The Vampire Diaries Review

Last Thursday The CW premiered it's newest show The Vampire Diaries.

As the name suggests it involves both vampires and diaries. The Vampire Diaries takes place in a small Virginia Town known as Mystic Falls that seems be suffering from an angst epidemic. The Main Character is a girl names Elena who recently lost her parents in a car crash, is currently dealing with a little brother who is swiftly becoming a drug addict, and is about to be caught in a tragic and dangerous love triangle with vampire brothers. You heard me right vampire Brothers one brother is good the other one is evil, and both are interested in Elena because she looks exactly like a girl they used to know.

The show is based on "The Vampire Diaries" series by LJ Smith. The "Vampire Diaries" series was written at least a good decade before Twilight, but somehow the show comes off looking like a weaker version of Twilight. This is probably due to the fact that the Twilight movie is better written and acted then this show, and yes I too am shocked that I just wrote that sentence. There were many changes made in the story as "The Vampire Diaries" made the transition from book to television, I think most of them were for the better.

In the book Elena is the most popular girl at school who has an army of minions who do her bidding, she is blond, has just returned from a trip of France, seems considerably less upset about her parents, and is obsessed with getting Stefan Salvatore. The TV series made Elena a little more like Bella Swan; a smart, well liked brunette girl, who is often quite awkward. Instead of Elena strongly pursuing Stefan and Stefan resisting her advances like the brooding responsible vampire he is; they meet and get to know each other in a fairly normal way.

The acting in the series is pretty weak but passable. The only characters that really stood out in their performance were Katerina Graham who played Elena's best friend Bonnie, and Ian Somerhalder (Better known as Boone on Lost) who clearly enjoyed playing an over the top villain Damon Salvatore, the rest were very generic in their performance.

The writing in the series isn't particularly strong either, yet I have hopes that it will improve as the series moves along. The first episode had to establish a lot about the series and sometimes things got a bit mixed up. Sometimes it felt like the series ran from one character to the next establishing why each was angsty, as opposed to following the real plot line of love and murder and letting the angst develop in it's own time. Also, the way it was shown on camera it wasn't clear if Damon had the ability to turn into a raven, or if he just sends a random raven around to freak people out. I also found the Dear Diary format to be a bit annoying and overplayed, hopefully this aspect will fade away or be used more effectively as the story progresses. Hopefully the next episode will have a little more action and a little less angst.

I suppose the bottom line is "The Vampire Diaries" is an ok show. It's nothing spectacular but I have decidedly seen worse. Vampires are a very popular genre right now so you can expect this show to hang around till at least the end of the season. Lets hope the acting and writing tighten up a bit by then.

Vampire Diaries Promotional Stills done in very poor taste

Promotional stills for The Vampire Diaries came out today, and I have to say they were a little shocking.

I have to say there is a fine line between edgy and sleazy, and even within the vampire genre a fine line between sexy and creepy. I think The CW may have gone a bit over the edge on both fronts.




I think the thing that really bothers me is the vacant dead stare of the guy licking her neck.

Oh and the knowledge that the two dudes kissing her are supposed to brothers.

Yep CW you have yet again shown your true colors as a classy and tasteful establishment.

I know what your thinking what could they possibly do to top that picture. Well the answer is clear, show a shocking depiction of abuse.



Seriously does this make ANYONE want to watch this show?

There is a hand wrapped tightly around her neck, a hand from a second man is caressing her hair while she is being choked, and that hopeless and tear filled expression. It just makes me sick.

The first picture was an example of using sex to sell a show, I have to be honest I have no idea who the second picture is marketed towards. Abuse should never be a selling point for a show.

This is not cool CW, not cool at all.

Vampire Mania: A look at yet another upcoming vampire tv show "The Vampire Diaries"

As stated in previous entries Vampires are the new black. With Twilight and True Blood being such big hits every company out there is trying to get their hands on vampire related projects. Perhaps the most interesting part of the trend for me is that very few people are producing big origional vampire stories, almost all are being based on book series.

Naturally when you make a movie or a tv show based on a book series you automatically have an fan base guaranteed to watch your show. I have talked earlier about the "Anita Blake" series being produced on IFC, I have also learned that the rites to the popular young adult series "House of Night" have been purchased as well; but neither of them are in production just yet.

The newest vampire series is "The Vampire Diaries" being produced by The CW and scheduled to be shown this fall. It is based on a relatively popular series by LJ Smith. When I was younger I was quite a fan of LJ Smith (Specifically the Nightworld and Forbidden Game series) but even at the tender age of 13 I could never could get into Vampire Diaries because I thought they were utter crap.

I know that The Vampire Diaries has an actual fan base, but recently found my old copy of the book and found that it was almost unreadable. I'm being honest here when I say that Twilight and even it's Heroine Bella Swan are both far more likable then what is presented to us in The Vampire Diaries. The TV writers are going to have to change a lot in order for this series to be remotely likable.

The series centers around a giant Mary Sue by the name of Elena. She is the hottest and most popular girl in her high school, she essentially runs the place and has scored of willing minions. She returns home from a summer in Paris and decides to dump her current boyfriend when she sees a super hot guy who just started going to her high school. And OMG the super hot guy turns out to be a vampire, who was in love with a girl who looked just like her many many years ago. And OMG the super hot vampire has a super hot brother who has a grudge against his brother but also desperately wants Mary Sue ... I mean Elena.

Oh did I mention that Elena's best friend and lackey is decedent of Druids and is psychic? Also the boyfriend Elena dumped the minute she saw Mr Sexy fangs has no problems with being dumped, still worships the ground she walks on, and is totally ok in helping her with her plans to seduce Stefan.

I'm not saying the show can't work, because with some rewriting it totally can. If they modernize it a bit (the book came out in 1991 and the fashion descriptions are hilarious), make the characters a bit more likable, and take out some of the more over the top elements it could be good. If they make it a series about a pretty girl who is in a love triangle with vampire brothers it could work out nicely.

Here is the official clips for "The Vampire Diaries"







Already it looks like they are changing a few things. In the book Stefan lived during the Italian Renaissance, but in the trailer he talks about returning home. Elena seems to be less of an annoyingly perfect southern bell, she has no accent and has been changed from blond to brunette. Based on what Elena was writing in her diary I'm bettering the series will focus more on how Elena is dealing with the death of her parents, which is somehow overlooked a bit in the book. Hopefully the series will also get to the dangerous elements faster then the book which spends roughly the first quarter on explaining how Elena is determined to have Stefan.

It looks like it could be a fun series if they do it right, but I'll reserve my judgment till I actually see the first episode.