For example, "Out on the lake, for example, calling and voices are heard within the mist almost detached from Gray and Gisele. The mist dissolves all boundaries between themselves and the point of landing, creating a space which seems infinite but in which one is contained. As viewers, we, too, become contained within this space and share the characters' experience of blocked vision and of doubled and repeated echoes" (Sayers & Williams 41).
Figure 1. Still from Vampyr (1932).
Source: Sayers & Williams 41.
This eerie use of mist and blend of light and dark to create a surreal atmosphere as shown in Figure 1 above added a supernatural feel to the production that modern reviewers admire for its relevance and effectiveness. For example, "Given that vampires usually inhabit night and remain covered during the day, it is significant that this mist shrouds the point between appearance and disappearance, similar to the relation to shadows and the movement of extra-corporeal experience which Dreyer presents as shadows in Vampyr" (Sayers & Williams 40). While Dreyer did not necessarily invent all of his techniques, he did take them to new levels that were uniquely his own. In this regard, Morgan (2002) points out that, "Taking to the country is in fact a set piece of both the comic and horror modalities, but the latter is skeptical, indeed suspicious of the pastoral [and a] young man from the city encounters an eerie countryside in Carl Dreyer's film Vampyr (1932)" (45). Likewise, according to Andrew (1984), Dreyer's "[s]uperimposition of David Gray's ghost over his body substitutes for more prosaic ways of signifying his mental life (using an intertide, or a close-up of his eyes closing in thought). The trope of the superimposition is thus straightened out, permitting us to understand the direct sense of the film and to appreciate the ingenuity of Carl Dreyer in presenting that...
Murray, Paul. From the Shadow of Dracula: A Life of Bram Stoker. New York, Jonathan Cape. 2004. This biography of the often secretive and obscure life of Bram Stoker is based on factual details and evidence. The work also relates the life and times in which he lived to the other literary figures with whom he interacted. The book provides an absorbing insight not only into the man but into the social
Bram Stoker's masterwork and greatest novel, Dracula, has been and remains one of the most culturally pervasive novelistic tropes of the last 100 years. Indeed, in multiple film versions as well as in the novel and myriad other mediums, it remains a deeply pervasive cultural idea. Part of the inspiration for the story no doubt takes elements from Stoker's own life and fictionalizes and dramatizes them to the point where
Film Adaptations of Bram Stoker's Dracula Over The Years The stuff of legends in Eastern Europe, vampires have become a staple of the horror film industry. From Max Schreck's Count Orloff in 1922 to Lugosi's Dracula in 1931, to Lee's unforgettable performances with Hammer studios during the 50's and 60's, the vampire has been primped, gussied up and redressed with every theatrical incarnation. In Bram Stoker's Dracula, Gary Oldman dons the
nineteenth century, the women's suffrage movement was gaining momentum. Appearing out of an era heavily influence by Victorian ideals and beliefs, it was now a question of whether or not women should be allowed to vote, work, eat, and appear as they wished. At this point in history, women were considered significantly inferior to their male counterparts and were not considered so much as citizens of the United States
Allegorical Dracula It seems strange at first to consider one of the greatest of Victorian gothic novels, and the genesis of the entire modern vampire craze as a masterpiece of Christian fiction. However, it is precisely accurate to do so. If it were written today, it would most certainly be considered Christian niche fiction. The entirety of the novel is filled with appeals to the wisdom, justice, and aid of
Though the character is remarkably static for a major character -- he is meant to be seen as completely evil -- he is worth studying as a major character in regards to the origins of his evil and immoral behavior. On the other side of Dracula, Van Helsing, Dracula's foil is portrayed as an older, educated man who is, nonetheless, moral. While Dracula and Van Helsing share many characteristic, including
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now