Byzantium (2012)

"Byzantium" is another supernatural tale by director Neil Jordan. His first film that dealt with the supernatural was "The Company of Wolves" which was essential a few short stories connected by an over arching narrative. His second work is the renown "Interview With the Vampire" which followed, more or less, the story represented in the novel by the same name; this was a straight forward narrative about the past. His third visit to the supernatural is the 2012 movie "Byzantium", a film that is unable to find it's pacing and shifts from present to past to present again without any real rhyme or reason. It's the easiest film to follow and the scenes that take place in the present feel like that there are various scenes that are missing.

One other note - the film doesn't follow the typical vampire mythology. In this film, the vampires are able to walk around daylight and have rosy complexions. This isn't a deal breaker because such films like "The Moth Diaries" and "Bram Stoker's Dracula" also have their vampires walking around in the sun.


Eleanor and her mother Clara are vampires from the days of the Napoleonic Wars. One half of the movie shows what theirs lives were like before and after becoming vampires while the other half shows them dealing with the events in the present. After killing another vampire and setting their apartment on fire, the two are force to flee and end up settling in a seaside town. They move into an old hotel that Clara turns into a brothel (she was a prostitute herself when she was mortal). Eleanor attracts the attention of a young college age kid named Frank. She tries to keep him at arm length but his persistence eventually wins her over. Soon the past comes to haunt both Eleanor and Clara when the other vampires finally hunt them down with the intention of destroying the two once and for all.

Clara

Eleanor

Interview with the Vampire (1994)

"Interview with the Vampire" is the well known film adaptation of the novel written by Anne Rice. The film was directed by Neil Jordan (who also directed  "In the Company of Wolves") and stars Tom Cruise and a young Brad Pitt as the vampires that the story revolves around. The casting of Cruise as the vampire Lestat brought attention to the film before it's release, with a good deal of commotion coming from Anne Rice herself. Although after viewing the film, Rice was sold and satisfied with Cruise's performance. The movie itself is beautiful to watch and is full of time period sets of New Orleans and and Paris. I have never read the book so I am unable to make any comparisons between the two works.

"Interview" is about the retelling of the life and after-life of the vampire Louis to a reporter in a hotel room one night. Louis describes how his mortal life fell apart in 1791, Louisiana when his wife and child died, and how he lost all will to live and wanted to die. His wish for death was answered by the vampire Lestat, who at the last moment offered Louis the choice for eternal life, the "choice that I was never given" as Lestat is fond of saying. Lestat joins Louis at his plantation and begins introducing Louis to the lifestyle of a vampire. Louis finds that he's stronger, his senses are clearer, and that he has to live off of blood. He refuses to feast off of people, deciding to stick to small animals as much as he can. Louis is disappointed but knows that his young friend will eventually come around. When Louis finally breaks, he takes a small child whose family has died of a plague. Lestat is delighted and turns the child into a vampire as a kind of gift to Louis. Now the little Claudia joins the two and they form a small, odd little family. But Claudia is devious and convinces Louis to help her kill Lestat. The two turn on their "creator" and then travel the world to find others like them. What they find isn't exactly what they were hoping for....

The Company of Wolves (1984)

“The Company of Wolves” is another untraditional werewolf movie like “Cat People”, except this time it does deal with wolves, lots of them. Like “Cat People”, it explores the exploration of sexuality and the loss of innocence. This topic matter is presented through different stories that are told throughout the film with the major story arc on the film ending in with its version of Little Red Riding Hood. Again, there is little violence in this film and it could have had a rating besides R if it hadn’t been for the last story told. The special effects were mostly puppetry and make-up which provided some impressive visuals but were not scary in the least. The cast was included Angela Lansbury as Granny, David Warner (“The Omen”) as Father, and the film was directed by Neil Jordan, who would direct “Interview With the Vampire” ten years later.

The movie begins by setting up the fact that the film takes place within a dream. A modern day Rosaleen is dreaming of herself living within a medieval fairytale forest. Her older sister has been killed by a wolf while she was in the forest; to give Rosaleen’s parents time to mourn, Rosaleen’s Granny takes her to her house for the night. While there, Granny begins to tell Rosaleen stories about men whose eyebrows touch and warning her of the beasts within men. After hearing a few stories over a few visits and being told to never stray off of the forest path, Rosaleen finally agrees to go for a walk in the forest with a boy her age that has a crush on her. They kiss once but she tells him that he has to catch her if he wants to kiss her again. She succeeds in hiding from him but while he is looking for her, he finds a cow that has been killed by a wolf. The townsmen go and trap the wolf, and when her father returns, he has the beast’s forepaw. He thought that it was the same wolf that killed Rosaleen’s older sister but he tells his family that the paw had turned into a human hand. They burn the hand and try to forge the horrid image. One day, Rosaleen meets a handsome hunter in the forest as she is going to visit Granny…and thus the Little Red Riding Hood tale begins, ending with its own unique ending.

Favorite moment – I love the visuals that are used during the killing of Granny.

Second favorite moment – I also love the wedding banquette scene and how the party guests change into wolves and run out…and over a poor peacock walking by outside.

Not frighting but still pretty cool for the 1980's

Rosaleen and Granny

The Wedding Banquette