For those who are aware of it, Urban Gothic (2000-2001) is now thought of as a rather obscure show that aired in the United Kingdom on the terrestrial station Channel 5. In particular the series was an old style horror anthology series that, on a whole, was pretty mundane. However that is not to say that the series didn’t have its strong points, and in particular the episode Vampirology (2000) was one that stood out.
The episode is presented in a documentary style and throughout it we proceed to follow a London vampire over a 24-hour period. He introduces the documentary crew to his friends and his life style. As the episode progresses he explains the layout of his life and how he has set up his social circle to benefit his vampiric urges. In detail, he explains how he has set around himself the most shallow and self-absorbed people so he wont feel sympathetic killing any of them if he ever needs to feed.
They (his friends) are also aware with the fact he is a vampire. Some of them believe it to be a style he uses to present himself to society, whereas others believe him on a more literal level. As time progresses again, we see the development of how those who wish to be associated with him repulse him. Excerpting the fact that he is a hunter and that others are his pray.
He also displays an interest in human representation of his kind. Having a particular interest in Hammer horror films. He is fascinated in a sense by the way in which our society has created various representations of his kind. Comparing and making references at points to various actors’ portrayals of Dracula in relation to the James Bond film series. Yet he still finds himself angered by how over time vampires have begun to be portrayed as a joke. Making reference to “The Count” on Sesame Street. Its thoughts like this which seem still relevant today with the likes of the Twilight film series taking very heavy liberties and extrusions from the original Bram Stocker concept of vampires as dangerous creatures of the night.
What Rex aims to do is show the reality of his situation. It seems to be him that has sought out the documentary crew within the story in order to tell them the truth, as he perceives it. He informs the crew that he has made changes to his appearance over the years to try to hide the fact he is a vampire. His fangs for example have been in the past filled down. This at first comes across as a means of camouflage, yet there are constant hints that he is a man unhappy with his existence. In particular a subtle hint of this comes across near the start of the episode when he says, “If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past hundred years, its that you’ve got to except what you are. Because there’s no cure for that, believe me… I’ve tried everything.”
It’s at this point you first see the severity of his argument, and the seriousness of which he wants to project it. After listing different decades of the 20thcentury he makes a thatcher joke in reference to vampirism. He can be seen to instantly regret this, as he knows that it will only take away from the more serious reality he is trying to tell.
Towards the end of the episode we see him growing more impatient as he is trying to find a victim for him to feed. After searching through the streets for a while, he decides to settle for a French tourist. When the camera crew catches up to him we see him midway through killing the victim. His process is messy and disturbing to view. It is very brutal as we see him slit his victim’s wrist so he can feed from her. During this we hear her coughing whilst her head is covered underneath an old newspaper. Yet after his victims life comes to an end Rex raises his head with his eyes streaming to the documentary crew. “I have to do this every night… Every fucking night!”
It is here that we are finally open to the reality of Rex’s situation. As he continues to break into tears he caresses his victim, almost in recognition of the horror of his crimes and wishing for his innocence back. I believe if there’s anything that truly defines this episode it is this moment. There is a certain rawness and reality to this moment that isn’t really shown in other vampire related fiction.
Often in vampire fiction there is a focus on the demonic or supernatural aspects to the characters. Others prefer instead to focus on the immortality of these beings. Yet, Vampirology is one of the few examples that analyses the character of a vampire from a more realistic context. Two films, which have a similar character based studies, include Blade (1998) and An Interview With A Vampire (1994). The latter of the two tells the story of a vampire retorting his life to a reporter. However the presentation here is a contrast to that of the aforementioned episode of Urban Gothic. Instead, An Interview With A Vampire (1994) is presented as an epic melodrama, with its locations and actions being glamorized in a very romanticised way. Blade (1998) on the other hand is primarily an action film, which on occasion, reflects on Blades own vampiric urges and how he attempts to fight and counter them.
Urban Gothic on the other hand sets itself out to define the episode as a vampire character study. It reflects on society and pop culture at the time of its production in relation to how a vampire in society (if such a thing were to exist), would reflect upon it. How would they view themselves in relation to their crimes? Would they have any regrets about what they do or would they chose to embrace their primal urges? The answer in relation to all of these questions appears to be that a vampire would be just as reflective and neurotic as any human would be.
There is really something quite interesting about this fresh approach, especially in comparison to the romantic perspective of which is shown in the Twilight saga as of late. Here it seems the only thing that is reflected upon is the fantasy of immortality as opposed to their victims/pray. Because these romanticised representations have become the norm in vampire fiction it becomes very refreshing to see the contrast of the present conventions.
No comments:
Post a Comment