Constructing the Vampire Myth in Cinema: A Short Analysis of Nosferatu (1922), Dracula (1931) and Dracula (1958)

Abstract

The present work aims to present a brief analysis of the films Noseferatu (1922), Dracula (1931) and Dracula (1958). Our hypothesis is that these productions are the core of cinematic vampirical mythology in our culture. The idea of what would be a vampire can be traced through ancient myths along different cultures and was highlighted through urban legends in the middle ages. But it was only after Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) that this character started to take o more delimited form. If Stoker’s novel can be a species of basis for the vampire myth, cinema would take this entity to a hole new level. In an audio-visual medium, Dracula stood as the most famous vampire and these three films would be the most important to start to form the figure of mediatic (and most of all, cinematic) vampire.