Since we first discovered them in our microscopes, man has had a fear of germs. These tiny, microscopic organisms attack our bodies at the cellular level, causing all sorts of havoc. The end result is that we get sick, from a simple cold that quickly becomes an annoyance, to a deadly disease that ravages us to the point of death. Cures for such ailments exist, but only for a handful and often must applied at a certain time or else it could be too late. It this sort of thing that has caused man to develop into a clean-thinking society to the point of being hypochondriac, obsessive-compulsives.
Naturally, Hollywood has capitalized on this fear. Movies, in particularly horror films, have used the idea of germs and germ spreading as plot points to move a story. Probably the most notable of this is Cabin Fever, which obviously uses germs, in particular a flesh eating virus, to attack a group of campers and spread fear and paranoia among them. However, this is not a recent idea, and nor has it been so obvious. In fact, probably long before man developed the fear of germs it has now, Hollywood worked the idea into its early horror films and most famous monsters. Creatures such as vampires, werewolves and zombies all are very different in nature, but they have a couple things in common. First, they are all of supernatural origin and legend. And second, in Hollywood what makes them what they are can be transferred by biting, much like the disease known as rabies.
In other words, they made more of themselves by spreading germs. Lets take a look at these three famous monsters of horror, comparing to their original legends and Hollywood has used their own twists to help expand the fear of germs.
VAMPIRES
There is no more recognizable monster of horror than the vampire. Made famous by writers such as Bram Stoker and Anne Rice, as well as actors such as Bela Legosi, the popularity and image of the vampire is one of the biggest points of pop culture in our modern society. In the eyes of Hollywood, the vampire is often a handsome, seductive being who lures unsuspecting victims with his or her gaze, seducing them into surrender in order to drink their blood. They do this by biting them, usually on the neck with their fangs. Sometimes the victim is drained dry, but more often than not he or she ends up becoming a vampire themselves. Sometimes the bite alone is enough, but usually is also requires a drinking of the vampire's own blood to complete the process.
Surprisingly, Hollywood didn't have to change too much in terms of the vampire. While the original legends stated one could become a vampire if an animal jumped over a corpse or if the person had rebelled against the church in their life (and those are just a couple of ideas), a person could also become a vampire if one bit them. So that concept has always been there. Modern pop culture has simply re-imagined how the process worked, such how many bites and/or how much blood had to be drawn, or if the vampire's own blood had to be used. Just like they changed how a vampire might look, as compared to original legends where it was said a vampire was either gaunt and pale or bloated and ruddy-colored in appearance. More recently has vampirism been viewed on a scientific level rather than a supernatural one, treating the condition like a disease. It began with Robert Matheson's novel I Am Legend and continues to this day with films like Blade and Underworld.
WEREWOLVES
Werewolves are another monster Hollywood has reworked a bit. The original legends of the werewolf, the man who has assumed the shape of a wolf, state that one would become the wolf by putting a piece of clothing made from wolfskin, usually a belt. In other cases, there was a special salve that was rubbed on the body, probably made from wolf fat. Even drinking water from a wolf's pawprint would do the job. Then, of course, there was making a deal with the Devil. These, of course, were all voluntary means of doing so, meaning the person becoming the werewolf had ill-intentions from the start. In some cases being a werewolf was still seen as a curse, the cause being either a birth on Christmas Eve, being born from werewolf parents or being cursed by a witch.
Hollywood, of course, reworked things to go a little easier. In early films such as The Wolf Man, one became a werewolf simply by being bitten by one. This, in a way, works on the involuntary side of becoming a werewolf, making the concept a curse and the person a sympathetic being who wants to be cured. Naturally, it didn't take long for other modern writers and film makers to jump on this idea, which has now stuck. And just like vampirism, being a werewolf is now often seen as a genetic affliction on par with an infectious disease, passed on hereditarily or through a bite or other transfer of body fluids. In a way, werewolfism is almost the true supernatural version of rabies.
