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koberulz.bsky.social · @koberulz.bsky.social@bridge.neodb.net

Rated Vampyros Lesbos 4/10

It's always a little weird to make explicit the sexuality inherent in the Dracula mythos. If the vampirism is no longer standing in for sexual conquest, what is it there for? Without having to mediate that desire and expression, it's pretty easy to fall into a hole. A queer rendering of the tale sidesteps, or recasts, this issue in the mould of much queer-coded horror. I was watching the “Queersighted: Queer Fear” extra the Criterion Channel includes with Picnic at Hanging Rock, and there was much discussion in there about an attraction/repulsion dichotomy within queer media, especially in the Hays Code era in Hollywood but still present in other contexts. It's very present here, naturally, though it's still too early to reach for any AIDS metaphors. Intriguingly, in this telling of the tale being bitten by a vampire doesn't actually do any harm beyond the blood loss inherent in such an activity, and conversion to vampirism is instead a gift bestowed by a vampire upon a victim of its feeding such that said victim can continue to sate the initial vampire's thirst for blood without succumbing to the ill effects. There's a sense in which it casts acceptance of queerness as necessary to survival, as opening up a world of pleasure that comes without the consequences of the outside world.

#movie

Published 2026-06-17 00:00 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere