Caleb Woodbridge, P G Bell and Sarah Burrow face the Vampires of Venice in our latest Doctor Who commentary!
We discuss vital questions such as, what is the Doctor thinking with his matchmaking techniques? How much does this story fall prey to “time tourism” syndrome? Are alien fish creatures an acceptable substitute for real vampires? All this and much more!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:50 — 47.2MB)
In my last article, I tried to rescue science-fantasy from the dumpster of “soft” sci-fi and restore it to its rightful place as an equal but contrasting genre with its roots in traditional folklore. But this “science-as-magic” approach to storytelling is not confined to modern space operas.
Evil spirits, monsters, ghosts, the undead, fatal curses, mysterious powers… Of all genres, horror has the clearest links to the folklore and fairytales of the past and still relies heavily on supernatural tropes to drive its stories. And yet, just as with science-fantasy, the genre has been undergoing a secular revolution in the last handful of decades.
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| Bela Lugosi (and friend) in 1932’s “White Zombie” |
Take zombies, for example. Throughout the first half of the 20th Century they stuck pretty closely to their Voodoo origins. A powerful, charismatic but ultimately malevolent figure uses black magic to raise a workforce of mindless slaves (sometimes living drones, sometimes re-animated corpses) in an attempt to further his power over society. At the same time, he usually pursues a beautiful and virtuous young woman who resists his advances until she too succumbs to the zombie curse and has to be rescued (or dispatched) by the heroes.
In such scenarios, the zombies are little more than a psychological threat while the true danger is posed by the zombie master himself (it’s always a man – has there ever been a zombie mistress?) whose role is to remind us that even the strongest will and most upright morals can be undermined and usurped. (Not unlike the character of Dracula. Is it a coincidence that Bella Lugosi was cast in 1933’s White Zombie?)
If you’re reading ‘American Vampire’ then chances are you’re only doing so because of the draw of one man’s name – Stephen King. A straight vampire project by Snyder alone would have been unlikely to pick up many readers, but by pairing him with a celebrated (and established) horror writer and a fantastic artist, Vertigo have hit on a winner.
Approaching ‘American Vampire’, King’s first direct foray into comics, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
King is a difficult writer to pin down; his early work is some of the best written ‘pulp horror’ around, his habit of writing scary stories is often parodied but his ear for language and his ability to write convincing characters and dialogue is unmatched in the field. If there has been a drop off in quality recently it is more noticeable in his longer novels than the ever reliable short stories he seems to excel at. Much can be chalked up to the accident he suffered a few years ago which impacted so heavily on his writing, the direct effects most clearly seen in the derailing of the Dark Tower series into a self-pleasing anti-climax.
And yet, I love him. I buy anything he releases. So I went in with high hopes but low expectations.
‘Vampires in Venice’ is schlock. Pure and simple. It’s cheesy and silly and daft and sort of naff and everything about it is just brilliant. I really enjoyed this episode.
Now, much like Daleks in World War 2 this is an entire storyline that is entirely set up to appeal to people like me. It’s an entire storyline, much like Werewolves in Scotland, which is perfectly crafted for people who love period creature features. I have a love of alternate history which Doctor Who is a regular vehicle for appeasing. Vampires have a similar place in my heart, being one of those monsters with an iconic set of features that can still be rewritten and crafted to fit the demands of the writer.
There’s almost nothing else that could be so universally malleable as the Vampire. From Anne Rice to Stephanie Meyer, Bram Stoker to Joss Whedon, you have as diverse a range of monsters as is possible. Personally, I don’t care what my Vampires are as long as they suck blood. Make them friendly, let them fly, or walk in daylight, make them mutants, infected, aliens, whatever. Vampires in my book are always cool. It takes a lot more than sparkling in sunlight to turn me away from this.
Making them into fish aliens, yeah, I’ll manage.
As the Doctor, Amy and Rory fight Vampires of Venice, I turn my attention to Being Human, also written by Toby Whithouse, and review series 2 of the hit BBC3 comedy-drama about a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost sharing a flat in Bristol.
I discuss the collision of the everyday with the supernatural, self-conscious “darkness”, clichéd Christians and just how good is the actress who was a green spiky alien in Doctor Who at Christmas, and much more. Let us know what you think!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:14 — 9.6MB)