'ampire Diaries' stakes its claim in a populated genre

Though they've never been unpopular, the undead have seldom been as pop culture beloved as they are today or as prevalent as bloodlust sex symbols.

Ampire Diaries beauti

Sure they've used their wide eyed stare to entrance a few about to be bitten maidens in their time, but they've never had it quite this easy, with women so willingly throwing their necks at their feet.

Ampire Diaries nice

That hunka hunk of biting love version of vampire lore gets a new boost tonight from CW's Vampire Diaries,a TV amalgam of Twilight's teen angst broodiness, True Blood's humor spiced chills, and the good boy bad boy dynamic that is a teen soap's lifeblood. Which means CW may have found a pitch perfect auteur in Vampire co creator Kevin Williamson, who practically invented the teen soap with Dawson's Creekand reinvented horror films as grisly comedies with Scream.

Ampire Diaries hot

The books Vampire is based on predate both True Blood and Twilight, but you can't watch tonight's premiere without feeling tonal reverb from both, with every CW soap from Dawson's to One Tree Hill thrown in for good measure. The pieces are amusingly rearranged, but even the teen girls for whom the show is designed will recognize them as old, maybe even as old as the show's dueling blood brothers.

Ampire Diaries smile

The nice bite boy is Stefan a centuries-old teenager who has returned to a small Virginia town out of love for Elena . The more interesting bad boy is Stefan's older brother Damon, played with a great deal of murderous charm by Lost's Ian Somerhalder, who is clearly enjoying playing the difficult sibling for a change.

Ampire Diaries photo

Competent as Vampire may be, there's also something rehashed and filtered about it, to the point where it sometimes feels like the kiddie-ride version of True Blood,and perhaps appropriately so. Some adults will no doubt tag along, but this show is aimed squarely at young girls, and they're likely to bite.