The 10 Best Vampire Movies

Tired of lame glittery vampires it was nice to see a good and original vampire flick last night in the form of Daybreakers. That led me to want to write this blog where I pick my 10 ten favorite vampire movies. I would imagine some of you have seen many of these films, but any you may not have seen are of my highest possible recommendation.

10. - Fred Dekker's fun and funny tribute to the Universal horror classics is a great mix of classic horror, modern FX, and humor. All the classic monsters are here, but it's the evil Dracula (the wonderful Duncan Regehr) who really shines. Regehr plays one of the best Counts since Frank Langela. I simply love the scene where he calls the little a girl a "bitch". Nice! His vampire brides, here a trio of teen babes, is in it, too.

9. - The best in the horror superhero series, Blade II, is fast paced and bloody. Del Toro makes a killer movie with villains that rank among the coolest looking the genre has ever seen. Our hero is, of course, a half breed, and gets to hook up with beautiful vampire honey Leonor Varela. One of my personal favorite Del Toro movies.

8. - Anne Rice's classic is one of my favorite books, ever. And, this is a great adaptation of it. Sumptuous and beautifully rendered with an excellent cast, it is one of the rare times a movie does a great book justice. Lestat is also one of the best vampire villains in the sub-genre. Too bad, this series inadvertently bought on that Twilight crap...

7. - One of the best anime movies ever made, this exciting and bloody toon is stunning to look at and features some kick ass violence and cool villains and an awesome fucking hero. The lush animation is blood red and visually stunning.

6. (aka Horror of Dracula)- Yes, I like the Universal Drac films, but I prefer the Hammer stuff. And, as great as Bela was there is no better Dracula than Lee. And, this is his best film. It also happens to be one of the finest horror movies ever made. A defining, important, and highly influential classic.

5. - Roddy McDowall as a Peter Cushing inspired hero and Chris Sarandon as one of the suavest and coolest vampiric villains ever make this an unforgettable good time. In fact the whole cast just shines. It's also stylish, sexy, and funny. And, the impressive, and messy, climax is one of the best in any genre. A close to my heart favorite of mine, I simply cannot recommend this one enough.

4. - Leave to Chan-Wook Park to breathe new life into the vampire sub-genre. Great acting, the hottest vamp ever (Kim Ok-Bin), a wonderful script, and more awesomeness, add up to not only the best vampire film in the last ten plus years, but last year's best movie, period.

3. - Katheryn Bigelow's horror masterpiece is beautifully shot and never utters the word vampire. The acting from the phenomenal cast is perfect, with many of the cast from James Cameron's Aliens appearing here. It's a perfect mix of action, romance, gore, and horror that it simply tramples the competition. The bar scene is fucking classic all the way.

2. - Also winning the award for sexiest vampire movie, ever, this erotic gory cult-fav has two of the yummiest bi-vamps you will ever find in the form of Anulka and Marianne Morris. There have been a ton of rug muncher vamp movies after this, but this one is still the best one.

1. - This Rodriguez and Taratino classic made an impression on me when I saw it as a teen, and it, to this very day, remains my favorite vampire movie, ever. Gory, action packed, fun, humorous, outrageous, well acted by a killer cast and truly amazing FX by KNB. I mean really this one has it all. The vampires also look very cool and, hey, if you are gonna get killed by vampires, why not have them be stripper bloodsuckers? Salma Hayek's dance is one of the sexiest you'll ever see, and will make a lasting impression in your head (both of them!). A vampire movie that is the very definition of the word "cool".

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The Top 10 Horror Films Up Until the 1960s

Every week or so this month, in honor of Halloween, I will be picking an era's ten best horror films, working my way up to the present. I will begin with the classic era of horror, up until the 60s.

10. - Roman Polanski's adaptation of Ira Levin's novel ranks alongside of The Exorcist and The Omen as one of the greatest Satanic horror films ever made. The performances are amazing and the Satanic rape scene chilling. The ending is classic and one of the best in the genre.

9. - The greatest werewolf film of the classic era this movie is, in fact, second only to The Howling in that subgenre. A great performance by Oliver Reed, a wonderful atmosphere, great make-up FX, and an exciting climax make this a must see. Surely, this Hammer film would be a major influence on the latter day werewolf films.

8. - The complete, uncut version of this classic was finally made available last year in an amazing DVD release. While, the series would go more campy and fun, the original remains a pure tale of the horrors of nuclear war. Dark and somber, this version excludes the bad dubbing, Raymond Burr, and elements that kept Godzilla: King of the Monsters from being a perfect film. The result? One of the greatest, and perhaps darkest, giant monster films, ever made.

7. - One of the finest films of the golden era of horror, James Whale's masterpiece is wonderfully acted and full of great atmosphere. In my book, this is the first truly perfect film from Universal's early horror days.

6. - The greatest of Hammer movies is also the single finest Dracula movie ever made. To me Christopher Lee is the greatest Dracula, ever, and Peter Cushing the greatest Van Helsing. Featuring a much better pace than the Universal film, this movie upped the violence and sex content in these type of films. While, tame by today's standards, one has to see it from the perspective of the era. Add the stylish atmosphere, and you have one of the single greatest and most influential horror films, ever made.

5. - The single greatest giant monster film ever made, King Kong still hold up after all these years. The pace is exciting and the FX still incredible after all these years. Faye Wray is, of course, horror's first scream queen and a perfect beauty to the beast. The amazing DVD release of a few years back gave us the uncut version, which added many scenes not seen in ages. And guess what? Despite the many sequels and remakes it inspired, some with some truly amazing FX work, none of them could ever touch this masterpiece.

4 - One of the most beautiful and sumptuous horror films ever made, this adaption of the classic Edgar Allan Poe also features one of Vincent Price's greatest performances. Throw in some Satan worshipping, beautiful scream queen Hazel Court, and the atmosphere and lush directing of Roger Corman, and this is, without a shadow of a doubt, the single greatest Poe film ever made.


3. - The grandaddy of the slasher film is, to me this is Hitchcok's best film. Extremely important to the horror genre, this film features smashing performances and is truly and smartly crafted and directed. Years later the shower scene remains one of the defining moments in the genre. The score by Bernard Herman is one of the most recognizable and greatest in cinema history. Simply put this is a must see, for horror fans and movie fans in general. I mean if you ain't seen it yet, what the fuck are you waiting for?!

2. - My absolute favorite film of the classic era succeeds because aside from the great atmosphere the film had, it is also very funny and very touching. There is a lot of heart in the film, and in, the end, a very tragic horror tale. The cast also give career define performances. The fact that Whales was able to top his masterful original only further drives the point home, making it the rarest of sequels. A movie to be held up, honored, and beloved by all generations of fright film lovers.

1. - George Romero's classic remains, to me, his best film. Not only is this film THE movie that gave birth to the modern concept of zombies, but it also is the movie that pretty much began the modern era of horror. While, HG Lewis had already done gore before Romero, NOTLD bought it to the masses. It also handled it with seriousness and was totally chilling. Add in the powerhouse acting, the excellent character interaction (thanks to a perfect script), political allusions to class and race, and the dark ending, and you get a film that, despite my countless viewings of it, is still light years of its wanna-bes. While, countless of zombie films (many even gorier than this one) have come and go NOLTD remains the pinnacle of the subgenre.

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