From ‘Twilight’ to ‘Nosferatu’: The Cinematic Evolution of the Vampire
By Jordan DelFiugo
Robert Egger’s adaptation of Nosferatu (2024) hit theaters on Christmas day, surpassing $70 million at the domestic box office during its debut week. Though much has changed since the original Nosferatu (1922), the first ever feature-length vampire film, was released over 100 years ago, the media’s fascination with vampires has evidently endured.
As modern filmmakers have taken on the genre, the on-screen vampire has evolved from something grotesque and frightening to become more human and at times even romanticized. With this transformation, depictions of the vampire have adapted to reflect shifting cultural landscapes, serving as a vehicle for exploring the deepest fears and unspoken desires of the time.
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In the original Nosferatu, a silent German film, the titular vampire had pointed ears, pale skin, and long, sharp nails among other unsettling features that clearly identified him as nonhuman. His otherworldly appearance not only signified general monstrosity, but it was also reflective of more pervasive societal anxieties surrounding the unknown or the “other.”
Nosferatu (1922) was released four years after the end of World War I, a time during which Germany was experiencing significant social and political upheaval. Such conditions fostered a growing cultural panic throughout the country, prompting many to view foreigners with suspicion and fear. The character of Nosferatu perfectly encompassed those fears. He was a foreigner from Transylvannia, an ‘alien’ man, with disease, madness, and violence following his arrival to Germany, threatening to destabilize the country.
Early depictions of the vampire also explored fears of sexual perversion. Even vampires with intentionally repulsive physical appearances, such as Nosferatu, were characterized as having a seductive, almost hypnotic quality, often used to lure their victims. In Nosferatu, the character Ellen Hunt is seduced by the vampire, and believes her physical relationship with him has made her “unclean.” It is ultimately revealed that the only way to end the curse of Nosferatu is for Ellen to sacrifice herself to him. Thus, the film can be seen as a warning about the dangers of desire, particularly female desire, during a time period when it was especially important to preserve sexual morality.
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In the 1950s, Christopher Lee’s portrayal of Count Dracula in Dracula (1958) emphasized the more charismatic, seductive aspects of the vampire. Lee’s dracula, with his long, flowing, black cape and slicked back hair, was classically handsome and aristocratic in nature. The film played into the duality of the vampire; capable of both horror and seduction, a theme that would only become more prevalent in the 1990s and 2000s with the release of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) and Twilight (2008).
In Bram Stoker’s Dracula the vampire, played by Gary Oldman, has a striking, mysteriously beautiful appearance and possesses the ability to shapeshift. His story is characterized as tragic and romantic, he was driven to become a vampire after losing the love of his life and has become a prisoner of his past, spending his immortal life looking for his lost love in reincarnated form. However, it wasn’t until Twilight that the vampire’s status in pop culture as a morally gray romantic lead was truly solidified.
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In Twilight, Edward and the rest of the Cullen family are an attractive, alluring group of vampires who identify as ‘vegetarian’ meaning they drink the blood of animals rather than humans. They are portrayed sympathetically, in most cases having been transformed against their will, turned by another vampire who saved them from a near death experience. They are complex yet deeply likable, they even have skin that sparkles in the sunlight.
In 2009, The Vampire Diaries television series premiered, further perpetuating this trope by starring Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert, a teenage girl stuck in a love triangle between two handsome, tortured vampire brothers, just one addition in a vast collection of 2000s and 2010s media that capitalized on society’s fascination with vampires.
Twilight and The Vampire Diaries emphasized this idea that vampires were tragic figures cursed with immortality, thereby tapping into contemporary anxieties surrounding identity and the search for life’s meaning.
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Modern vampire depictions also have a more diverse range of stories, not limited to a western male gaze. For instance, in the Iranian film A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014), the vampire is a young woman who skateboards around town, killing and drinking the blood of men who harm women like a supernatural vigilante. Likewise, in Let the Right One In (2008), the vampire is a young girl named Eli, who must confront the ethical implications of the violence she relies on to survive. These films demonstrate how the vampire figure has evolved beyond traditional settings and stories, incorporating themes of gender and power into the narrative.
Each new iteration of the vampire is a product of its time, with the creature offering an exploration of different cultural anxieties and societal tensions. With the success Nosferatu (2024) has seen in its opening week, the lasting appeal of vampires in popular culture remains undeniable. Whether as a symbol of fear, desire, or even empowerment, the vampire promises to continue haunting our screens.
