Livide is a splendid and very well crafted French horror film. I didn´t expect to see such a lovely and deliciously dark take on Vampire in French film making. For a long time now until Livide people had thought that the Vampire and Werewolf movies are dead. Especially after Ginger Snaps. With the arrival of the Wolfman after Ginger Snaps that all changed and now we have got Livide. Of course notable vampire films have been made since then but since I don´t watch a lot of vampire movies it is pretty understandable that I haven´t watched the recently produced Byzantium. I don´t mean to spoil the storyline of Livide to people who have not seen it yet. But I can tell them that my experiences of watching Livide got me convinced that it has got all the elements a good horror film has got to have to succeed.
In the case of the vampire movie the ideal vampire movie is the one which has got vampires which remind people of the importance of their immortality - not the importance of being immortal after being bitten. In any terribly done vampire film the viewer is made feel that being a vampire is somehow better than not being one. Films such as Livid expose this fallacy pretty well. Some have said you´ve gotta be dead to be one while others have said differently. The Twilight series failed because they emphasized the silly notion that the vampire life is somehow much better than any other life and therefore should be looked forward to with a sense of hope. Any good vampire film director knows that his film sold because it played on the concept of people becoming vampires against their will. Because so very often vampirism is not a choice at all. It is something people eventually encounter at any moment in their lives. And so the idea of an immortal vampire is very contrary. All vampires are mortal because they are all going to die. Livide shows this to you in ways most French movies have avoided to do and so becomes a slowly built success. This is because good vampire films are extremely politically incorrect like Livide. Because in Livide nobody is in control of their condition which makes the ending very unpredictable and the film therefore better.
Bravo!
In the case of the vampire movie the ideal vampire movie is the one which has got vampires which remind people of the importance of their immortality - not the importance of being immortal after being bitten. In any terribly done vampire film the viewer is made feel that being a vampire is somehow better than not being one. Films such as Livid expose this fallacy pretty well. Some have said you´ve gotta be dead to be one while others have said differently. The Twilight series failed because they emphasized the silly notion that the vampire life is somehow much better than any other life and therefore should be looked forward to with a sense of hope. Any good vampire film director knows that his film sold because it played on the concept of people becoming vampires against their will. Because so very often vampirism is not a choice at all. It is something people eventually encounter at any moment in their lives. And so the idea of an immortal vampire is very contrary. All vampires are mortal because they are all going to die. Livide shows this to you in ways most French movies have avoided to do and so becomes a slowly built success. This is because good vampire films are extremely politically incorrect like Livide. Because in Livide nobody is in control of their condition which makes the ending very unpredictable and the film therefore better.
Bravo!
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