One of my Christmas presents this year was a signed copy of the Blu-Ray of the film A Place Among the Dead starring and directed by Juliet Landau, who is probably best know for her roles as Drusilla in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Loretta King in the movie Ed Wood. The film imagines fictionalized versions of Ms. Landau and her husband Deverill Weekes making a documentary examining a serial killer who has been operating around Santa Barbara, California. The movie starts off with Landau interviewing such actors and writers as Gary Oldman, Ron Perlman, Anne Rice, Charlaine Harris, and Kim Newman about the nature of evil. Soon, Jules and Dev, as they’re known in the film, go to Santa Barbara and find the killer is not only active, but he may be a vampire. The film’s documentary styling allows us to see events unfold almost exclusively from Jules’ point of view.
It soon becomes clear the film uses vampires as a metaphor for those with narcissistic personality disorder. Like a vampire, a narcissist can weave their way into your thoughts to make you do what they want you to do and the path they’re going to set you on is almost guaranteed to be a destructive one so the narcissist can benefit. The film itself is only an hour and sixteen minutes long, and it pulls you along through its narrative. I enjoyed seeing an assortment of authors and performers I’ve enjoyed given the spotlight and discussing vampires, the nature of evil, and how to combat it, throughout the film. The film was accompanied by a disc loaded with special features where the actors and filmmakers discuss the film’s themes in depth.
Fortunately, I haven’t had to deal with too many people with full-on narcissistic personality disorder and their impacts on my life have, thankfully, been minimal. Still, the film and the special features allowed me to reflect on the reasons I write about vampires. As I’ve mentioned before, American culture almost idealizes the idea of the vampire. A vampire is eternally young and usually strong. They often get what they want. They’re often rich. They have power and charisma. Vampires aren’t often concerned about the feelings of others. While my vampires see themselves in a heroic light and may not be the worst evil in my novels, they still drain others. Rudolfo can’t understand why Jane isn’t grateful he made her into a vampire. Roquelaure has been an assassin and Alexandra has been a thief and they aren’t especially repentant. I find it fascinating how these traits are idolized, especially by the rich and powerful around the world at the detriment of those less fortunate. I also like exploring the notion of whether a vampire can find redemption and I found it interesting that the solution I tend to come to in my novels is much the solution the authors and performers suggest in A Place Among the Dead.
A Place Among the Dead is available on many streaming and download platforms including Amazon Prime and iTunes. You can find Blu-Ray copies at: https://julietlandau.dreamhosters.com/product/a-place-among-the-dead-ultimate-edition-blu-ray/
My latest vampire novel, Ordeal of the Scarlet Order, is available for pre-order at: https://hadrosaur.com/OrdealScarletOrder.php
David Lee Summers' Web Journal 