Ten Best Vampire Films

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ORIGINAL HEADING:

Here’s another blog I made.  Another one?  Really?  Oh well, I like lists so this blog contains lists only.  Unlike my Best/Worst of the Year lists posted on my other blog (one of many), Best and Worst Films Archive, this one will contain top ten lists for specific genres.  Whenever people ask me what my favorite movie is, I never have a definitive answer so these entries will give you a general idea of what some of my favorite films are.  Agree or disagree, I don’t give a ‘eff’ (that’s your right)…

*Read any previous lists in the archive section at the bottom or by clicking on arrow at top left*

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Vampires.  How they’ve changed over the years.  They’ve always kind of been romantic as well as deadly.  They’re the only fictitious monsters that can generally talk in human or creature form.  Normally these lists are hard to limit to ten films but, for some reason, this one was hard to fill up.  As many vampire films that are out there, only three (all from the Eighties) come to mind automatically for being the best---The Lost Boys, Near Dark, and Fright Night.  There’s been a whole ton of crappy bloodsucker flicks over the years, like any subgenre, but great ones are few and far between.  I am a big fan of From Dusk Till Dawn and actually liked the sequel, From Dusk Till Dawn 2:  Texas Blood Money, enough to include it; the third one on the other hand, no dice since I don’t remember it being worthy, and I started to watch the Netflix TV series but didn’t keep up with it (maybe someday).  I love The Night Flier (one of Stephen King’s best adaptations and vastly underrated) as well as the Swedish entry, Let the Right One In (the American remake, Let Me In, wasn’t worthy at all and made too soon IMO), and Vamp is just another fun Eighties romp.  I included two television episodes, one from Tales from the Crypt and the other from the spinoff cartoon, Tales from the Cryptkeeper, because they were part of my youth (oh, nostalgia).  There was another Cryptkeeper episode I could’ve included, called “Fare Tonight,” but it just doesn’t stick out in my memory as much as “The Sleeping Beauty” does.  The Tales from the Cryptkeeper movie, Bordello of Blood, was decent, but I prefer the other film, Demon Knight, much more.  There are many titles I probably could’ve included in place of the TV episodes if I forced myself to include only films.  Sleepwalkers is actually considered a vampire movie and I definitely would’ve included it, but I never thought of it as such despite containing many of the motifs, and I regard the monsters more as werecats.  ‘Salem’s Lot (its sequel, A Return to Salem’s Lot, is okay too), Stake Land (not its sequel, not at all), Daybreakers, Interview with the Vampire, and 30 Days of Night were pretty good but don’t resonate with me enough to be considered favorites.  I liked the book, ‘Salem’s Lot, better than the movie; same with 30 Days of Night---I liked the comics, both that and Dark Days, written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Ben Templesmith much better, way before the okay film was made (I liked the movie more than I hated it, put it that way).  I did like the Dark Shadows movie, directed by Tim Burton, but I confess to never really watching the show it was based on.  There’s a pretty good independent movie called Deadwood Park---it’s lengthy and takes its good old time but worth the watch.  The Transfiguration was a good movie, but it’s debatable as to whether it can be considered an actual vampire movie or not.  Of course the classics like Dracula and Nosferatu are to be respected for their historical importance, but there’s no denying how dated they are and I haven’t watched them enough nor early enough in my life to consider them entries I prefer to watch.  I do, at times, enjoy lighter fare like Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie that spawned the series; another confession is that I’ve only ever seen maybe two episodes of the show), Fred 2:  Night of the Living Fred, Vamps, and Hotel Transylvania.  Now, about those Twilight films.  Maligned by vampire fans (or horror fans in general), loved by teenagers and romantics enough to be labeled Twihards.  How do I feel about the films?  I’ll admit, I think the first one is a decent teen movie that happens to contain sparkling vampires.  However, Ryan Mecum stated, “Those were not vampires.  If sunlight makes you sparkle, you’re a unicorn (Vampire Haiku, page 117).”  Okay, so it was a decent teen movie that happens to contain unicorns.  I liked the Paramore song on the soundtrack too, plus the Pacific Northwest location.  The films gradually got worse as they went along, yes I did see all of them and I actually read all the books too when they came out (borrowed from the library) only because of the buzz.  So to answer the question as to whether I’m a fan of Twilight or not---I’d say not really but I don’t hate them and I enjoyed them more than the Harry Potter movies.  There are probably thousands of vampire movies I haven’t even seen, much like any other horror subgenre, such as the Hammer movies from the Sixties and Seventies---I can’t honestly say I’ve ever seen any of them, but the ones below are ten of my favorites I have seen in my lifetime…

Ten Favorite Vampire Movies

1.            “Comes the Dawn” (Tales from the Crypt, Season Six)

2.            Fright Night (1985)*

3.            From Dusk Till Dawn *

4.            From Dusk Till Dawn 2:  Texas Blood Money

5.            Let the Right One In*

6.            The Lost Boys (1987)*

7.            Near Dark*

8.            The Night Flier*

9.            “The Sleeping Beauty” (Tales from the Cryptkeeper, Season One)

10.          Vamp

*indicates a standout title

---Sean O.