I like Vampires okay. Dracula, Dark Shadows, Night Stalker, Buffy are all classics. I'm not especially interested in the current crop, although True Blood looks interesting. But the so-called "emo" Vampire goes back at least to Barnabas Collins, though now it's just being marketed to Tweens. Zombies are okay, too. I love Romero's Dead movies. It just makes me a little sad that the cannibalistic Romero type has become the default; I'd love to see some stories based on the traditional Voodoo/Simon Garth type. But my favorite monsters have always been Werewolves, and there is a definite shortage of good Werewolf books and movies. I don't think there's been a good movie since American Werewolf In London. There was one on Sciffy a while back that had the Hercules guy in it that was doing pretty good until the awesomely bad ending. I'm really psyched about the upcoming House Of Wolfman Universal homage, but I don't know of any other projects to look forward to.
It's one of those things that comes and goes every few years. It worked for Christopher Lee in those 1960s horror films, but of all the halloweeny/gothicy things are are done nowadays, I find vampires to be the most boring, and least inspired idea. Zombies are not far behind them. Red horned devils get the third place on my boring list. Skeletons fourth. Apparitions are okay, but I think there is most mileage left for witches, classical Greek mythological creatures, and possessed/demonised beings. I fully endorse them this halloween.
Ghost love stories could totally make a comeback. Hey, it was the best part of Casper (I woobie it--hey, I was a kid in the '90s!) and the entire plot of Ghost! I'm a vampire fangirl myself (from way back). My fetish started with Louis/Lestat and graduated to Angel/Spike (mostly Angel). I've watched gobs of vampire movies and shows: good, bad, scary, lovey-dovey, corny and a mix of all of the above. Angel is my favorite show. Ever. I've seen Coppola's Dracula (I know I lose all credibility on not having seen Browning/Béla's yet), Nosferatu, Låt den rätte komma in (definitely one of the best things I've seen in recent years), Interview with the Vampire, Night of Dark Shadows, the god-awful Vamp, the corny but endearing BtVS movie, the god-awful Queen of the Damned, the bizarre The Breed, etc... Moonlight was atrocious (Nosferatu is hotter--and I'm being serious--the lead was not attractive). True Blood has its high points (even it's awesome moments), but the porno stuff is obnoxious for the sake of being able to get away with it (and I'm not a prude). The Vampire Diaries is actually the most promising one I've seen in a great, long while. The difference between vampires and werewolves/zombies/etc... is that the monster is a very human one capable of human emotions or human cruelty (which is always scarier than the animalistic cruelty displayed by most other monsters). Ghosts are the only other creature that really have the full range of the human personality. There's also the forever young/old, wise soul aspect to vampirism that is really popular with female audiences. Not to mention the fact that vampire flashbacks are cake to history nerds. Ghost stories are rife with the same qualities (I would love to see more). Angels and mermaids have also been done a few times (and I wouldn't mind more).
You know, as silly as Superfriends was, and while those changes were clearly for kid show reasons, I'll admit I always liked a different take on vampires.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel were great. I wasn't sure if I would enjoy the genre quite so much after those series. However, I admit that I am enjoying True Blood (but I've only seen season 1 so far). Twilight was spectacularly awful and it's popularity baffles me. I haven't read the books so I'm only basing my opinion off the movie. But damn it was bad. I don't particularly care about The Vampire Diaries. I honestly haven't even seen most of the other vampire-centric films that have been released in recent years (though I will admit that Let The Right One In was quite interesting and creepy).
I can understand the fascination with vampires, for the same reasons mentioned by Nile. Vampires are creatures of contrasts: forever young yet with old souls, animalistic instinct and refined manners, super-powered but vulnerable, capable of living for centuries yet always disconnected. And even if I am a guy, I can see why they appeal to a certain set of female sensibilities and fantasies. And I'm not even going into the sexual symbolism of blood and biting. There is a reason why "vampire" stories are ubiquitous in human mythology and literature, from African to Siberian folklore, from the distant past to the very now. Nonetheless the ancient inspiration, the recent spawn of emo-vampires is really lame, taking away the limits of vampires or simply ignoring them. It is a Mary-Sueization of the vampire mythos, where they can do no wrong, the good guys (girls) love them and the bad guys (girls) hate them, and they spend their time pouting and brooding and reveling in angst for no discernible reasons.
I've always been a vampire girl. Still am. I admit that we're being saturated by vampire themes at the moment. Some are good and some are horrible. But I can usually sit through even the horrible ones, at least once, because I love the idea of vampire seduction/vampire love. That said, the Twilight series sucks (as in REALLY bad) and The Vampire Diaries is hot on its heels in the suckage department. I don't like the brooding, hate-what-I-am vampire premise (i.e. Moonlight, Angel, Forever Knight) who turn out to be detectives or cops. I liked Tanya Huff's portrayal of Henry Fitzroy. (I am Vampire. Behold and tremble, mortal!) Whenever a really good vampire book/movie/series appears, I'll be there. Ready made fan.
I'm a huge fan of Anne Rice's vampire books. My kind of vampire story is like that - struggling with being not-human, while living in the human world. Slightly erotic, but mortals aren't really attractive to vampires at all. I really enjoyed the nightmarish aspect of Copolla's movie, too. This batch of romantic vampires - yuck. I watched 10 minutes of Vampire Diaries and was sick of it. This teen angst stuff really isn't interesting to me, although it is clearly a ticket seller! The latest Harry Potter movie seemed to have the same mopey stuff in it - I couldn't stand that movie, either! Zombies - I really don't get the point of them, other than people liking the gross out, body parts flying aspect. Not scary at all. Vampires can be creepy - I remember the Stephen King book that scared me the most was Salem's Lot, for example.
I'll admit I have a thing for the seductress aspect of female vampires, erotic and whatnot, but I haven't got much else vested in them. It's annoying to go to the horro section and see rows of the horror section just filled with different series about vampires, it gets...stale. Would like to see more variety in protagonist monsters, if we're to have them as 'heroes'. Zombies? Boooooooooooring. There's only so many movies you can make about them before you retreading ground, which isn't too hard with a seemingly limited premise.
Much as I would like to never see another vampire novel again, the genre as a whole — from the teen stuff like Twilight and Vampire Diaries to adult stuff like Sookie Stackhouse and Anne Rice's stuff — is the hot seller at my Barnes & Noble, and continued employment is a Good Thing, so I can't complain (too loudly).
Dog Soldiers, love. It's a B movie, but it's a B movie with good effects, decent acting, and an awesome sense of humor. You know you're in for a good time when one of the characters, after bare knuckle boxing a 10 foot tall werewolf and getting thrown around the kitchen like a rag doll, definitely glares at his enemy and declares that he hopes he will give it the shits after it eats him. But, you're right, there hasn't been a good, big budget were wolf movie since American Werewolf in London.
I recorded a bad werewolf movie a couple weeks ago. The title is Full Eclipse. Mario Van Peebles is the star. He is a cop that encounters a group of werewolf cops using their power to fight the badguys. The badguy from Highlander Endgame and Passenger 57 is the badguy. I can't recall his name right now.