31 Days of Horror: We Are the Night

2010, Dennis Gansel -- download

It is a shame that vampire movies are not so much horror movies anymore. It has been a few decades since they were truly scary.  Oh there are a few examples of them as still monsters but unfortunately Anne Rice may have ruined by turning them into romantic doe eyed hipsters. And Twilight's sparkly high schoolers are at an entirely different level of disappointment. I am of the opinion that if they are not going to be ravaging fiends and more socialites then the beast should at least be present.

This movie makes no qualms about what they are, beginning with a plane (in flight) of slaughtered passengers and crew drawing to focus on a beautiful woman soaked in blood.  A trio of beautiful female vampires abandon the plane and jump into the airspace above Berlin. Each of them has a distinct look, the quirky looking pixie, the 30s (era if not age) vamp (excuse the pun) and the seasoned serious older one. Why is the older of the vampires always actually visibly older? As a vampire, couldn't she be physically 17 but actually hundreds of years older than the rest?


The trio set themselves up in a Berlin nightclub and a roguish waif Lena is introduced, drawing the attention of the leader Louise via visions of loves lost and maybe reborn?  This is the movie I would have loved twenty years ago when I was completely enthralled with the creatures of the night.  It is about immortality and freedom and savage beastly instincts. Louise has obviously been around for a long time and has a desire to love someone, again. Lena is her chosen one and is drawn into the all female coven of vampires. Nora is the pixie and still obviously having fun with the ever lasting lifestyle but annoyed by her uncontrollable urges. Charlotte, the serious one, is quiet and sensual and displays the sadness of being forever but forever apart.  There are no male vampires; the women have dispensed with them.

This is an adventure movie, an origin story and a love story. It strikes me as a first in an expected series as we have lots of setup but little resolution.  It is definitely a rock n roll vampire story in the classic vein of Lost Boys and Near Dark where the excitement and freedom is balanced between the horror and danger of the lifestyle.  I want to know more of this world and the histories of these women. Are there hidden male vampires? Can vampires really love each other? Do they actually experience reincarnation? What was Nora's story? Were humans mixed up in their world? I am struck that it feels like it could be part of a series of novels like the Nightwatch series.  Perhaps if the movie did well, by european standards, it will have another couple.