What's great about monsters in horror, is that there's a permeability and universality to them. You can even see their mythology change and shift within the history of film. For instance, zombies used to be the culturally-appropriated machinations of voodoo witch doctors in the 30s-40s, before becoming reanimated corpses that craved brains and possibly avatars for social commentary on modern society. Same with vampires, who used to be deterred by the image of the cross and deadly allergic to garlic (and sometimes still are!) But it's always nice to see reinterpretations, if done well.
Anyway, in the new Serbian vampire film – simply titled VAMPIR – writer/director Branko Tomovi states, "Our film is inspired by the real vampire cases that occurred in Serbia in the early 1700s. Those were the origin of vampires. Though VAMPIR is set in modern times it’s based on those myths, superstitions and folk elements." So it will be interesting to see how that manifests in the film itself. Here is the full synopsis:
After witnessing a crime in London and looking for a place to hide for a while, Arnaut (played by Branko Tomovic) is offered a job by charming yet ruthless local Vesna (played by Gorica Regodic) to look after a cemetery in a small remote village in Serbia. He soon starts to have nightmarish visions and is frequently visited by the mysterious older woman Baba Draga (played by Eva Ras) who guides Arnaut into the darkness. Only the village priest (played by Joakim Tasic) seems to be trying to keep him safe from the sinister intentions of the villagers.
This sounds like it could be interesting! Especially since – while this is writer/director Branko Tomovi's first feature – his previous shorts RED and THE SMELL OF PETROL have reportedly won numerous awards and nominations at major prestigious festivals, such as the BAFTA and the European Film Awards.
Also here's the pretty awesome teaser poster:
So what do you guys think? And what are your favorite depictions of vampires? Either way, sound off below!