Iron Monkey Quick Review

The phrase ‘all time great’ gets thrown around a lot but it’s accurate when talking about Iron Monkey.

Easily accessible in terms of story and pacing for those that want to try a classic martial arts movie, it has incredible action scenes and a pretty decent script. Donnie Yen is a star here and some of the sequences need to be seen to be believed. 

Normally with these sorts of movies there are caveats and concessions you have to make such as overlooking poor plotting or things that don’t hold up anymore but Iron Monkey requires none of that. It’s a classic, hugely impressive and iconic and no matter how many years pass this will always be one of the best action films out there. 

It’s A great place to start for those looking to get into classic martial arts cinema and of course the Eureka! Blu-Ray has everything you possible want on it as well. 

Were-Wolf By Night Quick Review

Marvel’s ‘special presentation’ walks the wonderfully weird world of classic creature features perfectly while introducing a host of odd ball new characters ready for anytime the studio wants to walk the darker side of the MCU.

Elsa Bloodstone and Jack Russell are well cast and provide the perfect hammy performances against the backdrop of a wailing theremin and spooky early cinema horror audio. The introduction of Man-Thing also provides some welcome gruesome humour as Marvels take on the Minotaur plays out in entertaining ghost train style. 

As a venture into the ‘one off special’ format it opens up a world of creative opportunities to explore the stranger side of things which can only be good moving forward.  It’s Original, fun and well worth visiting this halloween. 

Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind Blu-Ray Review

 This 1980 film from Sammo Hung is one of the directors best known works and had acquired the proverbial ‘cult following’ in the West. Sammo also stars as ‘Bug Guts’ Cheung, a loser who gets in over his head making crazy bets to stay in haunted houses.

Sammo has never been the best director but this is a good mix of horror, comedy and martial arts that contains enough elements of each to ultimately be successful and it is by far the best early example of this style in the Hong Kong film system.

It would be a strange introduction to newcomers of Hong Kong cinema but for those looking to view the iconic films of the age it holds up well.

The visual jokes are plentiful and the fight scenes suitable exciting. The English dub is one of the worst ever though so stick with the subs or you’ll have no idea what’s going on.

Do Revenge Quick Review

Big surprise, but I really enjoyed Do Revenge.

It’s not perfect and the ending is a little abrupt but it’s packed with fun little moments, cameos and endless iconic tunes from teen movies gone by.

It’s just great fun and anchored by the two leads well. blending Strangers on a Train with Clueless is a great idea. Simple, effective and it works

The Last Of Us Season Review

The Last of Us started with a strong opening episode and then ebbed and flowed between slow burn character development and high emotion drama throughout. Remarkably for a show set in an infected wasteland there weren’t that many infected, but it worked.

The performances of the two leads are exceptional throughout with the supporting cast providing new interest and believable characters at every turn. It may have lacked action at times but it was always bleakly believable. 

It’s very difficult to criticise as the world building and tone are exceptional with people just surviving in a desperately sad world emphasised consistently and poignantly. 

When the show goes big it always makes the moments payoff and the pacing is outstanding. Despite all this i’m not sure I will watch it again though. I think it does perhaps lack a little subtlety but then when the emotions are this raw it doesn’t exactly need it. 

The best video game adaptation ever? Undoubtedly. 

Episode Ratings - 

Ep 1 9

Ep 2 7

Ep 3 9

Ep 4 6

Ep 5 7

Ep 6 7

Ep 7 7

Ep 8 9

Ep 9 8

Cyberpunk Edgerunners Review

Cyberpunk Edgerunners is a bold adaption of its source material that gets both a lot right and wrong in it’s anarchic ten episodes.

It looks and sounds amazing with a future tinged palette layering neon yellows over the more dour colours you might associate with dystopian cyberpunk narratives.

The city is a busy and chaotic place full of background detail and made to feel claustrophobic through a camera that won’t get out of close up. It would have really benefitted from a few shots further back at times as it sways from keeping you in the detail of the gruesome action to the Michael Bay realms of ‘what is actually going on’ a little too often with the world flying by at 150mph.

Characters are interesting, though I felt all are substantially underwritten except for our lead with most reduced down to a simple characteristic and signature piece of chrome (maybe that’s the point?). Even Lucy feels like an underbaked starry eyed doomed lover by the end.

The ten episodes do just about hold together though, despite Episode 6 wrecking the pacing and making much of what has come before somewhat irrelevant. Still, I’m glad it exists and hopefully there will be more to come. 10% more focus next time and it’ll be a standout show.

Armour of God Blu Ray Quick Review

First released in 1987 you can now get a wonderfully restored Blu-Ray of Armour of God containing the different cuts of the film. A kung fu heist movie at heart, it sits as one of Jackie Chans most well known Hong Kong roles.

 It’s crazy in the way all Hong Kong films of this time were and contains a heavy mix of martial arts, insane stunts and slap stick comedy. It is perhaps not the film to win over non-Jackie Chan fans and it has some outdated attitudes (the representation of the ‘South American’ tribe at the start *shudder*), but it’s a fun ride and one remembered with a heady dose of nostalgia by many of a certain age and a film that encapsulates the Hong Kong film industries commitment to star based spectacle and action at the time.

 The Blu-Ray also comes with a ton of art stills and production notes.

Guardians of the Galaxy Script Breakdown

Dir- James Gunn

Year – 2014

Running Time – 116 Minutes

Screen Writing Genre – Golden Fleece (Epic)

The Film

Picking one of Marvel’s more obscure franchises may have seemed strange but it allowed the studio to venture into a relatively empty area of the market at the time. Guardians of the Galaxy remains one of the most critically acclaimed marvel movies and uses some clever music and a great script to keep things fun and fast moving.

What’s in a name?

It’s not rocket science here. It’s a film about the Guardians of the Galaxy. It does imply the ideas of sci-fi, space and super heroes so job done.

What makes it great?

The core of why the film works so well is a light hearted and consistent script backed up by some excellent performances from the cast. Any time things begin to get too serious there is always a moment of humour around the next corner. It helps the audience to think they are having a great space adventure and it works incredibly well.

Guardians of the Galaxy as an (Epic) Golden Fleece Movie

Though it might seem strange, Guardians of the Galaxy doesn’t really fit into the ‘Super Hero’ movie genre as you need ingredients such as the power being a ‘curse’.

The film is about a rag tag band of rejects crossing the galaxy in search of treasure (either the stone, or the money from selling it).

Of course, along the way they discover there are more important things and after some bumps in the road that stop them from progressing they learn some life lessons. If that’s not an epic Golden Fleece story then I don’t know what is.

Time Line

Opening Image – Earth 1988, a young boy is in a hospital corridor. He looks isolated and alone.

Theme Stated – Our theme is that of finding companionship and not being afraid to believe in people (the right people), and commit. We soon see that Star Lord has been looking for ‘companionship’ with many different alien females throughout the galaxy.

Set-Up – The set up mainly gives us the back story for Star Lord. We also see the infinity stone, Ronan and Thanos. All the future guardians are introduced except for Drax.

Catalyst – Star Lord tries to sell the infinity stone but is rejected when the buyer finds out Ronan is involved and is soon arrested after a scuffle with the other guardians. Now he is locked into the fate of the stone.

Break into Two – The guardians are taken to the Kiln. Once the doors shut there is now no way back.

Debate – It hits outside of traditional structure but once in the Kiln there are So many questions for the group to consider. What is the stone? How can they sell it and to whom? How do they break out of the prison? Should they trust Gamora?

B Story – The B story concerns the characters beginning to trust one another. We see Drax gradually accept Gamora and Star Lord and Gamora’s friendship develop here.

Fun and Games – What’s more fun that a prison break? We get to see all the guardians doing their thing as they break out of the Kiln.

Midpoint – The guardians arrive at Knowhere. The stone explodes and now the team realise just exactly what they are dealing with. The fun and game are over.

Bad Guys Close In – Ronan arrives, shortly followed by the Ravagers. Nebula gets hold of the stone, Drax is left for dead and Gamora drifts into space. It is a crushing defeat for the team.

All is Lost – Star Lord goes through just how much the team has lost.

Dark Night of the Soul – After realising the need for the suicide mission the team recover and decide to fight together to try and save the galaxy.

Break into Three – Now recovered and with a plan, the guardians unite with the Ravagers and Nova Core to try and take down Ronan.

Finale – The battle for Nova begins. The bad guys begin to get knocked off and Nebula is despatched. The guardians unite to channel the power of the stone and Ronan is defeated. Star Lord is finally ready to open the last gift from his mother.

Final image – The guardians are united in friendship. There is a bond of trust between them and Star Lord has now grown up and accepted his role in the universe. The group who were once outcasts and loners are now surrounded by friends. Mirrored with the opening image we’ve gone from Star Lord as an isolated child in a dark corridor to a man surrounded by friends with whole galaxy available to explore.

The Grand Budapest Hotel Script Breakdown

Dir- Wes Anderson

Year – 2014

Running Time – 99 Mins

Screen writing Genre – (Epic) Buddy Love

The Film

Wes Anderson’s 2014 tale of fantasy and whimsy is a refreshing and original story told expertly. The critics loved it and it picked up numerous nominations for best film across the board. Perhaps unfairly overlooked for the best screenplay Oscar, it none the less picked up a host of other awards for its visual style and design.

What’s in a name?

The name gives us a pretty good idea where the film is going to be set and also that it will be a whimsical tale. There isn’t much more to it but it also hints at an older time and place. It’s simple but does the job well.

What makes it great?

A very strong script and some great performances throughout the cast make the story come alive. The beautiful cinematography and the unique way the aspect ratio is changed and used helps the film move along like a series of well-staged and beautiful paintings that our cast move in and out of. The whole things looks like a fairy tale and certainly takes the audience to another place.

The Grand Budapest Hotel as an (Epic) Buddy Love Movie

The Grand Budapest Hotel falls into the Buddy Love genre due to the main relationship between the two lead characters. It’s a tale of friendship as two very different people find friendship during an epic quest that takes them from an old hotel to snow covered fields and mountain peaks. Though not lovers there is even a tragic end for one of our much loved characters.

We also have the key ingredients of an ‘incomplete hero’ and a ‘counterpart’ in our two heroes and a ‘complication’ which draws them together in the tale of the missing Will and painting. 

Time Line

Opening Image – A grey cemetery followed by an author and a book. The book opens and we start the story of the hotel.

Theme Stated – Our theme is based around the idea of age and memories. The hotel is described as an enchanting old ruin. The film is primarily about the experiences we have with the ones we care about and how we remember them.

Set-Up – We see our fantasy land, the hotel and meet our key characters. We are walked around the hotel and a tone of melancholy is also set.

Catalyst – Zero begins to tell his story and his job interview starts around minute 12. It is his choice to enter the world of the GBH.

Debate – The debate is around whether Zero fits the GBH. Should he be hired? What actually is a lobby boy? He is of course and then Mr Gustave asks him to accompany him to one of his beloved guest’s mansions.

Break into Two – Once the train arrives at the mansion we are beginning to enter the realms of no return. Once the Will is read there is no turning back and Gustave and Zero are now locked in for the duration of the tale.

B Story – The B story is mentioned right on queue and then put off until later. It is of course the story of Zero and Agatha.

Fun and Games – There’s a game of hide and seek going on with the painting and lots of different chases. There’s even a jail breakout to plan to show us some of Mr Gustave’s charm in action.

Midpoint – Our story gets more serious as Zero in the modern day starts to cry. He now begins to tell the story of himself and Agatha.

Bad Guys Close In – Dmitri begins to close in on Gustave and Zero as he goes on the hunt for the painting and people who stand in his way. The stakes are raised in this section as a crucial document is found to be missing. People begin to die thanks to Dmitri’s thug and Gustave breaks out of jail.

All is Lost – All alone and without equipment and supplies Gustave and Zero are lost and in danger. When there is no perfume available Gustave loses his cool properly for the first time.

Dark Night of the Soul – Gustave realises he has lost his cool and gone too far. He apologises and the two friends makeup and continue their journey.

Break into Three – Running across the snow they find the magic phone box and ask for assistance from the society of the cross keys.

Finale – More people die and the thug chases Zero and Gustave to the observatory. Dmitri realises the painting is missing and the mountain section culminates in the ski chase back down. Zero then pushes the thug off the cliff to save the day. (Note, Zero is making things happen here rather than Gustave)

We see the final fate of our characters and the story begins to fade out.

Final image – Zero now older and back in the present. The story is told and we are now wiser to the stories and memories held within the hotel and why it is so important to him.

The Empire Strikes Back Script Breakdown

Dir- Irvin Kershner

Year – 1980

Running Time – 124 Mins

Screen writing Genre – Golden Fleece (Epic)

The Film

The Empire Strikes Back is the most critically popular Star Wars film and also the one with the darkest edge. Our epic space trilogy becomes a bit smaller here and relationships and issues are worked out in place of space battles. It also features one of the best reveals of all time and was nominated for technical awards at the Oscars, Baftas and Golden Globe ceremonies. It picked up wins for sound and music.

What’s in a name?

The second Star Wars movie has a great and fitting title. It is indeed the film where the Empire takes revenge on the Rebel Alliance for the destruction of the Death Star. It hints at a more serious and dangerous film and one where the heroes may be under greater threat than before.

What makes it great?

Aside from all the Star Wars magic the thing that really sets it up as an all-time classic is the atmosphere and tone. The music plays a huge part as sinister scores sweep across the scenes building tension and creating a more sombre and down beat sound. The dramatic opening battle and the epic final light sabre dual between Luke and Vader bookend a strong piece of Sci-Fi where the characters are placed at the forefront.

The Empire Strikes Back as an (Epic) Golden Fleece Movie

It’s a fairly straightforward one here. It’s an epic journey across time and space for our hero Luke which has constant stops and bumps along the way. Friendship and companionship is the key ingredient and the group of heroes all have different skill sets to aid in the quest of our much duller main hero. The key thing to remember is that this is Luke’s film and the others are the supporting cast.

Time Line

Opening Image – A Star Destroyer sends out probe droids looking for the Rebels. We see the Empire is very much still around, strong and looking for revenge.

Theme Stated – The theme throughout the film is one of companionship and friendship. Continual sacrifices and risks are taken by the main characters as the film progresses to save the friends they love.

Set-Up – We see the Rebels on Hoth trying to regroup, The Empire looking for them and the friendship between our main protagonists. The Han and Leia romance is hinted at and we see Luke showing some new Jedi powers.

Catalyst – When Luke lies in the snow and sees a vision of Ben Kenobi he is given a new direction to head in. Luke now knows what the next step is he must take.

Break into Two – The Rebels evacuate Hoth after the Empire assault and Luke heads to his new destination away from the fleet. We are now entering a new and strange world unlike what we have experienced before.

Debate – This happens later than usual but concerns Luke’s faith in his Jedi training. Numerous times he ponders on what he is doing and why he is there. The debate section keeps recurring throughout Luke’s training as he doubts his abilities, culminating in the ‘All is Lost’ Moment later on.

B Story – Hiding in the asteroid Han and Leia’s love story begins properly and they kiss before being interrupted by C3PO

Fun and Games – We have a game of follow the leader between Luke and Yoda and the Millennium Falcon crew play hide and seek with the Empire.

Midpoint – The Emperor reveals himself for the first time and the plot to convert or kill Luke gets underway. Luke gets Yoda to agree to train him and says “I’m not afraid” to which Yoda replies “You will be”. Everything just got even more serious.

Bad Guys Close In – The Falcon runs from the asteroid as it’s revealed to be a big worm thing and immediately back into danger. Luke encounters the Vader phantom in the dark hollow. Things are beginning to fall apart.

All is Lost – Luke can’t lift the X-Wing, loses faith and considers it an impossible task.

Dark Night of the Soul – Yoda lifts the X-Wing and Luke now understands the power of the force. He also senses his friends in danger.

Break into Three – We arrive in another new environment – Cloud City. All the pieces are in, or heading to the same place and we are set for our final run down to the end of the movie. C3PO is blasted to add a bit of danger and Luke runs to save his friends.

Finale – Luke fights Vader and barely escapes with his life and the big secret is revealed. The rescue mission to save Han fails and our heroes are in a bad place. As the film acts as the run in to the ‘All is Lost’ moment across the trilogy this is to be expected.

Final image – The Rebel fleet, now back together, with Luke and friends damaged but recovering. The Rebellion is preparing for the final assault and has re-gathered their strength. The ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ moment of the trilogy has now passed.

Mean Girls Script Breakdown

Dir- Mark Waters

Year – 2004

Running Time – 94 Minutes

Screen writing Genre –Rites of Passage (Adolescent)

The Film

Not the most complex of films, Mean Girls gives some young talent a chance to impress with some great comedic performances. It captures the spirit of American High School well and is both fast paced and well structured.

What’s in a name?

A fairly straight forward one here. Means Girls not only refers to the three main plastics but also the idea that all girls can be mean to each other.

What makes it great?

The key strength of the film is a smart and pacey script which moves along well. The film is structured excellently and hits all the beats pretty much spot on. It’s a great example of a simple premise raised up a level by the performances and writing.

Mean Girls as an (Adolescent) Rites of Passage Movie

I was toying with that as an ‘Institutionalised’ movie but really it’s the story of Cady’s emotional growth from being a ‘child’ to a more mature and wise teen (if that’s possible). We see her struggles and the ‘wrong way’ she chooses to undertake her passage. By the end of the film she has accepted certain things about herself and worked out the puzzle of high school. By the end of the film she has successfully moved from child to a more adult state and is rewarded with a relationship.

Time Line

Opening Image – We start with camera making it look like parents talking to a child going for her first day at school. It is revealed that it is in fact Cady who is going to a ‘real’ school for the first time. She is emotionally green and naïve.

Theme Stated – We see Cady eating lunch in the toilets on her own and various different factions around the college. Our theme is about the question of fitting in. How do you do it? And what should you compromise?

Set-Up – Throughout this section we get the different elements of the school set up. We see all the different factions and are introduced to the ‘plastics’. We see Cady starts as a social outcast.

Catalyst – When Cady chooses to sit at the ‘plastics’ table she has decided to start the journey to a new world.

Debate – Cady debates what to do. Should she have lunch with the plastics? Should she spy on them for her other friends?

Break into Two – When Cady lets slip a comment about one of her friends that ends up in the Burn Book there is no going back and we have moved into the upside down world of high school politics.

B Story – Our love story is fairly straight forward as Cady begins to fall for Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron. Here Cady begins to change herself (such as faking being dumb) to make Aaron notice her and to place her within his vicinity. She will realise this is not a good idea by the end of the film.

Fun and Games – The full on high school life kicks in. The plastics act out various bitchy plans, there are parties and Cady starts plotting after Regina tricks her about Aaron. We even have a talent show.

Midpoint – Things begin to escalate but the real serious moment which stops all the fun is when Cady blurts out to Aaron that Regina is cheating on him dead on minute 46.

Bad Guys Close In – The bad guys in this case are actually Cady herself. She begins to lose herself in the role of a plastic and becomes meaner and meaner. She eventually takes over the role of Queen Bee of the plastics.

All is Lost – Cady’s own party signals her downfall. She throws up on Aaron, her real friends disown her and Regina sets a trap with the Burn Book that throws the entire school into chaos.

(incidentally there's a nice line at Cady's party - when Aaron says to her "I've been looking everywhere for you" she replies "Yeah, me too" which highlights her inner journey and confusion about who she is).

Dark Night of the Soul – Cady realises she has lost herself and through a long scene in the gym all the girls begin to recover themselves. Cady is now all alone.

Break into Three – Cady returns to school and is now the outcast and along again – but this time for very different reasons.

Finale – Cady recovers herself, apologises and begins to rebuild bridges. She wins the Mathletes title and attends the school dance wearing her medal. When she wins Queen of the dance she completes her recovery by breaking the plastic tiara and handing it out to everyone.

Final image – Cady gets the guy and has fully returned to being herself. She is now wiser and more mature and the rest of the girls have evolved as well. At least most of them have.

Eastern Icon, Western Mystery - Looking back at Chow Yun-Fat

Like Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-Fat is best known in the west for a few of terrible films such as Bullet Proof Monk and The Replacement Killers. Unlike Jackie Chan, he rarely graces our shores to show the other side to his character. This means many Westerners will simply see him as an irrelevant footnote to their cinematic viewing. Few know the man who once said: “Working in front of the camera keeps me alive. I couldn't care less about actors' trailers and food on sets and stuff like that - I just want to act".

It may be a shock for Western audiences to find that Chow Yun-Fat is one of the most popular actors working in film today. He is one of the most respected actors in the whole Asian territory and has millions of fans who worship him like a deity.

He was always a popular actor in Hong Kong, starting out playing non-demanding heart-throb roles in various TV programmes and films. But after his excellent 1983 performance in gangster movie, Shang ha tan xu ji his star began to rise dramatically.

Only a couple of years later in 1985 he won two best actor awards for his role in Dang doi lai ming (Hong Kong 1941 in the UK). The film follows the story of three friends as they try to escape Hong Kong during the Japanese takeover. It was with this role that Yun-Fat came to the attention of the then up and coming director John Woo. Woo, who until this point had been making films prolifically in a number of genre’s cast him in the role of Mark in A Better Tomorrow in 1986. The movie would go on to become one of the most highly acclaimed pictures in Hong Kong cinema history and be a massive commercial success.

After the success of the movie John Woo decided to focus on the hard edged gangster thrillers and ‘Heroic bloodshed’ movies with which he would gain his reputation. The role catapulted Chow Yun-Fat to super stardom and marked him out as a style icon for any young male. The sales of the thick woollen coat his character wore in the film shot through the roof (remarkable considering Hong Kong’s humid climate). The East finally had another star the size of Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan to follow.

From here on, the two formed a legendary partnership. More commercial success followed for the pair with A Better Tomorrow 2 in 1987, but it was 1989 film The Killer that began to get them world wide attention. For Woo it meant a phone call from Hollywood and an invitation to the US. For Yun-Fat it created a character that would go on to influence many western movies.

The figure of the tragic assassin Jeffrey in his white suit is an image that almost any eastern movie fan will know. The obvious reference in western cinema comes in Quentin Tarantino film Jackie Brown. Here Samuel L Jackson’s character Ordell tells Louis that every person wants the gun the killer used, even though it’s unreliable and jams. He also mentions them all wanting to buy “two guns” which refers to the double pistol touting characters that Yun-Fat plays.

Ironically, though the film helped both Woo and his acting muse gain cult status in the US, it didn’t do particularly well in China. This was due to a number of references to the Tiananmen Square massacre. The film also ran into other problems with the studio not wanting the film to be made. Producer Tsui Hark hated it and wanted it completely re-cut and told from the point of view of the police officer. Luckily due to a tight release schedule nothing was changed.

John Woo may have got his invitation to Hollywood, but before leaving he made two more films with Yun-Fat. The first was Once a Thief in 1991, which turned out to be a decent action packed caper movie. The second film was 1992 bullet ballet Hard Boiled. This would be the last time the two worked together in the film industry and they made sure everything ended with a bang. Hard Boiled would go on to be one of the most important and influential movies in Asian cinema history and was responsible for breaking eastern cinema in the West.

The film, clocking in at a body count of three-hundred and seven, puts Chow in the role of iconic police inspector ‘Tequila’. It is amazing the film holds together so well, as it was besieged with script, time and money problems. It is rumoured that the entire script was re-written only a week before shooting began with the plot being changed dramatically.

Both Yun-Fat and co-star Tony Leung almost didn’t make it through the film in one piece either. Leung was hit in the eye by flying glass during one of the shoot out scenes (you can see him cover his face if you look closely) and Yun-Fat was almost blown up. Woo apparently didn’t think the explosions were good enough so insisted on having the trigger himself. He pressed the button too soon and when he went to apologise found that the back of Yun-Fat’s hair and coat were singed.

Luckily for us the film did get finished and turned out to be one of the greatest action movies of all time. Its influence can be seen in The Matrix where many of the shootouts and the action style is a watered down version of its Hong Kong cousin. With their legacy complete the two parted company. John Woo never came close to emulating the success he had in Hong Kong in Hollywood. Some films such as Face Off and Broken Arrow were fairly profitable but the critics never took to him well. Two of his most high profile films, Paycheck and Mission Impossible 2 are universally derided.

Chow Yun-Fat, now having reached almost God like status, stayed in the East for a few more years before finally making his Hollywood debut in 1998’s The Replacement Killers. Much like Woo he found critical success hard to come by, partly due to him being continually miscast in light weight action roles where he seemed disinterested. He broke the stereotype with his touching role in Anna and the King (1999) and this seemed to restore his love for the screen.

He returned to the East and followed his more serious role with an astounding performance in the amazing (and Oscar winning) Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in 2000. Finally Yun-Fat had made it onto western cinema screens in a role that really fitted him. The film was a massive critical and commercial success and started a second wave of Western love for Eastern cinema.

It went on not only to influence western action cinema for years to come, but also led to a whole new genre breaking through in the East. Suddenly historical fantasy folklore tales were springing up everywhere such as Hero, House of Flying Daggers and Fearless. All of which gained western cinema releases due to Crouching Tiger’s success.

Audiences may have known the film but few people still really knew who he was. He decided to take another crack at the Hollywood movie in 2003, but again ended up terribly miscast in goofy comedy Bullet Proof Monk. It seemed Yun-Fat was never going to get a role he deserved. Once more he returned to the East to take up more serious roles. Curse of the Golden Flowers in 2006 brought him back to the West but unfortunately coincided with a down turn in interest in Eastern cinema. The film received a tepid reception as the popularity of the historical fantasy epic passed.

All was not lost however. 2007 would see a massive revival in Yun-Fat’s career. Not only did he get the chance to work with John Woo again on the computer game Strangle Hold (a sort of follow up to Hard Boiled). He also got the call to play Captain Sao Feng in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie. The film went on to be the highest grossing picture of all time and the character of Sao Feng lit up the screen. For a short period everyone wanted to know about him, and he loved it.

Yun-Fat once said of Western audiences that they “think I am a stereotyped action star, or that I always play hitmen or killers.” That may still be true to some extent but at least now people are taking an interest in his other work. He went on to say, “In Hong Kong, I did a lot of comedy, many dramatic films, and most of all, romantic roles, lots of love stories. I was like a romance novel hero.” It is great that people are finally beginning to realise this.

Ramblings about 'Trance'

So where to start with Trance? It's certainly a strange one. The premise (which I won't spoil here), is certainly unique and the twist on subverting audience expectations should also be applauded. The cast are all strong, music is good and used creatively and the overall technical craft on display is excellent. So why then doesn't it entirely succeed?

The weak point is the third act which presents a resolution that just feels unfulfilling. It's hard to go into without spoiling but the crux of it lies in script genre and audience expectation.

We like stories about 'a guy who'. Someone we can follow and see through the eyes of. This is the first problem we encounter when the events of act 3 unfold. The second issue is that the film tries to merge script genres. It's part fleece and part whydunnit? Both these genres have clear and very different signifiers and when they blur here it leaves a weak story resolution.

Trance is still a decent film and well worth seeing. It's also hard to see how it could be fixed as it is not a lazy decision or poor craft which has caused the problem. Danny Boyle has tried something new here and the problem may well just be what we are programmed on a sub-conscious level to expect from our stories.

Using Vampires to Mirror Societies Fears: Conclusion

In conclusion I would say that that the four films I have looked at show a clear development of how the vampire myth has become a representation of society’s fears and taboos. From the classical vampire figure of Dracula representing the tragic, lone figure endlessly searching for peace, we then have a distinct change when looking at the other film texts. While various theorists have argued that Bram Stoker’s Dracula puts across more than just this idea of a tragic Romantic figure I just cannot see any way whereby these concerns outweigh the film’s love story narrative. Simply, the character of Dracula is too easy to identify with, too easy to feel sorry for and sympathise with for it to represent any fear in society.
   
Furthermore, the very notion that Dracula must represent a fear in society must set up, in some respects at least, the idea that the audience will be repelled or afraid of Dracula himself and this simply does not happen anywhere within the text. The main reason we are neither afraid of nor repelled by Dracula is because everything he does is validated through his search for true love, the most righteous cause to exist, especially in the realm of cinema. Therefore, anybody doing anything at all in the name of real true love will always escape any idea that what he or she is doing is wrong or evil in any way. However hard you look, and no matter how cynical you are it would be near impossible to describe the idea of true love as evil.

The Lost Boys shows how the vampire can be manipulated to fit in with the society of the time in order to sell itself to an audience. We can clearly see a step away from the idea of the lone figure, as we are now presented with a gang. Through the characters and events in the film we then perceive a number of things occurring. First of all we are presented with a dangerous gang, thus we are given a challenge to the dominant order of society. However, with the ideas of true love removed from the text, the audience will not be able to justify siding with the vampire gang for very long. This is because any acts carried out by the gang are not justified in any way; they just do it because they want to.

This representation of the vampire through the gang allows what I believe is the dominant message of the film to come through. The audience, like the character Michael in the text, is allowed at first to consider the idea of rebelling and moving over to the vampire lifestyle.  However, like Michael, the audience is likely to realise that the vampire gang’s life style is just too extreme and unacceptable to warrant moving away from the dominant ideology of forming the family unit. Instead it is likely to enforce an idea of a close escape from falling into danger, and so we must be careful not to do this in our own lives, rather than enforcing the idea that we should consider the vampire gang’s lifestyle as a realistic alternative to the dominant ideological view. 

Blade then acts not only to remove all elements of romance and love from the narrative but also the identity of ‘the vampire’ as well. What we are presented with is the complete marginalization of the vampire through the ideas of science. The text is putting across the message that in a technologically advanced society, there is simply no room for the mythological and mysterious vampire to exist. Sooner or later science will find a way to explain any mystery away and once this has occurred any attraction towards the vampire lifestyle is removed. We are shown  a ‘defective’ rather that an ‘alternative’ lifestyle neither as something dangerous nor appealing.

Blade completely reverses any notions of the vampire that we are shown in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. From being a lone, highly Romanticised, love driven figure, the vampire idea has developed into a many part, faceless parasite. The Tragic figure would not be able to raise the same level of fear around issues in society as a large, seemingly incredibly evil mass that just grows and grows like a plague. The message coming from the film is to embrace technology and science, another complete move away from the Romantic ideals of the character of Dracula.

However, Cyber City Oedo 808:The Vampire Case acts as a ray of light for the tragic vampire figure. What we are shown is a highly developed technological society that has simply gone too far, too quickly, without thinking about the consequences of its actions. What we see is that while Blade’s scientific premise is eager to completely destroy the vampire, if you follow the idea of progressing technology through, it simply ends up creating another form of vampire. Therefore, you could say that no matter what happens the tragic Dracula-like figure will always exist. The form may be changed but in the end something will always be created to replace it. Simply put, it is impossible to kill a vampire when they are searching for peace and their motivation is love because ‘true love never dies’.

Filmography

Blade (Norrington, US, 1998)

Bram Stokers Dracula (Ford Coppola, US, 1993)

Cyber City Oedo 808:The vampire case (Kawajiri, Japan, 1990)

Hunger, The (Scott, UK, 1993)

Lost Boys, The (Schumacher, US, 1987)

Bibliography

Bordwell, David and Thompson, Kristin (Film art an introduction, fifth edition, University of Wisconsin, US, 1997)

Crane, Jonathan Lake (Terror and everyday life, Sage publications, inc, 1994)

Dika, Vera (Games of Terror, Associated University Presses 1990)

Gelder, Ken (Reading the Vampire, London Routledge, UK, 1994)

Gordon, John and Hollinger, Veronica (Blood Read, The VAMPIRE as Metaphor in Contemporary Culture, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, US, 1997)

Grant, Barry K (Planks of reason, N.J./London, the scarecrow press, UK, 1984)

Jordan, John. J (Vampire Cyborgs and Scientific Imperialism, 1999)

Pearce, Lynne and Wisker, Gina (Fatal attractions, Re-scripting Romance in contemporary literature and film, London, Pluto Press, UK, 1998)

Silver, Alain and Ursini, James (The Vampire Film, from Nosferatu to Interview with the Vampire, Third edition, Proscenium Publishers Inc, New York, US, 1997)

Stoker, Bram (Dracula, Penguin, first published in 1897)

Storey, John (An Introductory Guide to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, Hemel Hempstead, UK 1993)

Storey, John (Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, A Reader, Hemel Hempstead, UK, 1994)

Twitchell, James (Dreadful Pleasures, Oxford, Oxford University Press, UK, 1985)

Wexham, Virginia Wright (Creating the couple, Love, Marriage and Hollywood performance, Princeton, Princeton University press 1993)

 

Using the Vampire to Mirror Societies Fears Part 3: Everything Comes to an End Sometime?

Using the film Blade (Norrington, USA, 1998) and to a lesser extent the Japanese Anime Cyber City Oedo 808: The Vampire Case (Kawajiri, Japan, 1990) I will show how the vampire has changed from being the idea of a transgressive gang, as seen in The Lost Boys (Schumacher, US, 1987) and also how Blade acts to almost dismiss the notion of the vampire as a tragic romantic figure as shown in Bram Stokers Dracula (Ford Coppola, US, 1992). Furthermore, the films show the idea of vampirism now being viewed as a disease while also setting up juxtapositions between the areas of both science and vampire mythology and also addressing issues surrounding fears around technology.

John J. Jordan argues that in Blade we are presented with the idea of the evil vampires representing everything that is based in mythology and superstition. (Vampire Cyborgs and Scientific Imperialism pages 4-15) My argument - surrounding Blade in regards to technology, is similar to Jordan’s. However, while Jordan sets the character of Blade up as a form of cyborg vampire, my argument does not take the idea of technology so far. Rather than suggesting that the character of Blade has become a scientific weapon, my viewpoint looks at Blade in representing the use of new technology in the fight against the vampires and what they represent, not the character of Blade becoming technology itself.

The mythological stand point of the vampires sets up a contrast with the good characters in the film who represent the idea of progress and technology, embodying the idea that the human race must keep evolving and moving forward in order to survive. For instance, all the weapons used in Bram Stoker's Dracula that are based in superstition are no longer effective against the vampire enemy within Blade. We are told that crosses and holy water are useless - weapons clearly based in the idea of religion and superstition rather than any realms of science.

Weapons that do work are presented to us in scientific terms, for instance the vampires’ intolerance to sunlight is explained as a reaction to ultra violet rays, while garlic is presented through its scientific name, “ allium setivum” and said to cause the vampires to go into shock. These things all help to position the viewer to see technology as the ‘good’ force and mythology as either ineffective or ‘evil’.

Throughout the narrative of Blade we are given constant positive enforcements of the idea of progressing technology. The most prominent example of this unsurprisingly comes at the very end of the film where we have the final showdown with Deacon Frost and Blade. As John J. Jordan’s piece highlights we have the ultimate weapon of the un-scientific force in the Blood God La Magra that comes up against Blade’s high-tech weaponry. However, all of Blade’s weapons are ineffective, arguably because they are all linked in some way to the superstitions of the vampire myth of the past. The fact that it is the new weapon developed by Doctor Karen Jenson which defeats the Blood God is the biggest enforcement in the film that science and technological advancement is nothing to be feared.  It is needed for the survival of the human race, and thus we must destroy fears in our minds that rely on superstition and myth, in this case represented by the vampires.

Apart from Blade’s high-tech vampire killing weaponry there is also the serum that he must take in order to keep his vampire instincts suppressed. The idea of being able to keep these instincts at bay by using science shows two things to us. First of all we have an enforcement of science as being ‘good’ as without it Blade would be just like the other vampires. Secondly we are being shown that the idea of the vampire as something mystical and unexplainable is being overthrown. Instead, with the evolution of science we are now presented with the vampire, or more specifically vampirism at this point in the text, as nothing more than an incurable disease.

Blade acts to completely marginalize any ideas of mystery or notions of seeing the vampire as an exciting alternative to the normality of society as is presented within  The Lost Boys. The ‘attraction’ of the vampire is completely taken away by the way science is used to sterilise and categorise everything within the text. For instance, in looking at Bram Stoker’s Dracula we see a text that shows the vampire as something ‘other’ and unexplainable, whereas in Blade the vampires are represented to us as nothing more than as described by Karen Jenson, a  ‘Genetic defect’. This line clearly situates the representation of the vampire in the area of disease. This idea of the vampire being shown so blatantly as representing disease sets Blade apart from both Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Lost Boy, where the links between the vampire and disease are both subtle and certainly questionable.

The vampire being used to represent disease also acts to enforce the underlying message of the film that science is necessary for the progression and survival of the human race. We are presented first with a ‘disease’ in the vampires, which is being spread by those contaminated with it. Furthermore, at the start of the film there is no apparent cure to this spreading disease. Even the character of Blade who the audience may see as a possible cure is shown to be fighting a losing battle; (a point again highlighted by John J. Jordan). This is enforced in the final sequence of the film where his weapons and his level of scientific development are not enough to defeat La Magra.

The enforcement of science as a positive force in terms of where the vampire as disease is concerned, comes in the form of Doctor Karen Jensen and the vaccine she develops to eliminate the ‘disease’ from the bloodstream. I would argue that this vaccine represents to the audience the notion of science bringing hope in the future. It suggests that though a disease may be incurable at the present time, a virus such as AIDS for instance, will be cured in the future if you look to the advancement of technology instead of superstitious beliefs not based in science.

It is the constant marginalizing of the vampires through science that sets the film apart from both The Lost Boys and Bram Stokers Dracula. In both Ford Coppola’s and Schumacher’s film the vampires are presented in a totally different way to in Blade. First of all the fact that we have the character of Blade being a vampire and also the clear cut hero, positions the audience firmly behind him and what he is representing within the text, and alienating us from any points which may make the lifestyle of Frost and his gang attractive. This is not true in the other two films. For instance, with the character of Dracula it is possible to view him as the ‘hero’ of the film and thus it can be argued that the audience can identify with his character.

The same notions can be argued in The Lost Boys with the vampire gang. Though we may not be able to identify with any individual in the gang, the gang does represent the notion of teenage rebellion and puts forward a number of attractions or positive aspects of the vampire lifestyle. This simply is not present with any of the vampire characters in Blade, even the character of Blade is shown as a mostly cold and inhuman character, simple concerned with destroying the threat of the ‘evil’ vampires with his array of scientific weapons. With Blade being shown as such a cold character and the arrival of Doctor Jensen into the text, Frost’s group of vampires are marginalized away from being anything more than a problem that science has to solve. Any individuality is removed from the vampire group just as all emotion is removed from the hero Blade. What this leads to is the enforcement of the idea that the text is showing us the concept of pure, cold science being developed and used to eliminate a faceless, characterless threat to the human race, whether that be disease or the belief in superstition over science. As the vampires are not believable in the realms of science they are merely removed from the human race’s field of vision.  Science deems them either to be ridiculous or old fashioned to be able to exist in a technologically progressive society.

Another major thing that Blade does through its clinical approach to the vampire myth is to change completely and separate the modern vampire from the Romantic image of the tragic figure portrayed in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Though The Lost Boys lessens the idea of the vampire and his search for love and to be at peace, Blade fails to even acknowledge any notion of this aspect of vampire mythology. I would argue that a possible reason for this is the idea that a tragic figure would represent something also unexplainable in the realms of science, that being the idea of true love. The film is so heavy with the ideas of science and everything being created to have a function that any themes of love just have no place in the text.

However, I would suggests this creates an uneasy situation within the film. What this suggests within the context of Blade is that love not only does not exist, but furthermore could possibly be read to be something evil. I say this because ‘good’ is wholly represented in the film by Blade and his allies, who in turn enforce science as the only thing that is truly righteous. Therefore, if these characters do not represent any form of the concepts of true love during the text, then not only does this marginalize love along with the vampires, I would argue it also suggests that love can be seen as dangerous as it transgresses the ideas of science so vigorously put forward to us.

Cyber City Oedo 808: The Vampire Case also deals with the same themes as Blade. However, what is put across is an almost completely different message. While Blade is putting forward ideas of technology and science as being the force of good needed to eliminate any threat to humanity, Cyber City turns this idea around and shows technology and science as the creators of the threats to humanity, rather than being humanity’s saviour. For instance, vampirism in both Blade and Cyber City is presented as a disease. However, while Blade shows technology as being needed to ‘cure’ the vampire disease, Cyber City presents the notion that it is technology that has created the disease of vampirism through experimentation with the aim to find a way of creating everlasting life.

Furthermore, whereas in Blade we see the absence of the Dracula-like tragic vampire figure, we have one very prominent example in Cyber city in the form of the girl Remi Masuda. At the start of the film we see a flash back of her first encounter with cyber police officer Ben-Ten started with a hand full of rose petals that float away on the wind. This sets the scene for a conversation where they talk about the alignment and beauty of stars and the star light. The scene ends when Remi states how ‘terrible it would be, to go on forever’ and then disappears after Ben-Ten responds ‘no, nothing goes on forever, everything has to end, even the light’. This conversation immediately raises the same sort of themes apparent in Bram Stoker’s Dracula around ideas of Romanticism and the idea of a tragic lone figure. However, the difference is, while Dracula becomes tragic by renouncing God, Remi is turned into a tragic figure by the same ideas of advancing technology that Blade sites as the saviour of mankind, which have been forced upon her.

What Cyber City uses the vampire characters within it to do is to portray a warning about taking technology too far without stopping to think about the consequences, a message that is not touched upon in Blade. What the two films show is that the vampire can be easily manipulated to represent whichever fear is most dominant at the time of the films’ creation. Thereby we can acquire two different texts both using vampires to represent different sides to the same argument. However, certain things must be removed from the vampire legend in order for this to occur. I would argue that if all the vampires in Blade where seen as tragic figures, then possibly the audience would turn against the technological side of the film. Instead the vampires must be made to seem even more inhuman than science itself in order that we find no grounds with which to identify with Frost’s gang.

To conclude I would say that what both Cyber City and Blade show is that in order to represent certain fears in society or put certain messages across, the vampire and the vampire legend must be made to evolve and change in order for it to still be effective. I would argue that the reason Blade removes all the ideas of tragedy from its text is because at the present time, and the time the film was released, the idea of the vampire being tragic and misunderstood rather than evil would be more prominent in the audience’s mind, due to the films which had preceded it. Therefore, the myth of the vampire has to be changed in order to get a response from the audience and give justification to Blade’s actions. But what the two films show most of all is that though vampires can be made to represent both the notions, disease and fears surrounding technology, they are so complex that it is not easy to see which side is the right side to be on, the vampires or those who set out to destroy them.

Using the Vampire to Mirror Societies Fears Part 2: It's Fun To Be a Vampire

Using The Lost Boys (Schumacher, US, 1987) I will look at how the idea of what the vampire represents has changed from the lone tragic Romantic figure into a group or gang of vampires and what message these now multiple vampires are putting across to us.

Compared to Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Ford Coppola, US, 1992), The Lost Boys presents us with both a different presentation style of the film itself and a different presentation of the vampire. Obviously, there is a large difference between Transylvania and California but it is the style of the film that mainly sets it apart from Dracula. Where as a very Gothic and Romantic setting is apparent in Dracula, and the story which is centred on notions of everlasting love focused into what is basically a tragic love story, it is clear the same mechanics are not at work in The Lost Boys.

Instead, notions of the Gothic and Romantic are replaced with the bright and sunny surroundings of Santa Carla. The darkness is replaced with images of late night parties, music, and various forms of the style of the eighties. Basically, the film is aimed at a completely different audience to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The Lost Boys is undoubtedly a teen film and as such tries to tap into what the teenage generation of the time wanted to see on the screen - and also what ideology should be presented to them through the text. While the film is definitely a commercial Hollywood product, produced to make money out of the MTV generation, this does not mean of course that certain enforcements of dominant ideology cannot be read into the text.

The film is set up so that it acts to portray the attractions of why perhaps certain groups of people would choose what is represented in this instance as the vampire lifestyle, but in a wider context can be seen as the wilder or more rebellious party lifestyle of the younger generation. However, as I intend to show, the film acts to only let the viewer have a passing interest in the ‘vampire lifestyle’ and presses upon them the idea that there is a need to mature and turn towards the dominant ideological set up of the heterosexual family unit.

In some ways this can be seen as a representation of Gramsci’s idea of hegemony, by which a ‘dominate class leads a society through the exertion of moral and intellectual leadership’ (Introductory Guide to Cultural theory and Popular Culture pg 118-123) In this instance we have the Hollywood system exerting moral leadership, and the presence of the vampires creating an oppositional or rebellious force against this. As such, when the vampires are slain the audience is shown that Hollywood’s morality is the ‘right’ morality.

One point that comes up when looking at films containing vampires is the idea of the vampire as a metaphor for AIDS. As Nicola Nixon states The Lost Boys ‘surfaced in a climate of AIDS paranoia’ (Blood Read pg115-128) It is not unreasonable to assume that a comment about AIDS is apparent within the text, and indeed Michael does become infected with the vampire disease after drinking David’s (Keifer Sutherland) blood. However, I would suggest that there are a number of key factors that undermine the idea that the film is showing us a warning about AIDS. First of all, and most obviously, at the end of the film Michael is cured of his vampire disease. I would say if the film were directly about concerns about AIDS Michael's survival would not have been possible.

Secondly, if Michael becomes a vampire, he is immortal, he will stay young forever and keep all of the strengths of youth, all be it only at night, but again if the film was directly about AIDS showing Michael in this way would not be suitable. If this was the aim I would suggest that themes surrounding  becoming weaker after taking blood such as present in The Hunger (Scott, UK, 1983) would be apparent. Though this works on a literal level, I would agree this does become problematic if looking at the film from a metaphorical point of view. On a metaphorical level Michael would not need to die in order for a message about AIDS to be prominent in the text. Especially as the film works within the mechanics of Hollywood, where it is more common for the idea of a ‘happy ending’ and return to the ‘normal’ order to take prominence over reality.

However, I believe the biggest thing that enforces the idea that the film is not about AIDS comes when Michael drinks David’s blood and begins to hallucinate, this coupled with a huge picture of Jim Morrison on the back wall of the vampire gang’s cave would suggest to me that what is being shown is more a warning about drugs and excess than any direct warning about diseases transmitted through the blood.

Certain other factors help to focus the film around themes concerning the use of drugs. For instance, after taking the blood, Michael gains the power to fly, and the notion of ‘flying’ after taking various drugs, most notable LSD, is certainly not a foreign concept. Furthermore, the head vampire, Max I would suggest can be read as a sort of drug dealer - he is the initial source of infection, which leads the vampires to be addicted to blood, he is the key corrupter in the text if you will. So it stands to reason that once the source of the addiction is cut off, anyone who has been ‘infected’ or who has become ‘addicted’ now without a source to get their metaphorical drugs from, will return to normal. As indeed Michael, Star and Laddie do.
   
Another reading of the text relates to Michael’s adolescence. There comes a point in the text where Michael must make a choice between turning into a full vampire or resisting this change. It has been suggested by Ken Gelder in commenting on Elaine Showalters brief account of the film that this is a choice between Michael turning towards homosexuality or heterosexuality. (Reading the Vampire 103-107) However, I would suggest that the choice can be more prominently read as a choice between accepting the world of wild excess and everlasting parties of David’s gang, or choosing Star and in doing so accepting the idea that it is ‘family’ that is the right decision, basically choosing between staying young forever or becoming, in the eyes of the dominant ideology, more mature. Furthermore, choosing Star is not only showing us that Michael has turned his back on the vampire lifestyle but also the idea of vampire ‘reproduction’ and creating future generations of Lost Boys.

However, I would suggest that this choice is complicated owing to the simple fact that even when Michael realises which choice he wants to make he cannot break free from his half vampire status, possible suggesting in a wider context that while he knows what is ‘right’ or the enforced choice, he is still unwilling to give in completely to the idea of maturity and notions of the family. This leads to the main focus of the film. By the end of the film we have, as Nixon suggests, two opposite families. A dysfunctional vampire family, and also a slightly more functional, human family. Thus in the closing stages of the film, Michael’s fight becomes a fight for the whole family. I would say this could be read as showing that with the support of a good strong family unit Michael will be able to break free from his addiction to a wild life style.

Further emphasis comes in the form of the pre-adolescent boys in the text and also Michael’s grandfather, all of which are not affected by notions of adolescence. The children represent a sort of innocence within the text. They are concerned with comic books and protecting the human family from the vampires, ideas of wild excess never enter into their consciousness throughout the film. Thus, because of their innocence and immunity to the vampire gang’s ‘charms’ they become an effective weapon against them and have a large part to play in saving Michael from the clutches of vampirism. There is however an exception to this, that being the child vampire Laddie. I would suggest that the fact that Laddie is dressed in a sergeant pepper outfit distances him from the rest of the pre-adolescents in the text. It shows us that he is part of the darker excessive vampire culture and not the more innocent comic book reading culture of the others, unable to regain his innocence until he is given a father figure, which appears in the form of Michael.

However, the character that actually saves the day is the grandfather figure. While the children may be immune to the lure of vampirism they are also shown to be powerless against the patriarchal figure of the head vampire Max. We are shown how powerless they are during the scene where Max is invited round for dinner; everything the children try in order to exposes Max as a vampire fails. Therefore, the only likely source who can rid Santa Carla of the vampire menace is the older patriarch. The grandfather figure as we find out at the end of the film is fully aware of the threat of vampires in Santa Carla, However, he is immune to them not only because he is past adolescence, but also, being older and wiser, he seems to have accepted that their lifestyle is not for him and thus, the vampires pose no real threat to him and seem more of an irritation rather than anything that poses any real danger and thus they can be easily dismissed.

Rob Latham raises another possible reading of The Lost Boys, and in doing so shows up another reason why it is the Grandfather that eventually saves the day (Blood Read 129-167). Latham looks at the possibility of the vampires as representing something that consumes youth, and in The Lost Boys there are instances where it is definitely possible to read this. Most notably, we have the head vampire Max. He owns a video store, and as such anybody who rents a film from him can be seen as then inviting him into his or her home. Thus Max is set up as a metaphor for capitalism and big business, feeding off the young generation. The idea of the video shop is important in terms of the Grandfather for one very clear reason at the start of the film we are told that he does not have a television. Thus the grandfather has not invited Max, or possibly capitalism, into his home. This can be read to show us why it is the Grandfather that saves the day - he is completely removed from the society where ‘vampires’ exist.

The idea of the vampire or Capitalism as feeding on youth can further be seen in David’s vampire gang itself. First of all the gang only seems to feed on teenagers, enforcing an idea of feeding on a youth market. Secondly, the gang is put across as the idea of eighties cool. Dressing in leather jackets and riding motorcycles  was an effective way of reaching out to the youth market also.

Although the film may be perceived to warn against falling for this capitalist life style there is one huge flaw in this argument. The film itself is a mainstream product of the eighties. It is a planned film, styled towards a certain audience for its consumption. The look of the film coupled with the constant references to MTV and style of music within the film itself along with the tag line ‘Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It’s fun to be a vampire.’, I would say would lead a youth market viewer to more or less embrace rather than reject the dangerous and excessive life style of the vampire. While I admit it is fairly unlikely that the film would have the same effect in the nineties and the new millennium due to even more stylish films being produced, in the eighties The Lost Boys had a much greater impact on youth culture.

Another point about The Lost Boys I would suggest is that Max and his video store can possible be read to show an attack on the romanticised notion of the cinema system itself. Whereas in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, we have the characters framed in front of a film screen to enforce an idea of Romanticism, The Lost Boys message would seem to be, ‘who needs the cinema when you can just go to the video shop?’ This idea is of course problematic as The Lost Boys was shown in the cinema, and as such would both be enforcing and attacking the idea of cinema at the same time, which would just set the film in a very messy area of self-contradiction.

To conclude, I would say The Lost Boys puts forward dominant ideological ideas surrounding the importance of a functional family. It also definitely raises a few questions surrounding areas of the idea of the consumption of youth by capitalism. However, I feel the biggest message coming from the text is a definite warning of the excess of adolescent teens and the danger of drug addiction, with other issues being secondary. However, above all things The Lost Boys always will be, and always has been, a film that was made to make as much money as possible, and a film that is clearly trying to attract the youth market by showing an alternative and dangerous life style and as such, any reading of the text criticising capitalism are extremely contradictory and problematic. What this means of course is that while Bram Stokers Dracula is of course a commercial film produced to make money, it does not do this by exploiting the idea of the vampire. Instead it is sold primarily on the premise of being a love story and on the concept of romance.  In The Lost Boys, it is vampires that are used above all to sell the film through the way they are presented as youthful rebels and it is this that sells the film to its audience.