Vampires' sexual content

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I am always interested to see what new review of a film by Tony Richardson will appear in Socialist Press.

It is not easy for a Marxist to write a review of a vampire film.

Tony in SP 162 certainly made some valid points: the origin of the vampire mythwhere or whenever that was-is the horrific thought of a living death, a man who could never die. It is a macabre twist on the age-old search for immortality.

The appearance of Herzog's character in Nosferatu was able to convey this so much better than the traditional Hammer movies with Christopher Lee.

The larest Dracula And what a relief to see a vampire with teeth that would actually be capable of doing the job!

But surely Tony's review misses the whole point of the vampire stories, including the original by Bram Stoker.

The vampire in Bram Stoker does not horrify his victims. On the contrary, they feel overcome by a sensuous languidness which prevents them from moving away from Dracula as he bends over them.

Dracula's victims are always women-the vampiresses that he has stacked away in his dungeon are given the male victims to feed upon.

And most important of allperhaps men don't realise thisbut many women actually like being bitten on the neck in the place the vampires leave their teeth marks.

Even Victorian ladies would have been aware of this.

The bite on the neck given by Dracula to his victims duplicates the passionate kiss depicted on the covers of romantic novels even now.

Bram Stoker's novel should be seen in the context of the repression of the sexuality of women in Victorian times.

Therefore it is very interesting to watch the change in vampire movies as sexual mores also change in the 20th century.

I watched the "Rites of Dracula" with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing the other night on TV.

There were similar themesthe woman reacting with pleasure against her own inclinations as Dracula came to her and sank his lips to her neck.

Most interesting of all was the fact that, although Dracula still had no male victims, yet there was a scene where Cushing's beautiful granddaughter walked into a cellar full of equally beautiful vampiresses and was "attacked" by them.

The theme of lesbianism (coupled with a bit of bondage, as all the vampiresses were chained to their coffins) is now a standard pornographic theme -e.g. Emmanuelle.

But male homosexuality does not create the same turn-on for straight men, and so is still taboo.

In fact, it you look at many of these "horror" movies that are based on ancient folk legends, you will find many interesting psychological nuances.

What • see in this, as a Marxist, Is the change in the nature of horror movies from the rather charming, allusive period pieces-such as the original werewolf, mummyfrom-the crypt ones etc-to the 'blood, guts and puke explicit and (to me) quite terrifying things created by Hammer nowadays, and such things as 'The Exorcist' This all ties in with the article on the Politics of Sport in SP 161, where violence is good box-office, and exploited in a way that would rhave made the organisers of the 'Roman circuses look like babes in arms.

Yours in comradeship, Cathy Sherlock.