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Top 5 Vampire Movies

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09 Mar 2016 14:04 #224058 by Gregarius
The discussion in the Movie thread was headed this way, so I thought I'd go ahead an give it a thread.

Here's mine:
1) Near Dark
2) Dracula (1931)
3) What We Do in the Shadows
4) Nosferatu
5) ???

Honorable Mentions:
The Lost Boys - I used to absolutely love this movie, but I haven't seen it in ages. Not sure how it holds up. Not ashamed that I still like the soundtrack, though.
The Hunger - Tried something new, although not entirely successful. Another I need to revisit.
Only Lovers Left Alive - So good.
Lifeforce - So bad, it's good. Naked space vampires? Count me in.

I am ashamed to say I have never seen any of the Hammer Christopher Lee Dracula movies.

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09 Mar 2016 14:23 - 09 Mar 2016 14:31 #224061 by MacDirk Diggler
A couple you left out that might be considered.

Roman Polanskis The Fearless Vampire Killers. It's a parody.

Let the Right One In. Original Swedish version is a great great movie though probably not for everyone

Oh, and weren't there some Twilight movies that had something to do with Vampires????? Ha Ha
Last edit: 09 Mar 2016 14:31 by MacDirk Diggler.
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09 Mar 2016 14:23 #224062 by charlest
Replied by charlest on topic Top 5 Vampire Movies
1) Nosferatu
2) Let The Right One In
3) What We Do In The Shadows
4) Shadow of the Vampire
5) The Omega Man

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09 Mar 2016 14:33 #224063 by Gregarius
Replied by Gregarius on topic Top 5 Vampire Movies

Alastair MacDirk wrote: A couple you left out that might be considered.

Let the Right One In. Original Swedish version is a great great movie though probably not for everyone.

Gaaah! That's the one I was trying to remember! I had it in mind when I started to write, but forgot it when I was trying to order them. It would definitely be in my top 5.

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09 Mar 2016 14:36 #224065 by Shellhead
Replied by Shellhead on topic Top 5 Vampire Movies
1. Let the Right One In - Swedish version - most vampire movies are focused on monsters, but this one was great for focusing on people, vampire or otherwise.
2. 30 Days of Night - I saw this movie during a Minnesota winter, in an old theater that went out of business the following week. It was just cold enough in there to see my breath, and made for an ideal viewing experience.
3. Underworld - Romeo & Juliet with vampires, werewolves, and lots of bullets. I can't remember another movie that made vampires seem so cool. It stole quite a few ideas from White Wolf's World of Darkness, enough that they won a big settlement against Sony Pictures.
4. Shadow of the Vampire - a meta-movie about the classic vampire movie Nosferatu. Creepy and novel, with solid acting.
5. The Lost Boys - these vampires also seemed very cool, and the soundtrack is great.

I haven't seen What We Do in the Shadows yet, but I expect that I will like it. Near Dark was a bit of a disappointment, with a good cast but not much of a story.

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09 Mar 2016 14:57 - 09 Mar 2016 14:58 #224067 by Mr. White
Replied by Mr. White on topic Top 5 Vampire Movies
Not sure I have a favorite movie about vampires, but here are some movies I like that have vampires in them:

The Monster Squad
Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Blade
Vampire$ (sort of a guilty pleasure - I actually liked the movie better than the book)
The Lost Boys
Near Dark
Lifeforce
30 Days of Night

I did enjoy Let The Right One In, but I've never watched it a second time nor feel the need to, so didn't include it on this list. I'm going to check out this What We Do in the Shadows soon.
Last edit: 09 Mar 2016 14:58 by Mr. White.

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09 Mar 2016 15:03 #224068 by Sagrilarus
Replied by Sagrilarus on topic Top 5 Vampire Movies
None of you have a sense of humor? Fright Night (1985) may be the best popcorn-chomping horror movie ever made.
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09 Mar 2016 15:23 #224070 by jeb
Replied by jeb on topic Top 5 Vampire Movies
  1. NEAR DARK
  2. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
  3. NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE (Herzog/Kinski)
  4. FRIGHT NIGHT (first one)
  5. THE HUNGER

I also really like MARTIN, but haven't seen it in 25 years or so. Maybe it sucks? I thought BLADE 2 was fun as hell. Anyone see BYZANTIUM? DAYBREAKERS is cool for the idea it explores, but the movie is shit.

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09 Mar 2016 15:25 #224071 by Shellhead
Replied by Shellhead on topic Top 5 Vampire Movies

Sagrilarus wrote: None of you have a sense of humor? Fright Night (1985) may be the best popcorn-chomping horror movie ever made.


I almost put Fright NIght on my list, but I haven't felt the urge to watch it since the '80s. Might be worth a re-watch just knowing that the female lead was the neighbor on Married With Children who later came out as a lesbian.

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09 Mar 2016 15:34 - 09 Mar 2016 15:36 #224073 by Josh Look
Replied by Josh Look on topic Top 5 Vampire Movies
1. Near Dark
2. The Lost Boys
3. Monster Squad (does this count?)
4. Fright Night (I love this movie. Need to watch it again soon. As a vampire flick, it probably beats out Monster Squad, possibly Lost Boys)
5. Dracula (1958, aka Horror of Dracula)

What can I say, I like FUN vampire movies.

So why no Lugosi Dracula? I am a huge, I mean HUGE Universal Monsters fan, but the '31 Dracula has always felt uneven to me. It's influence and place in not just horror cinema but cinema in general cannot be measured, but I never watch it with the same excitement I watch the Frankenstein movies. I get really into the atmosphere early on in the film, but once Drac reaches London that's gone. The Spanish version is better, but it's a bit too long.

Anyone seen Byzantium? I liked that a whole lot.
Last edit: 09 Mar 2016 15:36 by Josh Look.
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09 Mar 2016 16:12 #224074 by ChristopherMD
Replied by ChristopherMD on topic Top 5 Vampire Movies
Twilight
Twilight: New Moon
Twilight: Eclipse
Twilight: Breaking Dawn part 1
Twilight: Breaking Dawn part 2

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09 Mar 2016 16:13 #224075 by Michael Barnes
Replied by Michael Barnes on topic Top 5 Vampire Movies
Too many to list.

Nosferatu (1922) is probably the best vampire movie ever made. It's just magical. It's like watching something made in another world. The imagery, the tone, the acting...everything about it something really, really special. But you know, Herzog's '79 remake with Klaus Kinski is actually quite awesome as well- a lovely, pale film with a gauzy, sepulchral atmosphere. And lots of rats. Dreyer's Vampyr is also like this- a magical, ethereal vampire film with unforgettable imagery. It's also a masterpiece, although not as widely seen as Murnau's film.

Dracula '31 is iconic, no doubt. I love everything about it- Tod Browning, the weird part with the bug coffin, Bela Lugosi, Edward Van Sloan, "Swan Lake"...except I think the movie is not very good. It's very stage-y, which makes the whole affair feel like a dreary Victorian parlor room mystery. Browning would go on to do better vampire films, like Mark of the Vampire in 1935. The Spanish Dracula, which was shot on the same sets and at the same time but with a different script and different Spanish-speaking actors, is actually a better film, I think. And Universal's Dracula's Daughter from '36 was a more interesting film on a psychological level- especially since it is almost explicitly about lesbianism. It was also the first to do that "Alucard" thing.

Through the 40s you mostly get the monster rally type pictures, which are fun but not great. Very little vampire stuff. It was an era where horror- which had been a really predominant and seriously considered genre- was suddenly regarded as kiddie fare as dramatic film really started to develop into maturity. The better horror films of this era were things like the Val Lewton/Jacques Tourneur material, but they never touched on vampirism. The horror became more muted and psychological in nature- largely in part because of WWII and changing values.

In the 50s, you pretty much talk about Hammer and that's it. There are others of course- like a really good Mexican picture called inventively The Vampire and some spotty US productions like Return of Dracula and (again) The Vampire. But when Dracula (or Horror of Dracula) hit in '58, that was sort of the real rebirth of the vampire film. It was coming in off the success of Hammer's Frankenstein, which was the first color horror film, and here was the first color Dracula film- and it was the first time the character had really been on screen in a serious, earnest way since the 30s. Christopher Lee's performance was commanding, feral, masculine and blunt. But also very physical- he didn't stand around, "bleh, bleh"...he practically has a fistfight with Van Helsing. Cushing's take on that character is best-ever, and even though the film takes HUGE liberties with Stoker, it turns out to be one of the better and most exciting vampire films made. The music is great, the sets are awesome (watch Hammer and you'll see pieces of it over and over again) and Terence Fisher's very formal, very English approach to the story really sells its more venal, lascivious elements.

So that lead to a bunch of Dracula films from Hammer, the most significant being Brides of Dracula which does not star Lee but it has Cushing returning as Van Helsing. And it is the best Van Helsing movie ever made. It's a great, great example of English horror with plenty of great scenes. Most of the Hammer Dracula films are worth seeing even when they aren't so good. Taste the Blood of Dracula is probably my favorite of the lot. Dracula Prince of Darkness is good. Dracula Has Risen From the Grave and Scars of Dracula are not great and veer toward the trashy. Dracula '72 is a hoot- the ad flats said something like "Drac's back and he has an eye for London's hot pants!" Satanic Rites of Dracula has an amazing title and Cushing returns as a modern Van Helsing...but it's TERRIBLE.

There is also the lesser seen Kiss of the Vampire from 1963 that has some really awesome stuff in it, including a scene I won't spoil that Polanski copied for Fearless Vampire Killers. Hammer also did several non-Dracula vampire films throughout the 60s and 70s including the Karnstein trilogy (Vampire Lovers, Twins of Evil and Lust for a Vampire). The first one is great with Ingrid Pitt playing against Cushing. Twins of Evil is one of my top favorite vampire films of all time, it is especially worth watching Cushing in this one because his wife had just passed away and you can see this distant, wounded element in his performance. Lust for a Vampire is really bad- it was Hammer at their worst, really. Lots of soft-focus, softcore lesbian stuff. Not that that is bad, but it's just sort of sleazy feeling and cheap throughout.

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter is latter Hammer vampire and it's one of the best. It was a film WAY ahead of its time, so it is perfunctory and never lives up to its potential. Kronos is hunting for a vampire in this one that devours youth, not blood. It was written by Brian Clemens, who did a bunch of the Avengers' best episodes. If it had been made in the 1980s or 1990s, it would have been a major cult hit.

Switching over to Amicus, most of their vampire output was in their anthologies. Some are good, some are not. It's really hit or miss with those.

France was turning out the Jean Rollin films at this time...more softcore lesbian vampire stuff, but with an artsy fartsy surrealist angle. Some of these films are definitely worth watching, with Fascination being the one I'd call the best. Also in Europe, Jess Franco did Count Dracula, which featured Christopher Lee returning to the role in a film that is really quite underrated. Franco also did the hilariously awful Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein. I'd call it a must see...but you've really got to have an eye for Euro-sleaze in the 1970s for it.

Much more "legit"- and a top 10 favorite- is Harry Kumel's Daughters of Darkness from 1971. It's a very erotically charged, very adult vampire film with Delphine Seyrig as Countess Bathory. It's decadent and classy at the same time.

In the US during the 1970s, you get the Jack Palance TV Dracula, which is actually pretty good, and the John Badham-directed disco Dracula with Frank Langella. It's actually not as bad as it sounds, it has an opulent, decadent tone that works.

Other 70s stuff- George Romero's Martin, the vampire movie everybody forgets about. It's oddly upsetting to me for some reason, that bit on the train makes me squeamish. There's also Salem's Lot on TV, which I still really love even though it hasn't aged well at all. James Mason totally freaked me out when I was a kid. The Count Yorga movies are dumb but kind of fun. Blacula and Scream, Blacula, Scream are of course must-sees.

The Omega Man is, in fact, a vampire film. Vincent Price's earlier The Last Man on Earth sort of made that much more explicit.

The 80s are dominated by Near Dark,The Hunger and The Lost Boys, but Fright Night is pretty great too. 'Nuff said on all of those, really. Lifeforce (Tobe Hooper, can you believe it?) is kind of about space boobs more than vampires but it's a guilty pleasure.

In the 90s, I think the Coppola Dracula is such an amazing trainwreck of a movie. Some of it I think is "best ever" in terms of the vampire film, but then so much of it is either miscued or just plain bad. I love that it sticks pretty close to the book, I love that it actually expands on the book, and I love that it is a horror epic. But there's so much clunk in it, so many fumbles. But there again, I love how completely over-the-top baroque it is, how it runs the whole romantic Gothicism angle to the hilt with total commitment. And I like that it has lots of funny bits, like Quincey Morris (one of the most underplayed characters in all Dracula stories) showing off his giant knife.

Interview with the Vampire is actually pretty good, IMHO. Cruise and Pitt are good in their roles. Gosh, remember how much of a Big Deal Anne Rice used to be?

Carpenter's Vampires is pretty bad...I was actually at the US premiere of it. Man, I was disappointed, having read the book.

Underworld was terrible. I hate pretty much any vampire thing where White Wolf was a major influence. Almost as bad as Twilight.

And then there's Blade. God, I loved Blade. It was actually the first DVD I ever bought. Blade II was kind of better in some ways, kind of worse in others. Blade III was fucking horrible any time you looked away from Jessica Biel's midriff.

2000s, Let the Right One In, What We Do in the Shadows, Shadow of the Vampire...already discussed. Only Lovers Left Alive is awesome, I absolutely love that film. Lots of crap, lots of junky low-rent stuff. Queen of the Damned, never saw. Never saw any of the Twilight/Vampire Academy stuff. No interest in that. 30 Days of Night, eh.

What else..Mr. Vampire and Mr. Vampire II were great. Vampire Hunter D (either version). Vampire Princess Miyu. Blood: The Last Vampire, I've never actually seen that. The Dark Shadows movie. I'm missing hundreds. Thousands.

TL;DR version:

1) Nosferatu '22
2) Nosferatu '79
3) Dracula '56
4) Brides of Dracula
5) Vampyr
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09 Mar 2016 16:36 #224077 by Josh Look
Replied by Josh Look on topic Top 5 Vampire Movies
Alright, Interview with the Vampire IS pretty great. It's been 10 years or so since I last watched it, but I've always loved it. Byzantium, the one Jeb and I have mentioned, is by the same director. Very interesting approach to the genre, I recommend giving it a look if you haven't seen it. It was on Netflix, might still be.

I watched Bram Stoker's Dracula at a much younger age than I should have and I still have a soft spot for it. It's a visual feast for sure and then it's completely batshit crazy in several areas. I love how detached from any sympathetic emotion Van Helsing is. The way he says they're going to drive a stake through Lucy's heart and cut of her head like it's no big deal is awesome.

Underworld is pretty terrible. I like to look at Kate Beckinsale as much as the next guy, but not enough to ensure that movie.

I just saw Blade for the first time last October. The local retro game store was having a sale on DVDs, something they can't move to save their lives, and begged me to take a look, saying if a few walked out the door without being paid for they wouldn't mind. I got some excellent stuff, including Blade 1 & 2. I wish I had seen it when it came out, it would have ruled my universe back then.

"Some motherfuckers are always trying to ice skate uphill." That is one hell of a one-liner, folks.

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09 Mar 2016 16:38 - 09 Mar 2016 16:45 #224078 by Gregarius
Replied by Gregarius on topic Top 5 Vampire Movies

Michael Barnes wrote: Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter is latter Hammer vampire and it's one of the best. It was a film WAY ahead of its time, so it is perfunctory and never lives up to its potential. Kronos is hunting for a vampire in this one that devours youth, not blood. It was written by Brian Clemens, who did a bunch of the Avengers' best episodes. If it had been made in the 1980s or 1990s, it would have been a major cult hit.

Is Del Toro's Kronos Cronos a remake of this?
Last edit: 09 Mar 2016 16:45 by Gregarius. Reason: corrected title
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09 Mar 2016 17:21 #224079 by Michael Barnes
Replied by Michael Barnes on topic Top 5 Vampire Movies
NO, but that is a good one I left out. I still think that is probably Del Toro's best film. I saw it in the theater when it came out.

I saw Blade in the theater too...opening night. I went in expecting it to be terrible. I did not expect it to be a great, modern Blaxploitation picture. With vampires.

I haven't seen Byzantium, but I like Neil Jordan...one of his best (other than the little-seen-these-days The Butcher Boy) is Company of Wolves...which is one of the best werewolf movies ever made.

I remember Anne Rice taking out full page ads back in the day defending Tom Cruise as Lestat...there was such an uproar...but I heard the casting and thought "yep, dead on." I never saw Lestat as this gothic sort of character...the second book makes it pretty plain that he's a fuckin' rock star/demagogue. Not some poetic frilly-pants anguishing all the time.

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