Gateway Film Center spotlights vampires, sparks conversation around the creature’s cultural influence over time

Gateway’s latest film series, titled “Winter Sucks: A Season of Vampires,” will feature screenings of a variety of vampire-related films, including “Twilight.” Credit: Imprint Entertainment/Maverick Films/Summit Entertainment/Zuma Press (via TNS) [Original caption: Kristen Stewart, left, and Robert Pattinson in “Twilight.”]

On Jan. 3, Gateway Film Center began screening a new series titled “Winter Sucks: A Season of Vampires,” which includes “familiar favorites, essential classic films, and lesser seen gems” from the vampire genre, according to the center’s website. Ohio State faculty members weighed in on why vampire media — whether it be a cult classic like “The Horror of Dracula” (1958) or a more modern blockbuster like “Twilight” (2008) — have maintained a strong grasp on pop culture across multiple generations.

Daniel Collins, an associate professor in the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures, said an effective vampire film echoes the societal and cultural fears existing at the time of its release. 

When looking at vampire history, Collins said the 1960s was the “era of the sexual revolution,” during which vampire films became more explicit or sexually provocative.

“They start to show a lot more female flesh, and all kinds of scenes of Dracula tearing the cross off the girl’s neck to bite her,” Collins said. 

Collins said “Blade” — a 1998 movie that blends the horror, action and superhero genres together — allegorizes vampirism with the United States’ HIV/AIDS epidemic in the ’80s and early ’90s. 

“I think ‘Blade,’ to a large extent, reflects anxieties of blame started in the late 1990s,” Collins said. “It reflects a lot of anxiety about AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases that result from passion.” 

Collins said the titular character in “Blade” also exhibits self-loathing, which is a recurring character trope within vampire movies. Employing this cliche can make vampire protagonists feel more complex and sympathetic to audiences, he said. 

“Blade is a remorseful vampire, right?” Collins said. “I think you have the idea here of an outcast trying to make things right.”

The “remorseful vampire” archetype is predicated on the idea that vampires are victims of their own violent impulses, Collins said. 

“What you find in vampire literature is that Dracula is a figure of cosmic evil — he’s the devil,” Collins said. “The novelist links him with the devil in many different ways. And then, once you start to depict him on film, he becomes more and more human.” 

As cinematic depictions of vampires have evolved throughout the 20th century, Collins said they became less monstrous and increasingly commiserative. 

“Once it starts to be part of the human mind, it becomes a condition that can be treated medically or hypothetically by love,” Collins said. 

One of the most popular vampire film franchises of all time, “Twilight,” tackles the idea of being in love with a vampire. Rachel Stewart, an English doctoral candidate studying Victorian popular fiction and culture, said people tend to watch “Twilight” expecting a certain level of escapism. 

“There’s going to be some messiness, some chaoticness,” Stewart said. “We can identify that this would not be something ideal in real life, but still engage with it.”

Simply put, Stewart said “less serious” vampire films like “Twilight” let people indulge themselves in darker romantic fantasy. 

“In real life, I wouldn’t do this, or I wouldn’t be so naive as to trust someone like this,” Stewart said. “But it’s kind of fun to play in this space.” 

Sexual metaphors are also commonplace in the vampire genre, Stewart said. This is especially evident via the “penetrative tooth” they use to bite their victims or the “penetrative stake” that often results in their demise. 

This inherent sexuality lends itself to interpretations outside of heteronormative constructs, Stewart said.  

“I think that can then lead into a lot of queer readings of the vampire that then queer people can kind of see themselves in or identify with,” Stewart said. “I think this vampire is cool, and if I read that the vampire is queer, then I can become more self-accepting of my own queerness in that way.” 

“Winter Sucks: A Season of Vampires” will play at Gateway Film Center up until March 20. More information about the series can be found on the center’s website.