| Whedon's vamps are affected by the following:
sunlight (Stoker's didn't have this problem)
fire
wooden stakes
holy water
crucifixes
decapitation
garlic (I think - they've put it around windows, and it works in the Buffy board game as a vamp-repellant)
Silver bullets, in the Whedon-verse, only affect werewolves - I think; otherwise we'd see a big bunch of shooting vampires. So, my guess is silver bullets do nothing to vamps.
As far as the comparisons, I've only read "Interview..." so I can't tell you much.
I think what they've tried to do is merge a bunch of 'myths' together to create the vampires.
One of the things Joss mentions in the extras for BTVS S1 (on the DVDs) is that all the vampires burst into dust when they die - no matter how long they've been 'undead,' more as a 'money' saver and a way to keep the plot clean, otherwise they Scoobies would have to run around pickin' up vampire bodies at the end of every show. Vamps turn to dust, all you need is a broom. (That's why the clothes go too - it's easier 'special effects'-wise, saves money.)
I think Joss made it easy on himself and just pulled the facets of vampirism that he liked or thought would work and used those, leaving some other things out that were either too complicated for the screen, or he didn't like. (This is just my speculation, there might have been more thought put into than that.) |