As a sub genre of
horror, the history of vampires in film has been mercurial. The metaphors that
arise through the act of vampirism tie this capriciousness directly into issues
of gender.
Neil Jordan is no
stranger to exploring questions of gender within a mythological narrative. His
adaptation of Angela Carter’s The Company
of Wolves brings to the screen Carter’s version of Little Red Riding Hood;
a symbolic and erotic tale with a young girl at the centre. Jordan carried this
theme into Interview with the Vampire
(1994) with another young girl at the heart of the story.
This gothic tale,
again channelling the red riding image, offers two fascinating representations
of women and provides a further connotation of the title. The female characters
(Clara and Eleanor) exist as profane vampires against the brotherhood,
emblematic of a monastic cult and while being feminine and sexual are also
predatory and cunning. Just like Red Riding Hood in Carter’s short story,
Eleanor is a walking contradiction, able to channel the self-consciousness of a
16-year-old girl 150 years older than the majority of her contemporaries as
well as bringing to the surface the power that comes with such age and
knowledge.
Jordan does not shy
away from the gory and offers some conventions of the vampiric, while
reinventing others. The film remains firmly rooted in the gothic, lit by the
neon of cheap seaside resorts. A comment on the disrepute that operates
underneath this contemporary Gothicism. This is the most knowing and original
vampire film since Let The Right One In
(2008).
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