Top 10: Vampire Films

Vampires are very popular at the moment and with the inexplicable success of the Twilight series there has been a whole wave of undead bloodsuckers coming to the big screen. Yet the vampire has a long screen history harking back to cinema’s earliest days and arguably the most famous of all bloodsuckers, the notorious Count Dracula, has appeared in more films than any other character. With vampire films ranging from Bela Legusi’s classic Dracula to David Cronenberg body horror to the Blade series, it’s fair to say that vampires really do get everywhere.

10) Thirst

Oldboy director Park Chan Wook’s vampire romance is a very dark and surreal tale. Telling the story of a priest infected with vampirism during a blood transfusion, he soon finds himself being less then holy as he becomes unable to restrain his desires. The film is very unusual, violent and quite surreal as it turns into a strange tale of vampiric love and morality.

9) La Maschera Del Demonio (a.k.a Black Sunday or Revenge of the Vampire)

Known by many names, this classic Italian gothic horror is a truly fascinating and remarkable film. Maybe more than a little clichéd yet infinitely watchable, it is perhaps the best example of classic 1950s to 1960s gothic horror and certainly far superior to those produced by Hammer. Featuring the traditional castle and Eastern European setting, it also features a wonderful turn by Barbara Steele whose strange stare seems to dominate the film.

8) Martin

George Romero is best known for unleashing the modern zombie movie, leaving the rest of his work (like this tale of a modern vampire) forgotten. Martin is a vampire who has no teeth or special powers other than an ability to live forever and use syringes to get the better of his prey. A rather unusual set up, Romero’s altered vampire mythos is fascinating and it is hard not to feel sorry for its lonely and socially inept protagonist.

7) Cronos

Guillermo del Toro’s feature debut is a strange take on vampirism, featuring a parasite living inside a clockwork device which grants eternal life. Working as a tale of disease and addiction, it succeeds as both a very entertaining horror movie and in being a unique and dark vision of an inability to achieve self control.

6) The Vampyre

Carl Theodor Dreyer’s beautifully shot take is an impressive piece of cinema by the Danish master, weaving the vampire myth into an exploration of life and death. Admittedly it is slow and the fact it was his first sound production is evident but its strange unearthly quality and the filmmaker’s consummate skill make this a true work of art.

5) Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979 Version)

A very rare example of a successful remake that bears up to, although cannot quite equal, the original. Werner Herzog’s film succeeds as a fascinating look into concepts of life and death powered along by the director’s long time antagonist and collaborator Klaus Kinski to create a haunting film.

4) Near Dark

Before becoming the first ever female director to win at the Oscars, Kathryn Bigelow created this tale of vampires in western America. A tale of morality, loyalty and gunfights as its strange group of vampires head across America bringing destruction along their way creating a very entertaining, multi-layered film.

3) Let The Right One In

Probably the most popular foreign film of recent years, Tomas Alfrederson’s film is more a drama about vampires than a horror movie. It features some very interesting considerations about life and death (as might well be expected from a Swedish film) alongside those of childhood and vampire mythology. Indeed, it is a film that has proved so successful that it now has to suffer the indignity of a pointless US remake specially designed for people who cannot be bothered to read.

2) The Addiction

Shot in stark black and white, Abel Ferrara’s strange mix of philosophy and bloodsucking is one of the most surreal and intriguing films ever made about drug addiction. Using its brilliant cinematography alongside some strange philosophical ideas, Ferrara manages to create a bizarre and disturbing tale in which blood is the ultimate high.

1) Nosferatu : A Symphony of Terror (1922 Version)

A very unsurprising winner it may be but Murnau’s silent horror classic is one of the most iconic films ever made and still holds the power to fascinate and disturb its audience in equal measure. With its dark and startling cinematography and its grim and grotesque lead played so wonderfully by Max Schreck, this is also perhaps the film that has changed vampire lore the most by giving them their nightmarish fear of sunlight.

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