For those who know me and the few who saw my very…emotive…review of Coppola’s adaptation, you would know I just finished up studying Bram Stoker’s Dracula for my literature class. The timing of Sinners release is therefore great for me at the peak of a major vampire hyperfixation. I was definitely interested in vampire lore before reading it, but honestly only in the interests of entertainment (my big three: Buffy, Twilight and What We Do in the Shadows) So I figure a long review is prudent, just incase anyone out there cares about the background literature driving this film.
The big idea of Dracula is widely debated but it’s key themes and symbols are spelt out pretty clearly, and Sinners tackles each one of them in a fresh and nuanced manner, breathing literal soul back into a genre many believed to have been run into the ground, and authentically potraying the complexities which lie behind vampirism in text.
In the foreground of Dracula is the religious turmoil which characterized the fin de siècle novel, reflecting the shifting religious landscape of Victorian England. The author, Bram Stoker was Protestant Irish, and pens a major divide between Protestant and Catholic values as the former gained much prominence in the area, and later in it’s monarchy. To generalize a whole lot for context, Catholics in this time value tradition the most, and the specific way the Bible has been interpreted within the Church, where Protestants focus more on the text itself, as it presently stands. By all means, do some research if you’re interested because I personally have little experience with religion and it’s history, it’s quite interesting and complex.
Sinners main antagonist Remmick, the ‘original’ vampire who spreads the disease, is similarly Irish and presumably a member of the church. He and the newly recruited band of vampires perform the Irish standard The Rocky Road to Dublin, telling the story of an Irish man who travels to Liverpool, England and the difficulties he faces. It’s lyrics are much less on the nose comparative to his crews previous renditions, and when paired with an Irish jig many would assume it’s played for laughs as the jig stereotypically is.
To contrast this, in fighting against the vampires, the group abides by Annie’s Pagan practices, utilizing the familiar folkloric ways of vampire elimination, silver, garlic, sunlight, staking and a brief mention of holy water. Notably, crosses are not mentioned or used, despite these other characters being established previously as Christians. One character (no spoilers) even wears a cross around her neck, but her specific death prevented this from having any significance.
Combining these portrayals, Coogler therefore perpetuates ideas that are heavily debated in the media now with the recent moves against conservatism, painting disorganized spirituality, represented by the Pagan methods of killing the vampires, in a far better light than organized religion, Remmick and his crew. In this way, he iterates the challenges of a multi-religious society, reflecting wider societal attitudes as differing religions become increasingly hostile towards each other, just as shown in Dracula.
This also echoes Stoker’s non-traditionalist views and spotlights an idea widely seen in social media and news channels but rarely in film, his thesis evident in Remmicks untimely end. Sammy, aptly nicknamed ‘The Preachers Boy’ as he is the son of a pastor, recites the Lord’s Prayer before he will be bitten by Remmick. Remmick comments on how this prayer has previously brought him comfort, catalysing Sammy’s later choice to move away from this lifestyle, and quite clearly drawing negative connotations to the kinds of traditional Christian practices employed by his father.
All of this taken into consideration, Coogler clearly explores conflicts in religion, and by extension the morality of sin, particularly lust in this case. Important to mention here that Stoker and Coogler both suggest sex is an unavoidable part of human nature, Dracula and vampirism in represents desire, and their magnetism is evident in both Stoker’s novel and Cooglers film.
With this one of the major ideas of Dracula is evoked, the new vs the old. This idea comes in Stoker’s antisemitic, xenophobic, homophobic…you get the idea, his depiction of Dracula as simultaneously the Anti-Christ and also progressivism. Therefore, imperialism is deeply embedded in the origins of the movement of vampires from folklore to fictional characterisations. Sinners Jim Crow-era South setting is consequently a textbook representation of post-colonialist society.
Breaking it down further, Dracula himself and vampires are argued to be ‘reverse colonists’, they represent the supposed Romanian invasion of England, endorsing the opposition the commonwealth had to independence of countries like Romania and hypocritically challenging colonisation. Contemporarily, the impacts of these events and attitudes are known and ever present- Coogler is obviously aware of this and therefore does not have to spend time on explaining the nuances of the issue which would most likely be lost amongst the sheer scale of the film. Sinners is therefore a fresh take that brings vampirism back to its roots, reminding the audience of the cultural context of vampirism standing for historically suppressed groups. (Side tangent: I really hope that this aspect does not get lost in discussions of the spectacle of the film because I really really want some critical readings of this angle. I am so intrigued to know more, I hope it doesn’t fall prey to the usual allegations of being a Get Out copy, gross and untrue)
Sinners of course, tactfully employs other pillars and symbols of vampirism, which anre evident in Stoker’s figurative language and the imagery of the film- the moonlight and eyes. There are a multitude of reasons why close attention is given to the eyes, personally my favourite theory surrounds the notion that eyes are the window to the soul, and vampire’s are therefore obscured. One of the many enjoyments of the film is paying close attention to the eyes as they illustrate character status and do a stellar job of further characterising the two-faced and manipulative nature of Coogler’s vampires, something that is not often represented in previous vampiric portrayals in film. This is also emphasised as the vampires are shown to have kept their previous memories, for the most part we are familiar with vampires who have been turned for many years at the beginning of their respective stories. This infuses a sense of uncertainty into the characters and reflects to the audience, leaving them to wonder whether life actually is better on the other side as their vampiric counterparts tempt them, also reiterating themes of desire and human nature.
Specifically leaving the discussion of moonlight to last, it’s imperative to understand that the origins of vampire lore lie in whole societal issues, good versus evil, new versus old and the like, vampire media now and in the future can be used to pinpoint views and values of a society and an author with ease. Both Stoker and Coogler’s use of their respective mediums elements together is what makes this possible, the specfic mention of moonlight failing or the moon being very prominent in the shot is never going to be a singular element that can be pointed to and directly attributed to give the exact intent of the text. The many elements together instead provide audiences with fuel to critically discuss social challenges, in a constructive manner. There are infinite benefits to this, one of my personal favourites it contrasts the over saturation of news in contemporary times but most importantly, it carries forward folklore, history and spiritual practices, key pillars of life.
FURTHER READING: religion unplugged: sinners unusual subversion of christianity cbc review: the significance of music vulture: irish dancing vampires retrospect journal: a colonial reading of dracula