Vampire vs. Werewolf

The best known movie to put vampires versus werewolves became the “Underworld” series. The movie’s first two installments tells about the story of a werewolf –hunter vampire heroine facing the truth of both race’s history, though the main purpose seems to get the fans of each genre together. In the movie, another race is created (the hybrid) that shows the features of both vampires and werewolves. Besides in the final of the sequel there’s a “happy ending” that vampires are finally able to go out in the sun. The vampires and werevolves are at grips with each other as “noble cats” and “rabid dogs in the movie. There’s no sign of a struggle between vampires and werewolves in mythology despite of novels, games and movies. Both races have their strengths and weaknesses. The most important diffence between them is that the vampires are undead corpses though werewolves are alive but cursed beings. In a possible war, it’s obvious that werewolves cant use any kind of weapons because of their claws and primitive instincts. The modern vampires of today are rambling absolutely as an ammo store with their ninja swords, knives and fireguns shooting off ultra-violet bullets. Vampires can form organized hunting parties like in the “Underworld: Evolution” but werewolves has no such social advantages. Werewolves cant organize during a battle. However vampires being rich and noble means an easy access to every kind of economical and political powers. Werewolves can be predominant in physical strength and aggresiveness but vampires are faster and more agile. Underworld shows that vampires are almost low-hanging fruits for werewolves. Inspite of all their superior qualities, vampires’ weaknesses are too many comparing to werewolves’. The greatest weakness fr vampires is that they cant walk under daylight. They can be killed by any kind of sharp object driven througfh their hearts though werewolves are immune to these things but silver only. On the other hand, the need for drinking blood for vampires is a much worse case than werewolves basic needs. The nature-realted powers and instincts of the werewolves are better than vampires but vampires also have supernatural powers that progress in time.

The “Underworld” series consists of two movies directed by Len Wiseman until now. Both of them sends the viewers to a journey deep into the mysterious depths of the history of vampires and werewolves. In the movie vampires and werewolves are creatures turned into what they are because of a virus. The love story between vampire Selene and werewolf (later hybrid) Michael Corvin resembles a kind of Romeo& Juliet story. The story unfolds with the events surrounding the first immortal Alexander Corvinus having three sons, a human, a vampire and a werewolf. The movie tells about the search for the last human carrying the qualities of both races in his genes beside the struggle between Vampires and Lycans. This last human is noone but Selene’s lover Michael. The story gets rather interesting with the awakening of an elder vampire Viktor. It is revealed that as the first example of love between two races, Lucian (the leader of the pack) and his wife Sonja had fallen in love but Viktor killed his own daughter Sonja with the fear that her baby could be born as a hybrid. Besides it turns up to be Viktor who killed Selene’s parents. The first vampire Marcus wakes up in the end of the first movie. Marcus sets his brother William who is the first werewolf by killing his own father Alexander Corvinus. A family tragedy in other words. In the end, Selen manages to kill Marcus and his brother William with the help of Corvinus and Michael. The last installment of the film is expected to be a prequel. The last movie of the series will be telling the story of how the races were created and the love of Lucian and Sonja. Finally it’s expected to settle a permanent peace between vampires and werewolves.

“Hostel: Part II” makes referral to Elizabeth Bathory

Directed by Eli Roth and produced by Quentin Tarantino “Hostel: Part 2” hit the theaters in June 2007. In the story which continues where “Hostel” left in 2005, the victims are American girl students this time. Three art students; Whitney (Bijou Phillips), Beth (Lauren German) and Lorna (Heather Matarazzo) meet Axelle (Vera Jordanova) in Italy and with her recommendation they take their last holiday trip to Slovakia. It doesnt take much longer for the group to find themselves in the midst of trouble. The main difference of the sequel to the original is the story is not only told by the view of the victims but the clientele. More about the “Elite Hunting” club is revealed comparing the first movie. Maybe that’s why the film editors say that Eli Roth didnt leave much to tell in the next installment. Then there are others who claim that this movie is much more fun but less scary. Besides the film expects to surprise the viewers with an unexpected ending. “Hostel: Part 2” harbours a surprise for the vampire fans too. Eli Roth who joins the cast as a “cut off head” added the movie a scene called “Mrs. Bathory”. Do you think that Roth could even direct a new movie on Elizabeth Bathory in the future?

Dracula: The Truth Untold

Many years ago, when I learned that Dracula is a true living historical personality besides being a horror novel character, I thought that it was a kind of proof to show that vampires really exist. Though the vampire count Dracula character whom we owe to Bram Stoker’s imagination and the Wallachian prince Dracula are far out. Contrary to expectations, the prince who was named as “Kazikli Voyvoda” (Vlad the Impaler) by Turks was not a vampire.
Also there are two Draculas, as father and son, in history. The first of these was Vlad II Dracul, the son of Mircea cel Batran who lived in 1395 up to 1447 in Transylvania. Vlad II Dracul, lived as an ordered prince to protect the trade roads between Transylvania and Wallachia against Ottomans bound to Roman Catholic Church. The name of Dracula, which means “the son of dragon” was taken as being a member the “Order of the Dragon” which was formed by Hungarian King Sigismund in 1408. Dracula, was also used as a word meaning “devil” in the daily tongue of Wallachian peasants. Hungarian King Vladislaus who broke the peace treaty with the Ottomans in 1944, decided to drive the Turks out of Europe with an army under the command of his general John Hunyadi. Vlad II first refused to involve the crusade in the name of the kingdom but later on he was convinced by Pope to send his elder son Mircea II to the war. Then Vlad II had 3 sons, Mircea II, Vlad III and Radu who was converted to Islam. However the crusade army fell into debacle in Varna. Vlad II Dracul and his son Mircea II (who is said to have been buried alive) were known to be assasinated with the order of Hunyadi. After the death of his father and his elder brother, Vlad III accessed the throne and decided to fight against Ottoman Empire, putting an end to the dispute between him and Hunyadi.

The “son” Dracula Vlad Tepeş whom Bram Stoker was inspired, lived among 1431 and 1476.
Vlad III was born as the son of Vlad II and a Moldovian princess. Besides, he was known to have two wives and three sons. Dracula came to the fore with the exceedingly cruel punishments that he executed during his reign. Maybe the most important reason for Bram Stoker to choose Dracula as the character of his novel was this. Vlad III became one of the important leaders who blocked Ottomans expand throughout Europe by defending Wallachia. The infamous feature of his character that was killing the opposers by impaling them, had been the reason of Turks giving him such a name. Vlad III, never trusted his father who refused fighting against Turks and his brother Radu who was converted to Islam. Dracula who won the trust of Hunyadi, struggled against his most hated enemy Sultan Mehmet II, the Ottoman Emperor. But it didnt take too long for Ottomans to enter Transylvania. Vlad who was imprisoned by Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus among 1462 and 1474, accessed to throne once again after the death of his brother Radu. Though, he couldnt sit on his throne for a long time. He was said to have been killed after the Ottomans entered Wallachia in 1476. Dracula, lived in Targovişte and Bucharest during his reign. Dracula ordered the famous Poienari Castle and the monastery near Lake Snagov where he was said to have been buried (though his grave is still missing), which can be visited still today. Poienari Castle is also famous with the tragic incident that his first wife flung herself into the River Argeş flowing down below, after reading a deceitful message that was shot with an arrow to the castle. The other name of the river is known as “Raul Doamnei” (Lady’s River). There are lots of rumors on Dracula’s death. Among all these rumors, it’s told that he was killed in a war against Ottomans near Bucharest or he was assasinated by the Wallachian boyars. According to another story, Vlad was beheaded and his head was sent to İstanbul preserved in honey and displayed publicly with the order of the Sultan.

Vlad Tepeş is remembered as a famous public hero with his honesty and sharp act of justice in
Romanian culture. On the other hand, it’s told that he had been an advocate of extreme violence and cruelty as a ruler. It’s known that in his era there was no sign of thievery among the public who was overfrightened of his punishments. While the German historical records implicate that he was a sadistic monster, Russian historical records depicts him as a cruel but a just prince. Maybe he was considered as a fair man just because he executed the punishments without any discrimination between the adult or the infant, the noble or the peasant. It’s told that he nailed the hats of the Florentine and Ottoman ambassadors to their heads just because they didnt remove them in his presence. The campaigns held to seize the land of Vlad caused the lives of 40.000 Ottoman soldiers. Besides his being obsessive about the chastity of women is among many other stories to be told. Vlad’s favorite torturing method of having the victim impaled with an oily stake, which was attributed to him among so many other methods maybe because of it’s being a long and painful one. After suffering for a few days, the dead bodies of the victims were left to rot on their stakes. There is also a woodcut picture showing Vlad feasting infront of the corpses of a mass impale. It also went down to the history that once Vlad had 30.000 merchants and officials who acted against his authority impaled at a single time in Braşov.

An ancient belief in evil spirits returning from death called “strigoi” or “moroi” in Romanian culture is the basis of the vampire belief. Inspite of the resemblance to the vampire count told in Bram Stoker’s 1897 dated story, Vlad III is not known as a vampire in Romania though otherwise is expected. It’s doubted that Bram Stoker’s Hungarian friend professor Arminius Vambery had told him about this character before. On the other hand, among the Hungarian tales there is a story that Vlad had been buried alive after captivation, his body dissapeared from it’s grave when reopened and several years later there had been some mysterious murders took place in his old castle. It’s been claimed that the novel “Dracula” had been inspired much from the legends surrounding Elizabeth Bathory who liked having bath in the blood of young maidens. Maybe the reason why Bram Stoker settled his famous count in the northern Transylvania instead of Wallachia where Vlad III actually lived, was that the region still had the density of superstition and preserved it’s medieval structure at the times the novel was written.