Back in 2012, Twihards were left rattled to their core when, in the final act, young and excessively sparkly vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), along with his recently converted wife, Bella (Kristen Stewart), went to war with toothy Martin Sheen’s well-dressed vampire leader of the Volturi and lost. Well, we say ‘lost,’ when the truth is that our heroes got absolutely annihilated. Thankfully, the whole sequence was a premonition of what could be, and looking back, director Bill Condon reveals he has absolutely no regrets in tearing the viewer’s worlds apart in such horrific fashion by way of a gory gotcha.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about the creative decision that’s as iconic as it is divisive, Condon revealed that the temptation was just too high. “It’s been a wonderful opportunity to mix it up and to have something where there is such a dedicated audience waiting for it, and you’re in dialogue with that audience knowing that we were going to do this incredibly cruel thing of killing off all of their beloved characters,” Condon explained. “That, to me, was like, ‘Oh, I have to,’ because I just want to be there the first time we show it. I’ve never, ever heard a scream as loud and last as long as when we cut off Carlisle’s head.”
Since then, the director has accepted that the choice earned a little heat, but feels that it comes from those that didn’t really understand what he was aiming for. “Obviously, it became such a target for people, and people felt superior to it, and I thought, ‘God, you were really missing the point.’ Because this is a big franchise that is in on the joke,” argued the director.
“For me, personally, as a gay director, I thought I brought a bit of camp to it that was permissible,” Condon added. “Michael Sheen, that laugh. There’s a line that Molina has in Kiss of the Spider Woman where he says, ‘Call it kitsch. Call it camp. I don’t care. I love it.’ And that’s how I feel about that movie.”
Like it or not, it certainly sparked conversation and holds an integral part in the franchise’s legacy because of it. Should you like a little more bite to your vampire flicks, check out our list of the best vampire movies ever right here.
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