Earlier in the year, a challenge was put out by RadPackPod and Born2BeRad to give a list of 9 of the movie crushes that defines you. I know it was a few months ago, but I'm doing mine now. And a bonus of my 9 vampire movie crushes too, cause more than anything vampire movies define me.
The first nine are the "regular" crushes and the second batch of nine are the vampire crushes.
Corey Feldman: I have to say my crush on Corey Feldman stated with his appearances on tv shows like Eight is Enough and the Bad News Bears series of movies in the late 1970's/early 1980's. But it wasn't until he played the character of Mouth in The Goonies that I started to rip the pages out of those teen magazines and post them to my wall. He would be my biggest movie crush from 1979 all the way through to around 2005.
Bill Paxton: Near Dark came out when I was 13 years old. and seeing the character of Severen played by Bill Paxton solidified my love for the bad boy rocker vamp. He brought this tough edginess to what before had been a little too romanticized in a few other movies. There was a natural slinkiness to his movements, something almost cat like the way he strode through the bar scene as the predator who knew no bounds. With one scene, Bill Paxton made being a vampire the coolest and the coldest bit of fun anyone could have.
Maxwell Caulfield: Grease 2 came out when I was 8 years old. That surfer nerd look his character has in the beginning of the movie that he manages to transform into the mysterious biker halfway; had me giddy and hyper for nerdy men to this day. The whole duel life which gets compared in the movie to Superman's secret identity, is very appealing. There was just something swoon worthy about a bad boy with a brain and a heart of gold.
Jeff Bridges: Starman was the first thing I had seen Jeff Bridges in. But it was The Mirror Has Two Faces that really captured my heart. In a way, it's like he's playing the same character, a man who doesn't know how to interact with other people very well to the point he's locked himself to one woman for guidance. There is just something about a nerd who is sexy and doesn't really know how sexy he is, and just because he's being himself, can be approachable.
Johnny Depp: Where to start! I think everyone with a pulse has had a thing for Johnny Depp over the last 45 years. Of course, the first thing I'd seen him in was A Nightmare on Elm Street way back in the early 1980's. Almost every time I do any kind of all time favourite movie lists or actor lists, he's in my top ten or even top five. From Ed Wood, to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, to The Rum Diary, to Nick of Time to Sleepy Hollow to Ninth Gate to Secret Window to...well I can go on for days. But, there's just something about the character of Dean Corso from The Ninth Gate that smoulders in my dreams for days after watching the movie.
Keanu Reeves: One of Canada's finest, and one of his earliest movies Youngblood was a Canadian film which got a lot of air play back in the late 80's/early 90's on Canadian television, setting many hearts a flutter. But, it was his first sci-fi role in Johnny Mnemonic that I think made me realize he was more than just a pretty face.
Keifer Sutherland: The first thing I ever saw him in was a movie called The Bay Boy, about a teenager who was disenchanted with his small town fishing village. But, it was the big movie adaption of Stephen King's "The Body" in the form of Stand By Me, that really nailed it for me. His role of Ace the leader of the gang, was yet another bad boy role of the 80's that assured many of us would go looking for Aces of our own.
Kevin Bacon: There's only one movie that matters when you say Kevin Bacon, and that's Footloose. I was 10 when Footloose came out, and it became one of my absolute favourite movies for years to come. I had the soundtrack on vinyl when I was a kid and wore it to scratched shreds. His rebel with a cause character opened the door for countless misunderstood sensitive hero characters, that would plague the 80's and help to create the main roster of heartthrobs.
Corey Haim: Yet another Canadian heartthrob. I remember watching him on Canadian television shows like the Edison Twins before he did any movies. But, it would be his character in Dream a Little Dream that put him in my teenaged mindwarp. I was 14 when Dream a Little Dream came out, right when the whole idea of the Two Coreys was still a fresh statement.
And now...my vampire movie crushes.
The Lost Boys for the vampires of Paul played by Brooke McCarter and Michael played by Jason Patric. Here, we've got two very different types of vampire. The character of Paul, who is the blonde heavy metal vamp, could be mistaken for just an extra, but he steals his scenes with just a glance over his shoulder or a smirk; when the four vampires are together. The character of Michael, the reluctant vampire; has a hero's journey where he starts off wanting to fit in, feeling insecure to finding his inner warrior and full on self esteem. His growth is the anchor to the whole film. You can not tell me that the novel "The Vampire Lestat" which had just come out a year before the movie went into production, (two years before the movie hit cinemas) did not have a lot of influence on the entire look and feel of the vampires. I would stake my reputation on the fact that if Lestat had not been as popular as it was, The Lost Boys would not have been as rock'n'roll centered as it was.
Near Dark for Bill Paxton as Severen. Probably one of the best vampire movies to ever come across a screen. It blends westerns with horror with buddy movies with romantic dramas with action. It single handedly helped to push the vampire out of just being considered "a horror movie" to the actual genre of "vampire movies". As I stated already with the placement of Bill Paxton in my general crushes list, this movie and his character he plays; is one of the sexiest blends of fear and desire and pure animalistic drive. Up till this point, vampires were either really leaning one direction or the other. Either they were goofy comedies trying to give you sexy vamps or they were serious horror vamps, out to scare your nightmares. Bill Paxton managed to make his rockabilly vampire Severen the perfect incubus.
Sundown the Vampires in Retreat for Maxwell Caulfield's character of Shane and Brendan Hughes as the vampire James. Maxwell Caulfield plays a bit of a villain in this one. He's out to seduce his ex girlfriend and make her a vampire. A total turn around from the sweeter nerd he played in Grease 2 a few years earlier. And I really think that's what drew me to his character here. Sadly, he'd get type cast for the next few years and end up playing sleazy guys for the next decade. Brendan Hughes almost gets lost in this film, but he's pretty to look at.
Vampire's Kiss for Nicolas Cage. Almost 40 years later and this is still my favourite Cage movie. His ability to play the abused victim and the abuser within a single scene -I'm talking about the bathroom attack on the coworker scene- makes you feel something, even if you really shouldn't. His comedy is at it's strongest here, when he gives the dream sequence alphabet speech, to the part where he is in the club and you remember this is a horror movie; you're able to see just how much range he has. As for the character, there's something tragically beautiful in the fact that he's a lost soul just trying to find his footing. The story itself takes you down a long corridor of what ifs and dives into some harsh topics like abuse and mental illness.
Bram Stoker's Dracula for Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves and Cary Elwes. So not the first time I'd seen a Gary Oldman film, but definitively the one that got my attention. I was 18 when this movie hit cinemas, and the scene where Dracula breaks out of his box of dirt caused a collective gasp and sigh from the entire audience. It wasn't just us straight girls who were swooning in our uncomfortable chairs over the image of a half naked Oldman during this movie from that point on, but even some of the straight men were feeling something. He embodied the spirit of what a vampire was/is supposed to be. A seductive predator who will drain the lifeforce out of you in one brutal gush. Gary Oldman is very well the perfect Count Dracula. Keanu Reeves as Johnathan Harker. I know he gets tons of heat for his really bad British accent in this, but did you see his seduction scene? There was no one else at the time the movie was made, who could ha pulled off playing that character. The mix of innocence and personal drive that he manages to balance in this are what makes his character worth that bad accent. His character evolves from a prideful but innocent man into a weary but knowledgeable one. He's one of the only characters in the movie who learns anything and has a real arch. Cary Elwes as Arthur Holmwood. Everyone fell in love with him in the Princess Bride, and there's something in his character of Arthur that reminds me of the first half of Princess Bride. There's just this innocence that he manages to bring across to the character of Holmwood, which would have otherwise been nothing but a silly frat boy.
Monster Squad for the Dracula character played by Duncan Regehr and the character of Rudy played by Ryan Lambert. One of the reasons I had gone to see this movie way back in the day at the cinema, was because Ryan Lambert was in it and I had a crush on him from the television show Kids Inc. And if I'm remembering correctly, he sort of ended up playing the same type of character in Monster Squad. But Duncan Regehr... this movie came out the same time as The Lost Boys and Near Dark, the year I was 13. This ghoul's hormones could not catch a break, nor would I have wanted too. When I saw Duncan Regehr's version of Dracula for the first time, I was spellbound. I can honestly say, it was the first time I thought a Dracula was hot!
NIck Knight for Rick Springfield. This 1989 made for television vampire movie stole my heart. The idea of a vampire cop, hiding in plain sight, just trying to make things a little bit better...who wouldn't fall into a total crush? It didn't hurt at all that Rick Springfield was the hottest thing on television back then either.
To Die For 2 Son of Darkness for the character of Max/Vlad played by Michael Praed, the character of Tom played by Steve Bond and the character of Danny played by Jay Underwood. My last year of high school, I discovered this on the rental shelf one night and all I knew was that Jay Underwood was in a vampire movie. He had been in a few Disney movies like The Boy Who Could Fly and Not Quite Human. To Die For 2 Son of Darkness (sometimes the title is reversed to Son of Darkness To Die For 2) became one of my go to movies back then. It didn't hurt that Michael Praed who I had a crush on a decade earlier from the British television show Robin of Sherwood where he played Robin Hood; was playing the vampire Max/Vlad. A character to this day, depending on who you talk to, is the hero or the real villain of the movie. But, I think it's the character of Tom played by soap actor Steve Bond, that really nails the stake for me on this one. At first glance, you think he's the big villain in this sequel, but his point of view makes a ton of sense. There's a swagger the actor brings to what could have otherwise been just a throw away character, as he chomps on cigars and delivers one-liners like they are going out of style...with style.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the Benny character played by David Arquette. This might actually have been the first time I'd seen David Arquette in anything? While my friends were all drooling over Luke Perry as Pike, I was sold completely on the sidekick turned vamp Benny played to comedic perfection by Arquette.
So, as you can see there is some overlap here. Actors Maxwell Caulfield, Bill Paxton and Keanu Reeves. As well, the movie Near Dark is making it twice to the list.
Sidenote: The actor Brendan Hughes who plays a minor role in Sundown Vampires in Retreat with Maxwell Caulfield; actually played the character of Max/Vlad in the first To Die For movie, but was replaced by Michael Praed, who ended up going on to do the night time soap opera Dynasty, as Maxwell Caulfield did the spin-off soap The Colbys.
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