Nuovo Zelandia sounds a bit like New Zealand, which makes sense because that’s where Perfect Creature was made (it’s also New Zealand’s third most expensive film ever after The Frighteners and The World's Fastest Indian, fact fans). Writer/director Glenn Standring set his horror story in an alternative New Zealand where humans and vampires, the Brothers, have been living in harmony for 300 years.
Vampires are back in fashion, it seems. In issue 163 of SFX we have a feature and review of David Slade’s new film 30 Days of Night, which sets out to re-invent the myth of vampires, setting a horror tale in wintry Alaska. According to Associated Press (via SCI FI Wire ) it's just "staked out" the top spot in the US cinema charts. Meanwhile Murnau’s classic Nosferatu is getting a remastered DVD release soon. And new to TV is Moonlight, an Angel-alike detective show starring a modern vampire hero.
What does Perfect Creature do to set itself apart? Standring told the Cultures & Traditions blog that he had a dream in which vampires were chasing each other in a world where humans would normally be happy to share their blood with superior beings. “I was like, 'What the hell does that mean? It looks cool, so I'll investigate it',” the blog reports of the Dunedin-based film-maker’s intentions. “All the [vampire movies] that I really liked were the ones that twisted it sideways and did something different with it like Interview with the Vampire… I classify [Perfect Creature] as a science fiction thriller with horror elements.” He imagines a parallel world (1960s Nuovo Zelandia) where vampires and humans live peacefully alongside each other, and the fangy folk are the next step in human evolution. However, one of the Brothers (the renegade Edgar) decides he’s going to do what no other vampire has ever done: hunt humans. The Brothers dispatch Edgar’s brother Silus (played by Dougray Scott) to track him down.
It will be available on DVD from today (Monday 22 October).
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