AmeliaMangan t1_iujgjzv wrote on October 31, 2022 at 8:04 PM

Reply to comment by ModernistGames in Nosferatu at 100: a silent horror masterwork that continues to chill by Stonewalled89

And Love At First Bite, and the Frank Langella Dracula. I can't help but wonder if the vampire resurgence of that year might've had something to do with this being roughly the point where the very first instances of AIDS (though not yet recognized as such) began to show up in the US.

(Possibly worth noting: the novelization of Herzog's Nosferatu is by Paul Monette, who would later go on to become a major chronicler of the AIDS era. His novelization is superb, gorgeous and scary and sad, a great book in its own right and well worth seeking out.)

ModernistGames t1_iujoi6s wrote on October 31, 2022 at 8:58 PM

While an interesting thought, I think that is a stretch. AIDs was not even identified until 1981. Vampire movies have always been around, they go in waves and are very flexible. I think the burst of great 70s vampire flicks was more just a product of the New Hollywood movement, in fact I think they worked brilliantly bringing a new, violent, sexy edge to the classic Hollywood story. That is one of the halmarks of the movement.