Vampires

This Presidents Day, almost 150 years after his assassination, Abraham Lincoln is poised to become the breakout star of 2012. In June, he will fight the undead in a movie adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith’s bestselling novel, “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.” Later this year, Steven Spielberg will offer a more historically accurate – if disappointingly vampire-free – biography of Lincoln starring Daniel Day-Lewis. And (ahem) in my own upcoming novel, “Red, White, and Blood,” Lincoln gives advice from beyond the grave in order to save the current president’s life. But these are, honestly, just the latest additions on Lincoln’s post-mortal resume. Long before Paul Bunyan swung his axe or Superman battled Lex Luthor, Lincoln was America’s first superhuman. He’s partied with Keanu Reeves in “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and fought alongside Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise. He […]

Daniel Gillies plays formidable Elijah foe-turned-ally in Season 3 of  “The Vampire Diaries.” After being resurrected for the fourth time in the series, Gillies shares his insights on the show’s star, Nina Dobrev, who plays small-town doppelganger Elena Gilbert, the future of the Original vampire clan and the classical nature of his character. But Elijah isn’t Gillies’ main focus — upcoming projects include the NBC medical drama “Saving Hope,” with “Smallville’s” Erica Durance and Michael Shanks, and a new film, “Broken Kingdom,” with Rachel Leigh Cook that he wrote and directed. This is Part 2 of an interview with Nardine Saad; you can read Part 1 here. NS: You say Elijah has been around for 1,000 years, yet he’s still getting duped by “ludicrous nothings.” Do you consider Elena  a “nothing?” DG: I’m certainly not calling Elena nothing. Yes, that instance […]

“The Vampire Diaries” has killed off quite a few of both its beloved and despicable characters in its three seasons on The CW, but one character whom executive producers Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson keep bringing back is the Original vampire Elijah, played by Daniel Gillies. Elijah has returned once again to Mystic Falls at the hands of vampires Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) and his brother Stefan (Paul Wesley) to defeat the indestructible supernatural Klaus (Joseph Morgan), Elijah’s Original vampire brother who also happens to be a werewolf hybrid. Now their fearsome Original vampire siblings, who were created centuries ago by their mother — the Original witch — to preserve their lives from a plague, are wreaking even more havoc in the spooky town. Elijah might seem to be on the side of mortal Elena Gilbert, played by the show’s […]

It’s difficult to reconcile Kate Beckinsale, the slender, silky-voiced actress leaning gracefully on a coral chaise at the Montage Hotel, with Selene, the cold-faced vampire woman who blasts hot metal into the bodies of her werewolf enemies in “Underworld: Awakening.” In the film, which hit theaters Friday, Selene punches through somebody’s torso. In the Beverly Hills hotel on a recent January evening, Beckinsale absently tucks a soft curl behind her ear as she talks about diving into the vampires-versus-werewolves franchise for the third time. She emanates femininity. That’s how directors saw her a decade ago, when the “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Pearl Harbor” actress was turned down for parts because she appeared too innocent and soft. “I’d had some feedback from casting directors kind of saying, ‘We don’t know if we really want to see her for this part, […]

Harold Perrineau’s showbiz odyssey has taken him from the stage (he was a dancer in the illustrious Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and appeared on prominent productions of “Dreamgirls” and ”Fame”) to the big screen (he was Link in the “Matrix” trilogy and Mercutio in Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet”) to landmark television programs (Michael Dawson on ”Lost” and Augustus Hill on “Oz”). Now Perrineau is the voice of the vampire-hunting title character in “Blade,” G4′s newest Marvel Anime project. Hero Complex writer Jevon Phillips caught up with the Brooklyn native. JP: What was your experience with Blade before taking the role? HP: I had only seen the movies. I was a big fan of the movies, especially the first two. I really loved watching Wesley Snipes being this bad-ass vampire slayer and vampire. That was all I knew him from. I didn’t know the […]

That big-screen revamp of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” has been dealt a setback — it looks as though the movie’s first-time screenwriter bit off more than she could chew. Two sources close to the project say that the script submitted this past summer by writer Whit Anderson fell far short of expectations and, in the end, was rejected completely. That’s news that will spark celebration from some longtime “Buffy” fans who were less than thrilled by the prospects of a “Buffy” revival that didn’t involve Joss Whedon. Whedon, now directing “The Avengers” for Marvel,  himself took a few shots at the reboot project — although he did so with a sly wink. “This is a sad, sad reflection on our times,” Whedon said last November when that deal was announced, “when people must feed off the carcasses of beloved stories from their youths […]

“The Vampire Diaries” fans have a new reason to sink their teeth into Season 3 reruns during the CW show’s mid-season hiatus. On Thursday, the network launches CWingo, an interactive game for fans to play along as they track the progress of the show. It’s like bingo with a social media twist, albeit without the smoky gaming hall or grandma and grandpa.  The game requires viewers to log into the CW community via Facebook on their smartphones, tablets or computers to get the game board and challenge friends to see who the bigger “TVD” fan is.  Each tile has a scene from the episode, and once it appears on TV, users click on it to move forward. See Damon take a bite out of someone’s neck? Check! See Stefan and Elena walk into Mystic Grill? Check! Or see Tyler Lockwood […]

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner are set to appear at “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1″ Official Fan Convention next month to promote the next installment of the vampire romance movies based on Stephenie Meyer’s young adult book series. The three actors — who play the brooding Edward Cullen, the conflicted Bella Swan and the earnest Jacob Black, respectively – will join their fellow cast members for two days of panels at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Century City. On Nov. 4, it’s Julia Jones (Leah Clearwater) and BooBoo Stewart (Seth Clearwater), Tinsel Korey (Emily) and franchise newcomer Mia Maestro (Carmen) who will appear onstage, sign autographs and answer questions at the convention. On Nov. 5, the elite trio of Pattinson, Stewart and Lautner will participate in a “Welcome to The Twilight Saga’” panel with costars Maestro and […]

John Landis is best known for his hit comedies — films such as 1978’s “Animal House,” 1980’s “The Blues Brothers,” 1983’s “Trading Places” and 1988’s “Coming to America” — but he’s also walked on the dark side. The 61-year-old directed the 1981 horror classic “An American Werewolf in London,” which featured Rick Baker’s Oscar-winning makeup design. Landis and Baker reunited two years later for Michael Jackson’s landmark 1983 music video “Thriller,” and in 1992, Landis directed the vampire movie “Innocent Blood.” Now he’s exploring his love of the genre in the new book “Monsters in the Movies: 100 Years of Cinematic Nightmares.” The 320-page book, which features glorious photographs from the famed John Kobal Collection, is divided into types of monsters: vampires, werewolves, mad scientists, zombies, ghosts and mummies. Landis also engages in conversation with his longtime friends who have […]

Scott Snyder, a rising star in comics, worked with horror writer Stephen King on “American Vampire,” Snyder’s ongoing Vertigo series. Hero Complex contributor Travis Walecka caught up with Snyder to chat about the series, about horror in general and about King, who today announced “Dr. Sleep,” a sequel to “The Shining,” in a three-part interview. In Part One of the interview, Snyder talked about “Swamp Thing,” one of two revered titles under DC’s relaunch. His second title, “Batman,” is the topic of Part Two of the interview. This is Part Three, the final installment. TW: Horror plays a big role in your books. Where did you get this wild imagination? SS: I don’t know, man. I feel like I watched too many horror movies as a kid. Growing up in Manhattan on East 23rd Street, there was a video store […]