Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Too Many Blood Suckers?

Has anyone else noticed a preponderance of vampire inspired fiction versus other forms of speculative fiction? Overall, fantasy seems to capture a larger market than hard science fiction but the sheer number of vampire novels, films and television shows is alarming.

HBO and Alan Ball (creator of "Six Feet Under") produce a wildly popular show "True Blood" based on the Sookie Stackhouse series. I wasn't really taken with the original episode, guess I'll have to give it a second look. The "Twilight" series is at least as popular both as novels and films. Then there's "The Vampire Diaries" on the CW network and "The Vampire's Assistant" soon to be released in theaters.

Some alternative choices in science fiction would be ABC's "LOST," a painful addiction. "Sanctuary" on Syfy (I know, hate the name change) is a modest production shot almost entirely with green screens to great effect (no pun intended). "Fringe" which has lured me to Fox is also an excellent show with a strong cast. "FlashForward" from Robert J. Sawyer's novel of the same name shows promise and premiered at number one in its time slot.

As far as films are concerned, there were two science fiction standouts this year, "District 9" and "Moon." I have to favor the latter with Sam Rockwell giving a masterful solo performance.

Certainly, there's room for both fantasy and science fiction. I'm still waiting for a definitive werewolf show or film to compete with the vampires.

1 comment:

  1. The lesson from Twilight that seemingly spawned the latest surge in Vampire movies is don't mess with adolesence girls. They can definitely make a huge impact on the box office.

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