Vampirism in Millennial Film
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and the Catholic Church in particular, that he exploited so well in Prince o f Dark
ness. As Cumbow notes, “...the film, like the novel, is fueled by the tension be
tween the pretense, empty ritual, and oppressive power of an organized religion
and the urgent necessity of the battle to save the values that religion upholds (235).”
Thus the film’s Judas who sells out the vampire hunters’ leader Jack Crow (James
Woods in a gloriously over-the-top performance) is revealed to be Cardinal Alba
(Maximilian Schell), who is ostensibly funding the hunters’ work. In his usual
anti-authoritarian way, Carpenter’s heroes are framed as a bunch of whoring,
drunken wastrels who, nonetheless, fight vampirism from a foundation of convic
tion and dedication that what they are doing is the right thing. Filled with the genre
conventions Carpenter has become known for during his career, John Carpenter's
Vampires finally allowed one of the industry’s most maverick directors to adapt his
favorite genre, the western, to his personal portfolio of horror films.
The political intrigues fronted by organized religion also provide a major nar
rative thread in the made-for-cable (USA Network) title, Dark Prince: The True
Story ofDracula, directed by Joe Chappelle. Here the story works toward estab
lishing Dracula’s creation as a vampire during its final ten minutes, and even the
film’s New Age denouement is left somewhat open-ended as Prince Vlad is re
united with his Princess, Lydia, and they stroll hand-in-hand through the fog to
castle Dracula. Incorporating historical speculation and mythology from a variety
of sources regarding the real-life Vlad the Impaler, Dark Prince's plot-line does a
good job of presenting many of the Stoker characteristics as either the result of
rumor or exaggeration. Thus, when Vlad is asked by the priests questioning him
about his reported propensity for drinking the blood of his enemies, he waves such
stories off as nothing more than the rumors of peasants. Later in the film the Prince
is imprisoned for some time by the King of Hungary (The Who's Roger Daltry) for
allegedly plotting against him. By the time the King discovers that documents
implicating Vlad are forgeries, the Prince has spent substantial time in the win
dowless dungeon and has trouble getting his eyes to adjust to the light, creating the
convention that he cannot stand the light of day. One other situation contributing to
the myth occurs when Vlad is clubbed on the head during a battle and is supposed
dead, but rises to fight again.
On the other hand, the Orthodox church’s leaders decided to keep an eye on
Vlad when one of their number, Father Stephan (Peter Weller), witnesses Vlad’s
birth and reports that blood has run from the eyes of a statue of the Virgin Mary in
the birth room. For the priests, this is an indication that the child is destined to
become the anti-Christ and is in need of constant monitoring. The rift that opens
between Vlad and the church eventually comes about when Lydia commits suicide
in a fit of madness and, as in Coppola’s film, is denied salvation by the church.
Eventually Vlad is betrayed by Father Stephan when the holy man leads him into a