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Vampire films have been a staple since the era of silent films, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in films throughout the years. The most popular cinematic adaptation of vampire fiction has been from Bram Stoker's ''Dracula'', with over 170 versions to date. Running a distant second are adaptations of ''Carmilla'' by Sheridan Le Fanu. The legend of Elizabeth Báthory, the "Blood Countess" has also been an influence. By 2005, Dracula had been the subject of more films than any other fictional character. As folklore vampires are defined in their need to feed on blood and on their manipulative nature; a theme held common through the many adaptations.〔"vampire n." The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, Twelfth edition . Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. York University. 23 October 2011〕 Although vampires are generally associated with the horror and sometimes zombie genre, vampire films may also fall into the drama, action, science fiction, romance, comedy or fantasy genres, among others. ==History== Early cinematic vampires in other such films as ''The Vampire'' (1913), directed by Robert G. Vignola, were not undead bloodsucking fiends but 'vamps'. Such femme fatales were inspired by a poem by Rudyard Kipling called "The Vampire", composed in 1897. This poem was written as kind of commentary on a painting of a female vampire by Philip Burne-Jones exhibited in the same year. Lyrics from Kipling's poem: ''A fool there was . . . '', describing a seduced man, were used as the title of the film ''A Fool There Was'' (1915) starring Theda Bara as the 'vamp' in question and the poem was used in the publicity for the film.〔Per the Oxford English Dictionary, ''vamp'' is originally English, used first by G. K. Chesterton, but popularized in the American silent film ''The Vamp'', starring Enid Bennett〕 An authentic supernatural vampire features in the landmark ''Nosferatu'' (1922 Germany, directed by F. W. Murnau) starring Max Schreck as the hideous Count Orlok. This was an unlicensed version of Bram Stoker's ''Dracula'', based so closely on the novel that the estate sued and won, with all copies ordered to be destroyed. It would be painstakingly restored in 1994 by a team of European scholars from the five surviving prints that had escaped destruction. The destruction of the vampire, in the closing sequence of the film, by sunlight rather than the traditional stake through the heart proved very influential on later films and became an accepted part of vampire lore.〔Nina Auerbach (1997) "Vampires in the Light" in the Norton Critical edition of ''Dracula'': 389-404〕 The next classic treatment of the vampire legend was, an adaptation of the stage play based on Stoker's novel ''Dracula'', Universal's ''Dracula'' (1931) starring Béla Lugosi as Count Dracula. Lugosi's performance was so popular that his Hungarian accent and sweeping gestures became characteristics now commonly associated with Dracula.〔Butler, Erik. Metamorphoses of the Vampire in Literature and Film : Cultural Transformations in Europe, 1732–1933. Rochester: Boydell & Brewer, 2010. Electronic.〕 Five years after the release of the film, Universal released ''Dracula's Daughter'' (1936), a direct sequel that starts immediately after the end of the first film. A second sequel, ''Son of Dracula'', starring Lon Chaney, Jr. followed in 1943. Despite his apparent death in the 1931 film, the Count returned to life in three more Universal films of the mid-1940s: ''House of Frankenstein'' (1944) and ''House of Dracula'' (1945)—both starring John Carradine—and ''Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein'' (1948). While Lugosi had played a vampire in two other films during the 1930s and 1940s, it was only in this final film that he played Count Dracula on-screen for the second (and last) time. A transition between the Universal tradition and the later Hammer style is exemplified by the 1957 Mexican film ''El Vampiro'' that showed the vampire fangs (Universal did not). Dracula was reincarnated for a new generation in Hammer Films series, starring Christopher Lee as the Count. In the first of these films ''Dracula'' (1958) the spectacular death of the title character through being exposed to the sun, reinforced this part of vampire lore, first established in ''Nosferatu'', and made it virtually axiomatic in succeeding films.〔 Lee returned as Dracula in all but two of the seven sequels. A more faithful adaptation of Stoker's novel appeared as ''Dracula'' (1992) directed by Francis Ford Coppola though also identifying Count Dracula with the notorious medieval Balkan ruler Vlad the Impaler.〔Wayne Bartlett and Flavia Idriceanu (2005) ''Legends of Blood: The Vampire in History and Myth'': 42〕 A distinct subgenre of vampire films, ultimately inspired by Le Fanu's ''Carmilla'' explored the topic of the lesbian vampire. Although implied in ''Dracula's Daughter'', the first openly lesbian vampire was in ''Blood and Roses'' (1960) by Roger Vadim. More explicit lesbian content was provided in Hammer's Karnstein Trilogy. The first of these, ''The Vampire Lovers'', (1970), starring Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith, was a relatively straightforward re-telling of LeFanu's novella, but with more overt violence and sexuality. Later films in this subgenre such as ''Vampyres'' (1974) became even more explicit in their depiction of sex, nudity and violence. Beginning with ''Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein'' (1948) the vampire has often been the subject of comedy. ''The Fearless Vampire Killers'' (1967) by Roman Polanski was a notable parody of the genre. Other comedic treatments, of variable quality, include ''Vampira'' (1974) featuring David Niven as a lovelorn Dracula, ''Love at First Bite'' (1979) featuring George Hamilton, ''My Best Friend Is a Vampire'' (1988), ''Innocent Blood'' (1992), ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1992), and ''Dracula: Dead and Loving It'' (1995), directed by Mel Brooks with Leslie Nielsen. Another development in some vampire films has been a change from supernatural horror to science fictional explanations of vampirism. ''The Last Man on Earth'' (1964, directed by Ubaldo Ragona), ''The Omega Man'' (1971 US, directed by Boris Sagal) and two other films were all based on Richard Matheson's novel ''I Am Legend''. They explain the condition as having a natural cause. Vampirism is explained as a kind of virus in David Cronenberg's ''Rabid'' (1976) and ''Red-Blooded American Girl'' (1990) directed by David Blyth, as well as in the ''Blade'' trilogy to a limited extent. Race has been another theme, as exemplified by the blaxploitation picture ''Blacula'' (1972) and its sequel ''Scream Blacula Scream''. Though always a representation of passion and desire, since the time of Béla Lugosi's ''Dracula'' (1931) the vampire, male or female, has usually been portrayed as an alluring sex symbol. Christopher Lee, Delphine Seyrig, Frank Langella, and Lauren Hutton are just a few examples of actors who brought great sex-appeal into their portrayal of the vampire. Latterly the implicit sexual themes of vampire film have become much more overt, culminating in such films as ''Gayracula'' (1983) and ''The Vampire of Budapest'', (1995), two pornographic all-male vampire films, and ''Lust for Dracula'' (2005), a softcore pornography all-lesbian adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic. There is, however, a very small subgenre, pioneered in Murnau's seminal ''Nosferatu'' (1922) in which the portrayal of the vampire is similar to the hideous creature of European folklore. Max Schrek's disturbing portrayal of this role in Murnau's film was copied by Klaus Kinski in Werner Herzog's remake ''Nosferatu the Vampyre'' (1979). In ''Shadow of the Vampire'' (2000). directed by E. Elias Merhige, Willem Dafoe plays Max Schrek, himself, though portrayed here as an actual vampire. Dafoe's character is the ugly, disgusting creature of the original ''Nosferatu''. Stephen King's ''Salem's Lot'' (1979), notably depicts vampires as terrifying, simple-minded creatures, without erotism, and with the only desire to feed on the blood of others. This type of vampire is also featured in the film 30 Days of Night. A major character in most vampire films is the vampire hunter, of which Stoker's Abraham Van Helsing is a prototype. However, killing vampires has changed. Where Van Helsing relied on a stake through the heart, in ''Vampires'' 1998, directed by John Carpenter, Jack Crow (James Woods) has a heavily armed squad of vampire hunters, and in ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1992, directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui), writer Joss Whedon (who created TV's ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and spin-off ''Angel'') attached The Slayer, Buffy Summers (Kristy Swanson in the film, Sarah Michelle Gellar in the TV series), to a network of Watchers and mystically endowed her with superhuman powers. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Vampire film」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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