula would look like, it's this. That said, they were also smart enough to back Let the right one in, so I probably shouldn't be cutting 'em down just yet.

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Robin Hood—and Highgate vampire—fans, for that matter, will get a kick out of Kai Roberts' recently-published, Grave concerns: the follies and folklore of Robin Hood's final resting place (2011). The 'resting place' is located on the Kirklees Hall Estate, Yorkshire. It was also the scene of Sean Manchester's second-most famous vampire case.

Roberts presents an objective overview of the case and—before I continue, I've gotta disclose that he's a mate of mine. But he's a mate as a result of the correspondence that place during the draft stages of the book.

You see, its sixth chapter, 'Vampire blues', deals with the Highgate vampire case, which I was asked to view before it was 'locked in' for publication. Kai was familiar with my other blog, Did a wampyr walk in Highgate? and thought I might be qualified to do so. I made forty-eight notes to it, but not many made the cut. Mind you, they weren't major alterations, more like expanding on points—with a few corrections—Kai made throughout the draft. There wasn't really much more I could add, as Kai did such a brilliant job of summarising the case.

Now, because I mentioned on Facebook that I helped 'edit' his chapter (before I'd seen the final copy, no less), Della Farrant, and her husband David, took it upon themselves to jump down my throat—with hilarious consequences! What I also find funny, is that Kai's criticism is much more brutal than mine, yet they compliment him. Bit of a Freudian slip there! That, or they don't want to muddy the waters with someone who's given 'em public exposure and knows how to cut down their 'work' a peg or two with utmost precision.

As if it wasn't sad enough, Dave's wife's now started writing weaksauce apologia and bitter diatribes on her husband's behalf. A real shame, because she's a very smart woman and a talented writer (cursive font to the contrary). Just goes to show how 'blind' love can be.

Apart from that, I've also dealt with the usual pitiful, passive-aggressive mind games the President of the Highgate Vampire Society likes to play.

Anyhoo, grab a copy of Kai's book. I've started reading the rest of it—keeping in mind I only saw one chapter, pre-publication—and it's proving to be a gripping read.

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Speaking of reads, Bertena Varney sent me a copy of her book, Vampire news: tasty bits to sink your fangs into (2012), which I'll get round to reading properly when I have some time.

You might recall her as the author of Lure of the vampire: a pop culture reference book of lists, websites and "very telling personal essays" (2011). The same book also reveals the head of the Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency, which many people think is a legit government organisation.

If Vampire news is non-fictional—as my brief flick-through suggests it is—you may even see a review on this blog. Stay tuned! But let this also be a head's up to other authors/publishers: please don't send me movies or fictional works. I appreciate the effort, but I won't review them. If you've got vampire documentaries (like this one) or non-fiction vampire books, on the other hand...

In the meantime, I actually kinda dig the cover and you can download a copy of it free—yes, free—from its co-author, Stavros', website: Bite me really hard. Click on the cover to take you there.

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Even though this isn't a movie review blog, I'll occasionally refer to vampire flicks I've seen, keeping in tune with the online 'diary' nature of blogs. So, in that spirit, I'll mention that I caught Lesbian vampire killers (for vampire content, honest!) on DVD. 

Despite the rash of negative reviews—and its co-star calling it 'a pile of shit'—I kinda liked it. It reminded me of a far-less gorier version of Død snø (2009), another enjoyably mindless horror-comedy released the same year. It's not Shaun of the dead, sure, but dumb fun, nonetheless. For another 'take', see what Andrew M. Boylan had to say about it.

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Well, that's enough rambling and links to wade through, for today. We'll catch-up again soon. Oh, but before I forget, John Edgar Browning gave me a head's up on the release of his book, Bram Stoker's Dracula: the critical feast, an annotated reference of early reviews & reactions, 1897-1913 (2012). It's now available in paperback form on Amazon; there's a copy for the Kindle-inclined. Another addition to my wish list—and yours, too, I hope.

New Van Helsing flick?

It seems Sony Pictures is gearing up to make a flick tentatively titled Van Helsing and Dracula or Dracula and Van Helsing. Not the most inspiring titles.

Thankfully, it's not connected to the dreadful Van Helsing (2004) written and directed by Stephen Sommers, the poor man's Stephen Spielberg. 'Gabriel Van Helsing', indeed. Pfft.

You know what Van Helsing flick they should make? The proposed sequel to Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) they talked about years ago: 'A sequel, Van Helsing's Chronicles, will continue the story of the vampire hunter starring Anthony Hopkins.'¹ Now that would be awesome. I wouldn't even care if they didn't bring back Count Oldman; to see scenery-chewing Hopkins and his band of merry men (yes, even Keanu) go up against more vamps would be fantastic. The 'love story' sucked, anyway.

DVD beaver

Sony Pictures Entertainment even owns it: 'Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment'. Maybe that's the flick they're proposing. I hope so.

So, bring back Coppola, Hopkins, hell, even James V. Hart. Dispense with the sub-par Blade/Underworld action theatrics of their imitators and let's have ourselves an operatic clusterfudge of a Van Helsing flick. Bring it on. Beat Dario Argento at his own game.

In the meantime, here's a great little DVD overview of the 1992 flick.Oh, and props to Vampire news for featuring the story.

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^{1. JG Melton, The vampire book: the encyclopedia of the undead, Visible Ink Press, Detroit, 1994, p. 124.↩}

Dust settles; sequel talk

The Fright night remake's doing the rounds on DVD—already—but Dread central wanted to know whether there'd be any sequels. So, they asked director, Craig Gillespie and writer Marti Noxon. 

Here's what they said: "It was a great time working on Fright Night, and I know I'd love to come back for a sequel," said Noxon. "So far no one has mentioned any plans for a sequel yet- I think it's contingent on what happens with the DVD and Blu-ray sales, but I do think there's more stories to tell here and I hope I get to come back."

They better hope it scores big on DVD and Blu-ray sales, because it didn't exactly set the box office alight: it barely recouped its budget. Take that, remake!

That hasn't deterred its director, though: "In regards to a sequel, I think it's a wait and see situation for DreamWorks right now, but I know I'd be happy to direct a Fright Night sequel- there are a lot of possibilities in this world. Honestly, I'd love to do something like Charley backpacking through Europe and getting mixed up with some vampires there. That could be a lot of fun. Would the sequel be in 3D? Hard to tell, but either way I'd love to come back."

Horror movies forum

Thing is, there's already a Fright night sequel: Fright night, part 2, bitches! You can blame that flick for my interest in the undead.

I still remember watching it on Channel 9 the night before starting Grade 6. Later, I'd go on to borrow it from Majestic Video, a local video library—and was suitably impressed with its coffin-shaped VHS cover.

It'd be a while before I saw part one. Oddly enough, I even read its John Skipp/Craig Spektor novelisation before seeing it. The book was in my high school's library, of all places; it wasn't part of the curriculum. Eventually, I scored a copy of Fright night at Majestic. Unfortunately, it wasn't boxed in a coffin-shaped cover.

To this day, I still rank both flicks amongst the best vampire movies ever. Dated 80s threads to the contrary. They're clever, inventive—yet stick to the Draculean 'rules'. Pretty much. That's how I like it.

I've yet to see the remake. I deliberately avoided doing so at the cinema—as tempted as I admittedly was. But I'll catch it on DVD. Maybe it'll be awesome. Who knows. I've also avoided reading reviews cos, deep-down, I'm interested to see what they'll do with their 'source'.

That said, I hope the flick's meagre box office has helped convince producers to go easy on the remakes. It's turned into a sick joke. There's just so many of them. Seriously, stop. I can understand the whole 'safe bet' thing—what with pirating to compete with and the millions at stake—but rest assured, people are gonna get sick of it. Real soon. How long can an industry that cannibalises itself, survive?

Underneath the radar

Hemlock Books

I 'discovered' this one while on one of my semi-regular Amazon trawls. Can't believe I missed it. Presenting: Bruce G Hallenbeck's British cult cinema: the Hammer vampire (left). It was published 5 May 2010.

Hammer was an English production company, best-known for its horror output during the late 1950s–early 1970s. At one point, the company was so popular, it earned a 'Queen's Award to Industry in recognition of their contribution to the British economy.'

Many horror fans—including me—have a soft spot for their films. Cheesy by today's standards, there's still a sense of class about 'em, despite their low budgets, due to the quality of their actors and (usually) Victorian settings. Christopher 'Count Dooku' Lee got his big break through them. Also, if you're into gory stuff, they basically mainstreamed it. Quite ahead of its time.

Hammer made fifteen vampire flicks. Sixteen if you include Countess Dracula (1971). Most were encased in 'series': Dracula (1958)—its eight sequels—and the Karnstein Trilogy. The remainder were stand-alones: Kiss of the vampire (1962), Vampire circus (1972) and Captain Kronos – vampire hunter (1974).

They also wanted to adapt Richard Matheson's seminal vampire novel, I am legend (1954), but censors nixed that idea.

As you can see, there's ample ground to give Hammer's vampires a whole lotta coverage, which I'm sure will warm the hearts of many fans. It's been getting some good reviews on Amazon.co.uk, too. Plus points.

Off the top of my head, there's only been two other books specifically devoted to Hammer's vampire output, namely, Robert Marrero's Vampires: Hammer style (1982) and John Jewel's Lips of blood: an illustrated guide to Hammer's Dracula movies starring Christopher Lee (2002). Going on page length, alone (I've read none of these books), looks like Hallenbeck's in the lead for most extensive coverage of the subject.

Dario Argento's Dracula

Horror maven, Dario Argento, has cast his hat into the lot of a long line of directors who've tackled Bram Stoker's Dracula. However, this is probably the first attempt rendered in 'stereoscopic 3D'.

A word of warning before viewing this 'Trailor': it's got a lotta gore, bad CGI and brief nudity at the 1:38 mark. It might also make you wonder, 'This guy directed Suspiria?'

Twilight, it ain't. As a change of pace, Rutger Hauer plays Van Helsing. His previous contributions to vampire flicks include Lothos (Buffy the vampire slayer, 1992) and Kurt Barlow (Salem's Lot, 2004). He also inspired Anne Rice, and was even considered for the role of Lestat de Lioncourt in an adaptation of Interview with the vampire. It went to Tom Cruise.

Watching the 'trailor' for this OTT adaptation reminds me of a Dracula project—by another horror auteur—unfortunately never realised.

The late Ken Russell (1927–2011), best-known in vampire circles for adapting Stoker's Lair of the white worm (1988), Russell wanted a crack at Drac, too. It 'was cancelled when it was felt that too many Dracula films were crowding the market. Among the proposed scenes was Jonathan Harker wrapping a rosary about his fist to "de-fang" a vampire bride!'

Casting Dracula

I was watching Pineapple express on the telly last night and the scene where Seth Rogan rocks up to his girlfriend's place comes on. She's sitting at the dinner table with her parents. They're waiting for him. I see her dad's side profile and wonder: 'Wouldn't Ed Begley, Jr. make a good Van Helsing?'

YouTube

I sometimes fantasise what a proper film adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) would look like. The 1992 version came close in that it retained the main characters, but the central love story sent it way off course. Anthony Hopkins did a commendable job as Van Helsing, though, highlighted some of the character's 'madness'.

As far as I'm concerned, no adaptation I've seen has stayed 'true' to the novel, that is, retained the main plot points, scenes, dialogue and characters. I don't think it'd be that hard to do. That's why I wonder who'd be cast the movie and so on.

Classic movie monsters

The guy even kinda looks like Edward Van Sloan (1882-1964), the first actor to play Van Helsing on the bigscreen (left). More importantly, they both resemble the description Mina Harker gives in the book:

I rose and bowed, and he came towards me, a man of medium weight, strongly built, with his shoulders set back over a broad, deep chest and a neck well balanced on the trunk as the head is on the neck. The poise of the head strikes me at once as indicative of thought and power. The head is noble, well-sized, broad, and large behind the ears. The face, clean-shaven, shows a hard, square chin, a large resolute, mobile mouth, a good-sized nose, rather straight, but with quick, sensitive nostrils, that seem to broaden as the big bushy brows come down and the mouth tightens. The forehead is broad and fine, rising at first almost straight and then sloping back above two bumps or ridges wide apart, such a forehead that the reddish hair cannot possibly tumble over it, but falls naturally back and to the sides. Big, dark blue eyes are set widely apart, and are quick and tender or stern with the man's moods.

Hopefully, Begley can rock a Dutch accent. He's also 62, which is still (barely) within the boundaries of the professor's middle-aged status. However, if I wasn't gonna do a 'straight' version of this flick, like an 'update' or something, I'd choose Samuel L. Mother****in' Jackson. He'd walk through a door, into a room full of vampires, looking like Shaft—again—wielding pump action shotgun, chk-chk BLAM! Awesome.

Anyway, with Van Helsing cast, it naturally got me thinking who Dracula should be. I've already made my case for the actor who would've been perfect for the role, but he's out of the race on account of being dead and all.

How about Christopher Lee? He's said he'd play the part again, if the script stuck to Stoker's novel (one of the reasons he stopped participating in the Hammer sequels), but, let's face it—he's getting on a bit. He turned 89 this year, and even though you could make him look younger with prosthetics and whatnot, would he really be up to the challenge? He'd need to shave that beard off, too.

But Pineapple express saved the day, again. Dracula was right under my nose. What about the film's bad guy, Gary Cole? He's played evil supernatural characters before—think Sheriff Lucas Buck in American gothic (1995-6). He looks like a bit of a cold bastard—why not? Let's do another comparison with the novel. Here's how Jonathan Harker describes Dracula:

His face was a strong, a very strong, aquiline, with high bridge of the thin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils, with lofty domed forehead, and hair growing scantily round the temples but profusely elsewhere. His eyebrows were very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion. The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather cruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth. These protruded over the lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a man of his years. For the rest, his ears were pale, and at the tops extremely pointed. The chin was broad and strong, and the cheeks firm though thin. The general effect was one of extraordinary pallor.

IMDb

Sure that bushy hair business doesn't match Cole's appearance, hough I do think he's got a 'fixed and rather cruel-looking' mouth. Compare Harker's description with the pic of Cole, left. Hell, he's even trying to grow a moustache there. He'd have to tone down his drawl, though. No Reece Bobby for the Count.

As to the rest, I've only thought vaguely of them. Someone lordly looking for Arthur Holmwood. Paul Bettany? For Mina or Lucy, I was thinking Ellie Kemper from The office. She's got a sweet, 'innocent' vibe to her, just like Madeline Smith in The vampire lovers (1970).

Who's left? Jonathan Harker, John Seward and Quincey Harker. Oh, and Renfield. Those ones I'm stuck on, but I did think of Felix Williamson for Seward, mainly because of his 'look' in Underbelly: razor. But I also realise that's because it reminds me, vaguely, of Richard E. Grant in the '92 flick. Cast-wise, that one's a hard act to follow.

Casting the Collinses

EW.com

Entertainment Weekly featured an exclusive peek at the cast of the upcoming Dark shadows flick. It's based on the 1966-71 soap opera of the same name.  

Tim Burton's directing, which isn't surprising considering his admiration of the series, the Gothic themes prevalent throughout his work, and the inclusion of stand-bys, Johnny Depp and Burton's wife, Helena Bonham Carter, in the cast.

To be honest, I'm ambivalent about the whole thing. I haven't seen the original series—nor the 1991 remake—but I have seen the first movie the original series spawned: House of dark shadows (1970). I'm also aware that the cult series has a strong fanbase and there've been many attempts to gauge its appeal. Pop culture writer, Eric Nuzum, recorded an interesting conversation he had with an attendee of a Dark shadows convention:

"You know, for a lot of people, vampires are all about sex, but I think it's deeper than that. I think all this stuff is really about power."

"How so?" I asked.

"You notice all the sick people at the convo?" he said. "During the whole Dark Shadows series Barnabas is a vampire in search of a cure for his curse," he continued. "A cure for his curse," he added for emphasis. "It seems pretty obvious that we're talking about a bunch of people happy to fantasize about finding a cure for the curse, eh?

"These are people who don't identify with the human characters—they identify with the freaks. In Dark Shadows, the monsters are always conflicted, always looking for a way out. They struggle. These con folks, they know what it's like to live like that."¹

Whether this angle will be explored in Burton's adaptation, remains to be seen. But I'll say the 'conflicted vampire' trope is nothing new. We see elements of it as far back as Varney the vampire (1847), J. Sheridan LeFanu's 'Carmilla' (1871–2), and yes, even in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), which would eventually evolve to the popular 'sympathetic vampire' of today. It must've been a theme that resonated with Dark shadows' creator, Dan Curtis, as his 1973 Dracula adaptation, played out the 'cursed' vampire angle, too.

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1 E Nuzum, The dead travel fast: stalking vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula, Thomas Dunne Books, New York, 2007, pp. 199–200.^↩