Daybreakers

[SineSwiper]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9roxtugaUo

I'll admit that I get tired of the vampire theme, but this looks to be one of the most interesting vampire scenarios I've seen in a long time.

[Kupek]

I saw the trailer for this a while back and thought it has promise. It hope it doesn't devolve into a typical action movie at the end - the trailer, while cool, makes it look like it might.

It also sounds like it could take place in the same world as I Am Legend - not the Will Smith movie, but the novella it was based on. The Will Smith movie was a nice diversion with good moments, but the novella had a bunch of ideas and themes that were completely missing from the movie.

[SineSwiper]

I Am Legend's vampires were somewhat unintelligent, or at least not on the same level of intelligence as humans. The intelligence level was critical in the whole plot of I Am Legend.

[Kupek]

Again, I said in the novella, not the Will Smith movie.

[SineSwiper]

Yeah, but that was the basic plot of the Will Smith movie. I figured it covered that in the novella.

But we digress...

[Kupek]

The Will Smith movie was a nice diversion with good moments, but the novella had a bunch of ideas and themes that were completely missing from the movie.

[SineSwiper]

Well, unless those ideas involve intelligent thinking vampires, it wouldn't pan out. That was my point earlier.

[Kupek]

Could you feel the irony when you typed that?

In the novella, there are "dead" vampires and "living" vampires. The dead vampires are typical horror movie vampires; they have imprints from their former lives, and single-mindedly pursue victims. They are the ones who got infected and died. Living vampires are people who've been infected but haven't actually died yet. They are still themselves, just as vampires.

Some of the living vampires develop a serum of some kind that prevents death. They're slowly rebuilding society, but as vampires.

The main character kills both living and dead vampires indiscriminately - he goes into their homes during the day and stakes them. Hundreds of them over the years. The main character is eventually caught by a living vampire version of special forces. From a jail cell he looks out at the huge crowd of living vampires that are calling for retribution when it dawns on him: they are scared of him. He's the unusual one now. He's the monster that has been preying on them. Hence: I am legend.

Anyway, it looks like this new society of the living vampires could be the start of the society in Daybreakers. Probably not in the continuity, but the writers may have gotten inspiration from the story.