Kiss of the Vampire Analysis

Kiss of The Vampire Analysis

Product Context:

  • Was intended to be the sequel to the 1958 film Dracula, however the film's script makes no reference to stoker's character, perhaps to distance itself from any comparisons between the both 
  • In addition to this film, Hammer had other hits in the horror/monster movie genre, including 'The Mummy' and 'Frankenstein' 

Media Language

Cultural Context:
  • The audience in the 1960's, we would assume, would be familiar with the codes and conventions of 'monster movie' posters, eg it's composition, fonts and representations of the monster and its (usually female) victims
Codes and Conventions:
  • The serif font creates connotations linked to the vampire film genre with it's wooden styling - maybe references the coffin that the vampire lays in or the stake used to kill the vampire 
  • The painted main image is conventional of the films of the period - links to the poster of Christopher Lee's 'Dracula'
  • The fact that the image is in colour maybe suggests that it's a modern version of an old story 
  • The dark black and grey colour palette reinforces the scary conventions of the film
  • The red highlight draws attention to the attacking bats, the vampire and the blood - all visual signifiers of the genre  
  • Conventionally, the stars are listed with the more highly paid actors first and in order of fame 

Theoretical Perspectives- Media Language 

Semiotics- Roland Barthes:
  • Suspense is created through the enigma codes surrounding the connoted relationship between the male and female vampires (emphasised by the 'Kiss' in the title)
  • The semantic code could be applied to the image of the bats and their controversial association with vampirism and horror in general
  •  symbolic codes of darkness and fear are widely reinforced through signifiers (the moon and the male victim's 'submissive sacrifice' gesture code)
Genre Theory- Steve Neale:
  • Neale argues that audience pleasures are derived from generic repetition and difference
  • The film poster repeats much of the symbolism associated with Hammer and Universal horror films, but adds difference through the connoted power of the female protagonist and the implied romantic narrative 
Structuralism- Claude Levi-Strauss:
  • The idea that texts are constructed through the use of binary oppositions could be applied to the opposing representations of the vampires and their victims
  • The romantic connotations of 'Kiss' opposed in the film's title to the stereotypical 'Vampire' monster

Representation

Political and Social Contexts:
  • The 1960's was considered the start of women's sexual liberation, and more women then ever were entering the paid workforce. Feminists were campaigning for equal pay, and legislation for this was passed in 1963
  • Older stereotypes: passive victims of men 
  • modern 'male fears' of women challenging male dominance is also represented in this film poster 
Representation through Selection and Combination:
  • Both women wear pale dresses - reinforces their femininity by highlighting their curves and revealing their upper chest and arms 
  • Gesture code of the woman (left) - stereotypical passive victim of the 'monster' - his power is highlighted by the facts he's holding her by just one arm 
  • Baring her teeth and with her arm raised in a fist like position - the second woman's gesture codes are more aggressive - submissive pose of her male 'victim' represents her in a non - stereotypically dominant way
  • Vampire - uncharacteristically fearful in his gesture codes - arm thrown across in a defensive gesture - maybe protecting himself from the female vampire 

Theoretical Perspectives- Representation:

Stuart Hall's Theory of Representation:
  • the images of a castle, bats, the vampire's cape and dripping blood form a 'shared conceptual road map' 
  • The audience is actively encouraged to decode this familiar generic iconography
David Gauntlett's Theory of Identity:
  • female vampire - may act as a role model for women struggling against male oppression / the desperation to be seen as equal to men
Liesbet Van Zoonen's Feminist Theory:
  • By assuming this 'co - antagonist' role, the female vampire may be contributing to the social change by representing women in non - traditional roles 
  • However, the passive female victim does reinforce this


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