Usually when a vampire movie is reviewed, Dracula is the gold standard that other vampire depictions are measured by. In this essay about Netflick's new Dracula mini-series by Stephen Moffat, showrunner for Sherlock Holmes w/Benedict Cumberbatch, Tomas Alfredson and LTROI is the new gold standard in the depiction of vampires, and Eli is the new Dracula being considered the perfect depiction of a vampire.
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Essay about Netflix new Dracula series where Eli and not Dracula is the Gold Standard for Vampires
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abner_mohl
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sauvin
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Re: Essay about Netflix new Dracula series where Eli and not Dracula is the Gold Standard for Vampires
I've not seen this series yet. Can anybody comment on how this Dracula compares to Eli?
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cmfireflies
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Re: Essay about Netflix new Dracula series where Eli and not Dracula is the Gold Standard for Vampires
The series is made up of three episodes and in classic Moffat fashion, the show goes completely off the rails at the end and IMO only the first two episodes are worth watching.
That being said, the first two episodes are great. Dracula is the evil anti-Eli, very much the classical vampire, monstrous, sexual and with an aversion to crosses, sunlight.
The only thing Drac has in common with Eli are a need for an invitation, the idea that vampirism as a disease, and maybe the ability to form psychic bonds with people after drinking their blood.
Dracula would probably be closer to the man in the wig rather than Eli. Eli may not have a castle or the ability to turn into a wolf but Eli's the vampire who's more successful in modern times.
"When is a monster not a monster? Oh, when you love it."
Re: Essay about Netflix new Dracula series where Eli and not Dracula is the Gold Standard for Vampires
Nosferatu (both versions) removed all the silliness in typical representations of Dracula.
As for Eli, I think he / she is (or was) more like Carmilla. I'm pretty sure JAL had Carmilla in mind while creating Eli, that's why he looks like your typical gothic chick, cute doll face, delicate pale skin, and straight dark hair, but out of his castle and aristocratic life, (well Eli was quite the contrary in this regard, no aristocratic lineage at all, a simple peasant) and a little more cynical, and a child.
Another big difference is that these "romantic" (meaning romanticism not romance) vampires seems to show their attraction onto their "lovers/friends" whatever by sucking their blood,in a somehow sensual way, while Eli does the opposite, just feed on victims he doesn't care and tries not to eat or infect the ones he "appreciates" (not just Oskar, but Tommy or that kid in the pool).
Mrs. Karstein was explicitly a lesbian, or only ate females. Eli is a child, but I am sure he would like a female Oskar too and they will probably be BFF-sisters like, given the case (a la Ginger Snaps) or girl-boy kiddie twilight romantic couple if Eli took a male role (but that's against his/er characterization in the book in which till the end remains a female even with the pronouns shift stuff) basically Im saying that Eli must look or was written to look like a female, even if a child.
Also, both Carmila and Laura were more like teenagers, so they were a little closer to Eli and Oskar. And Eli also sleeps in blood.
Sadly for Le Fanu's Carmilla, it was adapted and ruined into several incredibly shitty movies, series, and so on, too.
As for Eli, I think he / she is (or was) more like Carmilla. I'm pretty sure JAL had Carmilla in mind while creating Eli, that's why he looks like your typical gothic chick, cute doll face, delicate pale skin, and straight dark hair, but out of his castle and aristocratic life, (well Eli was quite the contrary in this regard, no aristocratic lineage at all, a simple peasant) and a little more cynical, and a child.
Another big difference is that these "romantic" (meaning romanticism not romance) vampires seems to show their attraction onto their "lovers/friends" whatever by sucking their blood,in a somehow sensual way, while Eli does the opposite, just feed on victims he doesn't care and tries not to eat or infect the ones he "appreciates" (not just Oskar, but Tommy or that kid in the pool).
Mrs. Karstein was explicitly a lesbian, or only ate females. Eli is a child, but I am sure he would like a female Oskar too and they will probably be BFF-sisters like, given the case (a la Ginger Snaps) or girl-boy kiddie twilight romantic couple if Eli took a male role (but that's against his/er characterization in the book in which till the end remains a female even with the pronouns shift stuff) basically Im saying that Eli must look or was written to look like a female, even if a child.
Also, both Carmila and Laura were more like teenagers, so they were a little closer to Eli and Oskar. And Eli also sleeps in blood.
Sadly for Le Fanu's Carmilla, it was adapted and ruined into several incredibly shitty movies, series, and so on, too.
Re: Essay about Netflix new Dracula series where Eli and not Dracula is the Gold Standard for Vampires
Well, you guys have nailed the shift away from Dracula toward younger (and sometimes more Eli-like) vampires. What has surprised me and others on WTI is how vampire movies and TV series have persisted since Buffy and the Twilight films. BTW, I think Ginger Snaps is a big mess but nonetheless a shear delight. 
“For drama to deepen, we must see the loneliness of the monster and the cunning of the innocent.”
Re: Essay about Netflix new Dracula series where Eli and not Dracula is the Gold Standard for Vampires
Well, LMI came in the exact vampire craze moment (2008-2012) which is odd because is a very timeless, could be a 70s, 80s, 90s or 00s movie, and obviously is not mainstream, but belongs to the heavy mainstream times of vampires in this century, that's why it gained it's unwanted fame as "THE ANTI-TWILIGHT" (and anti-Hollywood) champion.
The book has more terror/horror and you can actually put the vampirism on second level, but Alfredson removed it all by center the story on Eli and Oskar, a different approach for a sccript could be Eli vampirism kept as mystery or restricted to climatic scenes with the man Hakan doing all the horrific stuff, there's also the bullies, the police investigation... the zombie comeback etc, even being a specific vampire genre fiction, I think it deserves recognition as horror only classic too.
The article stablish Dracula as the standard, but actually I think since Twilight, that crap became the (bad) standard, because each new vampire fiction, series or movie that comes up is compared to Twilight actually.. "better love story than twilight"... "stephanie meyer should learn from this".. "this is not twilight".. "this is how vampires are, not your sparkly twilight vamp".. etc etc
As for Ginger Snaps, it is a fair "period -girl becoming a woman" allegory it seems, and is very similar to LTROI in its treatment of vampire/werevolves (both try to stablish a biological/mythological approach too), but more trashy and much less serious.
The book has more terror/horror and you can actually put the vampirism on second level, but Alfredson removed it all by center the story on Eli and Oskar, a different approach for a sccript could be Eli vampirism kept as mystery or restricted to climatic scenes with the man Hakan doing all the horrific stuff, there's also the bullies, the police investigation... the zombie comeback etc, even being a specific vampire genre fiction, I think it deserves recognition as horror only classic too.
The article stablish Dracula as the standard, but actually I think since Twilight, that crap became the (bad) standard, because each new vampire fiction, series or movie that comes up is compared to Twilight actually.. "better love story than twilight"... "stephanie meyer should learn from this".. "this is not twilight".. "this is how vampires are, not your sparkly twilight vamp".. etc etc
As for Ginger Snaps, it is a fair "period -girl becoming a woman" allegory it seems, and is very similar to LTROI in its treatment of vampire/werevolves (both try to stablish a biological/mythological approach too), but more trashy and much less serious.