Vampires: BTVS Influence

[lemst6]

Whenever I watch a movie or a TV show that involves vampires I always hold it to btvs standards. I usually think that if they don't apply the same rules to vampires as btvs does then they don't know anything about vampires.

Take for instance The Lost Boys, while some of the things in that movie follow the vamp rules I always expect them to burst into dust whenever they're killed. Not sizzle or whatever they do in that movie.

Has anyone else ever watched a movie or tv show and thought that something was missing?

 

[palabravampiress]

Not really. I sort of expect each author to have a different take on the vampire myth.

I do like some vamps better than others, though. For example, I like the BtVS concept of vampires better than I like the John Carpenter version or the Blade version.

 

[lemst6]

yeah, Lost Boys was before btvs, but I still hold it to btvs standards, I just can't help it, but I do love The Lost Boys, can't wait for the new one to come out. And I definitely do prefer btvs vamp standards over Blade standards, Blade confuses me with their rules

 

[Rowan Hawthorn]

Most modern vampire films have gone so far over-the-top with the special effects, it's ridiculous. BtVS' "dusting" effect was done, at least in part, to avoid having to come up with a way of dealing with bodies lying around, but at least it has a basis in literary and Hollywood tradition. There's no real excuse for the spectacular fireworks effects so many films use now, except "Because we can."

 

[czarina]

I don't necessarily hold other vamp shows/movies/etc. up to Buffy standards. Like Palabravampiress said, I expect every author/producer to somehow make it there own. I do consider Whedon's interpretation to be one of the best though, especially when compared to other modern takes on the vampire. I agree that many vamp shows can be a little cheesy and over the top. Basically when I see another vampire film of tv show I just look for an interpretation that tips its hat off to older established vampire mythology, but also brings something new and fresh to an otherwise dead subject. (haha) 😉

 

[Lou]

I have to admit that I do that too.
Although, it's hard to say which came first. I thought Buffy took my favorite of the vampire myths and went with them and tossed the ones I didn't like so much aside. The whole sleeping with the sacred dirt thing irked me.
So, it's really hard to say whether I hold them to Buffy's standards or I just happened to be tickled with how it was written.

I will say that Moonlight has me totally befuddled most of the time with all the walking in sunlight, staking them not killing them and the sleeping in the freezers.
I REALLY don't get the sleeping in a freezer...do they decompose? Are they decomposing all the time they're NOT in the freezer? And if so, how do they live so long? It seems like they'd eventually just fall apart...unless the freezer somehow "restores" them, in which case I think we could have found something that made more sense than a freezer...like perhaps, rubbing eggplant onto their scalp. ANYTHING but the freezer, because my brain just keeps saying, "That only helps stop the decomposing WHILE they're in there! The rest of the time they're just rotting."
(Although, I DO think Moonlight does it just because they're TRYING to be different, I give them LOTS of credit for trying, but sadly, with the freezer and sometimes the staking they also have to take credit for giving me a headache. I do okay with the sunlight thing though.)

But, yeah, I have to say when I start into something "vampy" my assumption is that it should be "The Buffy Way" and when it's not, instead of paying attention to figure out how it is, my brain jumps straight to, "That's not right".
That's the ADD talking though. Everyone shocked I have ADD?

HEY! There's a CHICKEN! :Bolt:

 

[Tueuse de Vampires]

Well, that's the thing about myths, there's no definite way of interpreting something. Of course I'm so used to the Buffy way of vampire life and death that on some level I also expect this way from other shows/movies/books, but I also keep in mind that Buffy was just one show among many, and every of those has the right to think up their own way of vampire-destruction etc.
Btw. has anyone seen the vampire episode on Charmed? That was kinda lame in my opinion, when the queen died all the other vampires just burned up.

 

[T.I.P]

Im glad the BTVS vamps dont die when their 'master' is killed, also glad they cant fly.
And i love the way Buffy vamps act more like humans than some white face ghoulish creature.

 

[lemst6]

Btw. has anyone seen the vampire episode on Charmed? That was kinda lame in my opinion, when the queen died all the other vampires just burned up.

That seems to be a common vamp trend in other storylines. The same thing happens in The Lost Boys also. I'm glad that btvs vamps don't die that way.

The flying thing is also a common trend, they fly in Underworld and in Lost Boys, and I can't remember if they do in Queen of the Damned or not, but I don't like them flying. Having superhuman strength and being able to jump higher than humans is good enough for me, although, Dracula, can fly can't he? Or well, he turns into a bat and then flies, sorry i don't know my Dracula story very well, but I think that maybe I don't hold to btvs standards, but what I do do is in movies and tv shows I do say things like "that can't happen," or "they could kill them this way." I just think that Joss's version of vamp rules are the best, they aren't too confusing and they make things more believable in my opinion.

 

[anyatara]

I do that all the time. If there are vampires in something, I'm like 'They're not like the vamps in Buffy!'. When I first read Twilight I was really upset that the vamps weren't like vampires in Buffy, but after a while I adjusted and came to like the series. With a lot of other things (Movies mostly) I can't do that, 'cause I'm used to the vamps in Buffy and Angel.

 

[Kemy]

Actually I'm the opposite, I watched a lot of other Vampire related stuff before I watched Buffy, but then again I watched, read or researched so many different Vampire depictions there is no "core" Vampiric condition I judge others by. Well maybe Underworld to an aesthetic/biological extent.

 

[Crazy Flakes]

I don't usually compare other vampires with Buffy vampires, because I, too, feel that each author is entitled to their own opinion. But I felt that Buffy definitely had the best way of explaining why vampires don't have much trouble going around killing humans; the whole "demon takes over" concept was just brilliant, in my opinion. In other vampire shows/series such as Moonlight and Twilight, they say, "Oh, it's their nature," but they don't give a good reason why some vampires just choose to be good. Also, Buffy did a good job of explaining why vampires are super strong; there are other demons in the Buffy world, so we can just assume that the vampire demon just has super strength. Moonlight and Twilight never really explain why a living corpse is super strong. Oh, and just so you know, I'm gonna use Moonlight and Twilight comparisons for the rest of this post.

Buffy does need some explanations for their vampires, though. Why do they sleep if they don't have to? Wouldn't they never be tired, and not able to sleep? Twilight did do the best job of explaining this; their vampires can't sleep, even if they try. But the Moonlight freezer thing? Uh, I agree with Dlou. They get props for the originality and all, but it doesn't make any sense.

And Buffy vampires just bursting into flames in the sunlight has always bugged me. It's really just a huge inconvenience for both the vampires and the writers. Twilight vampires are worse, though; I mean, sure, the whole "they sparkle in the sun" thing is very original and cute and all, but it makes even less sense than the Moonlight freezers! I do like the Moonlight "they feel sick in the sun" thing, though, since it's both convenient and probable.

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

^Heh, probable! Of course queasy undead corpses who drink blood and are pretty much immortal are probable! Meh, its all relative I suppose!:hihi:

Anyway, I know I shouldn't, but I do tend to fall back on the Buffyverse rules as definitive, so it throws me a little when I see a vamp breaking them. I know that it's my own fault, but hey. Its worse when the contradiction isn't actually properly established. If I know its coming its ok, but I do tend to fill in the blanks with Buffyverse canon!

 

[JCC]

I hate vampire mythology. I think it's absolutely dire. The only vampire related fiction I can stand is the original Romanian folklore and Buffy/Angel.

 

[Lou]

Yes, I think Buffy's explanation (or Joss's) is the easiest to believe in the sense that I can actually imagine this whole world going on and we'd never know.
Even Moonlight's "Wonder Woman" jumping kind of irks me a bit. I don't mind super powers, but being able to leap tall buildings in a single bound leads me to believe we'd have NOTICED this at somepoint. Especially in LA where there are video cameras and stuff.

I do wish they'd have worked a bit harder on the sunlight angle. I think Moonlight's theory is better than Spike running around with a blanket on his head while smoldering.

Over all, I like Joss's best. And in my head it's because it makes the most sense and leads me to believe this could really happen. I have a VERY gullible brain, but it has to make some sort of sense. If I can rationalize it, it could be. And it makes the characters 100 times more fun when I can believe it.

Until you have kids anyway. Then you have to tell the truth about not only the vampires being real but the Muppets and Indiana Jones too. These kids can really be a downer for my brain. (Actually in BOTH cases, I spit out, "YES THEY'RE REAL" for both the Muppets and Indiana Jones before I could catch myself and had to back track.)

 

[Tueuse de Vampires]

Now that everyone is mentioning Twilight, the vampire descriptions in that book have bothered me (well to be fair I hate most things about the book...some might call it romantic, I call it corny), especially the 'sparkling in the sunlight' part, I have no idea how that' supposed to work.
Also, I'd like to say that I like vampire mythology very much. I don't know exactly if Buffy started it though, I started watching when I was 13, so that's pretty young, I don't think I would've been open to anything vampiric before that, so it's hard to judge.
Btw., I just started reading 'Carmilla' online (thanks so much Kemy, I love it) and I also kinda like the concept of lesbian vampirism, whch reminds me very much of vamp Willow, lol.

 

[JCC]

Twilight is one of the worst things to ever happen to literature.

 

[Buffanator]

I don't hold other vampire shows/movies/books to the BtVS standard - and I very much enjoy the Blade triology & The Lost Boys, & Interview with a Vampire, etc. but I do like the BtVS above all. I like the way the vamps dust, the way their whole face changes when they vamp-out (as opposed to just "teeth") and I like that they can't turn into bats (except for Dracula) & they don't really have to "sleep" during the day, etc. I liked how certain vamps were total bad asses (Spike, and Angelus), & some were wimpy (the glasses-wearing dude that was helping with "The Judge") & some were dumb as a rock (Harmony) - they weren't all "the same", they took their human aspects with them when they were sired. Well.... some. 😉

 

[slayerpower]

I just shake my head whenever a vampire tv show/movie doesn't have the same vampire rules as Buffy. The vampires in Twilight fly and sunlight doesn't hurt them. Totally wrong. When Claudia dies in Interview with the Vampire, she doesn't dust, just become a dusty statue. Totally wrong. Dracula sleeps in a coffin. Totally wrong. The Buffy vampire rules are final. All vampire tv show/movies must adhere to them!

 

[Washburne]

I really don´t watch or read much vampire related stuff. But still it happens. Just saw Blade 3 today and I didn´t have much problem on how they died. And I guess Blade is something special (hybrid?) since he could walk in the sun and was surprised that Dracula could do that too. And as you could have guessed, I haven´t watched the other two ones.

Except for the sun thing I don´t think I would have much trouble with other ideas regarding vampires but I surely would compare it to how it´s shown on Buffy and Angel.