With Teeth (Top Five Vampire Movies)

Posted on Author Ryan McNeil

This blog is, and henceforth shall remain, a TWILIGHT-free zone. I have nothing against the fans of the books and/or movies, but they are truly not for me. The blogosphere is full of places where any Twi-Hards who read my space (and there are a few of ya) can keep up with The Cullens. This won’t be one of them.

However, one thing that the phenomenon has reminded me of, is my fascination with vampires. I used to love reading about ’em and watching ’em growing up. Not in the way that I would dress up in black and hang out in cemeteries…just in a way that I appreciated them as monsterous immortals, and consumed whatever books and movies I could.

So I’m handing the mic over to my sixteen year-old-self for once, and perhaps trying to expand the horizons of one or two members of Team Edward who might trip over this blog.

There are other…nay better vampire films out there. These are my favorites…

Hatter’s Top Five Vampire Films

#5. DRACULA (1931)… First things first – the granddaddy of ’em all has not aged well. The pace feels laboured, and that which gave audiences the willies seventy years ago, now feels awkward at best…and sometimes outright hokey. However, to know where you’re going, you must first understand where you’ve been. In that regard, DRACULA is an essential. Bela Lugosi made the Transylvanian monster a true gentleman, and with shot after shot of that leering stare, showed how easy it could be for something so vicious to put a victim under its spell. Worth the rent, just to hear the wry delivery of classic lines like “I never drink…..wine.”

#4. THE LOST BOYS (1987)…. Not to start a trend, but this is another vamp flick that hasn’t aged all that well. The difference here, is that while DRACULA was steeped in what creeped out audiences in the age of Garbbo, LOST BOYS is wrapped in what audiences found fashionable in the time of Madonna. The story is what matters here, since that is the part I love so much…the brood of young vampires who seem to have their way with a summer town. This one really laid the groundwork for any vampire movie that portrayed the vampires as young and beautiful, rather that aged and eerie. Of course, not being a fan of The Coreys, this one doesn’t get much play by me these days. Wait, why did I choose this one again…?

3. INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (1994)… Sorry Joel, I still love it. Ask anyone who knew a sixteen year old Hatter what they most readily associate with me, and this will likely be one of the top answers. Still truly beautiful to look at, and bringing the most elegance to the genre, Neil Jordan’s adaptation of Anne Rice’s novel is one of the greats. It features one of the best all-around casts, and shows off some of the most lavish production in any vampire films. Hell, it’s so good, that I even fell head over heels for the radically different ending to the story I’d grown to love. Perhaps the only real flaw of the movie, is that it essentially ends the story of Lestat (please don’t metion that Sutcliffe cat), denying moviegoers some of the best vampire tales ever written.

#2. SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE (2000)… Not only is this one of the darkest, and more unsettling, vampire stories ever told – but it’s also one of the best movies about the movies. Telling the very twisted – yet by all accounts completely fictional tale, of Murnau’s work to complete his 1922 masterpiece, NOSFERATU. John Malkovich plays herr direktor, a man who brought in a complete unknown to play the titular vampire. Not only was Max Schreck a complete unknown, but he seems so odd that many believed he could indeed be a vampire. the movie is a complete fiction of course, but needs to be seen for the brilliant performance by Willem Dafoe as Schreck. Bleak, and cold, the movie contains the best vamp dialogue never spoken by Bela Lugosi: “You killed the writer??!! Why him, you monster? Why not the… script girl?” “Oh…The script girl…..I’ll eat her later.”

#1. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2008)… This may indeed be a trendy choice, but I don’t care – it’s my pick. From the ominous opening, that my astute friend Danger Girl pointed out, reminds us of just how deafening a snowstorm can be, to a monstrous conclusion that is both stunning and vicious all at once, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is everything a vampire story should strive to be. The relationship between
Oskar and Eli is both profound and innocent, and I don’t think it’s possible to find two more suited actors than the children in this film – both of who hadn’t acted much coming into this project. It’s rare to find a film that is equally violent and tender, yet LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is just that. Not to take pot-shots, but I truly do believe this film is the Anti-Twilight, and not only is it my favorite vampire movies, but it’s one of the best films of the decade. See it before the American remake, LET ME IN, hits theatres next year.

Did I miss one? Feel free to leave comments naming your favorite vampire movies, along with suggestions for the next top five.

37 Replies to “With Teeth (Top Five Vampire Movies)”

  1. No "Nosferatu" (the silent one from the '20s)? I'd say that one merits inclusion because that's the film that started it all in my opinion. It's amazing how frightening that movie was considering it was black-and-white and silent.

    Also, I'm going to be controversial and say I really liked Francis Ford Coppola's "Dracula." Gary Oldman did a fine job.

  2. Nosferatu is indeed technically the first vampire movie, but I'm assuming Dracula is the one that started it all for American audiences.

    I'm so glad you included Let the Right One In– that would definitely be on my list too! So good. And while The Lost Boys is certainly a product of its age, I really enjoy its 80's trappings and references.

    You should check out Park Chan-Wook's newest movie Thirst, which is one of my favorite films of the year. Long, but really excellent. Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark is pretty good, too.

  3. I still have yet to check out 'Let the Right One In'. Reading about the subtitle screwups on the initial DVD release made me wary about picking it up, but I've heard so many good things about it.

  4. @ M.Carter… I'm ashamed to say that I've never seen the original NOSFERATU. As for Coppola's DRACULA, it's not bad – it's a little odd in places, but not bad. It probably woulda landed at number six or seven, despite the bad Keanu performance!

    @ Alex… As I was compiling this list, i felt as though I had neglected at lot of the recent vamp flicks. Thanks for the suggestions – I'll definitely check those out.

    @ Joel… I know exactly what you're talking about, and that's the reason why I haven't bought RIGHT ONE yet. If I can offer an opinion, it's that the poor translation might cost you a bit of the nuance in the dialogue, but it doesn't ruin the film's overall effect. Do rent it soon!

  5. Wheres "Horror of Dracula"? That movies amazingly good!

    But good choices! I would have done a top ten and included Near Dark and Fright Night!

  6. I can’t really forgive Dracula for the way it has aged Because Frankenstein (1931) and
    Bride of Frankenstein (1935) have aged so well. And Nosferatu is actually a better film!

    The first vampire film I saw was the Hammer film Dracula: Prince of Darkness with Christopher Lee. This and the first Hammer, Dracula still stand up as good films. I went to see the 1958 Terence Fisher Dracula at the cinema on Halloween a couple of years ago; it was great to see it on the big screen.

    My all time favourite vampire film is Near Dark directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

    A great comedy/horror vampire film that not many people seem to have seen was Innocent Blood directed by John Landis’s.

    Of recent films 30 Days of Night is probably the best

    As for Let The Right One in, it only came out over here this year, I can tell you it features in my 2009 Top Ten Movies. Exactly where you will have to wait and see!

  7. Alex, I Forgot to say above; as a fan of Park Chan-Wook (especially Oldboy) I was really looking forward to Thirst, it has been out for three weeks and now and hasn’t made it to a cinema within 100 miles of me yet!

  8. @Joel: If you have Netflix, you can stream the version of LTROI with the proper subtitles. Also, some DVDs are out now with the right subs. If you see a DVD copy and check the specs on the back, the correct ones list in the subtitles box: "English (Theatrical)" Sadly, the Blu-Rays still aren't corrected, and I really want this gorgeous movie in hi-def.

    I also have to give it up for Nosferatu. If you get the Kino version with the fantastic score it is even more unsettling than it naturally is. Also, Herzog's remake of it, despite being so loyal that the director even went to the same locations to shoot, offers a whole new perspective on the story and casts the vampire as a tragic figure long before the myth was emo-ed out with True Blood and Twilight (and, I suppose I must be fair, Buffy and Angel to some extent, but those shows were brilliant)

  9. I never realized how picky I was about Vampire films until recently when I tried to do a top 5 and could barely come up with 3 because there's so many I just feel indifferent towards. Good list though. Dracula and Let the Right One In were on my abandoned short list. I need to see shadow though.

  10. @ Connoisseur… Again, I'm remiss to say I haven't seen 'em. The to-see list is groing by leaps and bounds today!

    @ Fandango… Ditto what i said to Connoisseur. Thanks for all the suggestions gang – this is precisely what I love getting from a comments section!

    As for Drac's aging versus Frank/Mrs. Frank, you're right. In a way I'm being an apologist, where I probably shouldn't be. After all, how many people have said NOSFERATU still feels pretty darned freaky. All the same, I think that DRACULA and the Frankenstein films are a tad unfair to compare, since they are such different stories. I actually like Frank a lot better as an overall story, but cannot deny DRACULA's place in the vampire movie spectrum.

    Now pardon me while I track down THIRST.

    @ Jake… Thanks for pointing out how to find the fixed subtitles! I'm totally adding LTROI to my Christmas list now!!

  11. I think "Thirst" just came out on DVD today, so grab that puppy! It's a bit uneven and there are a few spots where some CGI took me out of the film, but overall it's quite excellent and I loved the entire story arc.

    LTROI is just superb isn't it? Nice choice for number 1. I laughed when I read your synopsis of "The Lost Boys". I saw it for the first time about a month ago. Yikes, is that ever a movie of its time. I have to say, I didn't like it much at all, but I do like your point about the concept for it – indeed it was a good idea (and could very well have influenced the younger, better looking vampire films), but just very poorly executed. And Corey Haim's wardrobe? Probably the scariest thing in the entire film…

    If you get a chance, try to catch some of the Hammer Dracula films (actually you may have already – maybe you just don't rate them that high?). They're just beautifully shot with great sets, Christopher Lee as Dracula, Peter Cushing as his nemesis and lots of fun. "Horror of Dracula" (the North American title – I believe it was just called "Dracula" by Hammer Studios when initially released) is the best, but there are numerous others. Pretty much anything directed by either Terence Fisher or Freddie Francis under the Hammer name (at least that I've seen – I think there may be some dodgy ones later on) are a bunch of fun. Including the whole Lesbian Vampire sub-genre ("The Vampire Lovers" and "Countess Dracula" are on one of those 2-for-1 Midnite Movies discs).

    "Daughters Of Darkness" is an interesting entry (German) as is "The Blood Spattered Bride (Italian). Certainly putting some different spins on the legends and the typical style of the vamp films at that time (from the early 70s).

    Gullermo Del Toro did a film called "Cronos" that, though I didn't really enjoy it, has really stayed with me. It plays on the vampire mythology but doesn't quite go the full Dracula…

    A few more that are fun: "Blood For Dracula" ("whirgins!"), Polanski's "Fearless Vampire Killers" and the blaxploitation "Scream Blacula Scream" (haven't yet seen "Blacula", but I actually have it at home right now…).

  12. Madhatter, if your interested in more Hammer vampire movie suggestions, check out my blog, Ive been reviewing Hammers slate of vampire films for the past two months. Theres some choice picks in there you might wanna check out.

  14. "Yay! No disagreements with my opinions today!!! :)"

    Well, the day is young and I haven't responded on the "snob list" thread yet, so there's still time…B-)

  15. solid list, glad you liked Interview on a repeat viewing – knew you would. Fandango.. great shout with Prince of Darkness. i watched a bit of that a few months ago and still found it scary. and good shout M Carter on FFC's Dracula – a pile of hammy nonsense but entertaining nonetheless, bit like Interview really.
    Lost Boys i think still holds up, but then sometimes i still think its 1992.
    its a shame vampires are almost as boring as zombies now when it comes to movies
    Salem's Lot.. that scared me when i was little. probably still would now

  16. @ Conoisseur & Bob… I'll definitely add hammer to the list. thanks gang, this has been an awesome day for reccomendations!

    @ Bob… Yeah, i'm being slightly apologistic for LOST BOYS, but I think the core idea is what holds up the most. As for taking another poke at my snob post, I say you leave that one be. I'm fighting pretty hard in the comments section of my own post, and it could well get worse.

    @ Ross… Why do you say vampires are as boring as zombies? Explain thyself!

  19. I don't know how you nail down to 5 movies really, there are so many.
    I'm surprised that you don't have an honourable mentions listing.

    I think I would have to have fit Fright Night or From Dusk 'til Dawn up there.

    You know me and my love for kitch so I might have put either Buffy the Vampire Slayer or My Best Friend's a Vampire in the honourable mentions. Also in there
    Underworld and Blade, both great but not "Top 5"

    I do have to say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE your number 1 … hands down great pick!

  20. Fun list – Nosferatu has one of the greatest movie characters of all time and some of the greatest images, but I find the storytelling somewhat disjointed and while Murnau is a top 10 director for me, this is not one of my absolute favorites of his films (though it's still worth seeing, several times no less).

    I like Dracula – am actually in the process of re-watching it now, and will probably write it up on The Sun's Not Yellow soon – because it seems to have come full-circle. From being a straightforward scary horror film (allegedly, anyway) to a campy nostalgic piece to, well, a so-odd-it's-creepy classic. If you put aside the iconic status of Lugosi's Dracula, which is actually not so hard to do (at least for me) given that that image was mostly seen outside the context of the movie in the first place, the strangeness of the performance strikes one anew. The voice, the behavior, the expressions … the fact that, unlike Nosferatu, Count Dracula both is and isn't a human being. Plus the complete lack of music, the odd pacing, the hysterical performance of Dwight Fry, and the pulsating pre-Code sexual overtones of the whole thing all add up to a memorable experience. I quite like it – it may not be better than Nosferatu, but I think it deserves to be seen and appreciated.

    The Lost Boys is everything you note – my older cousin loves this film and showed it to me and his brother to our general perplexion; Interview with a Vampire contains one of the most strangely disturbing and upsetting scenes I've seen (the devouring of a woman onstage before a complacent bourgeois audience); Shadow of a Vampire is wonderful – funny, inventive, creepy, and even thought-provoking; and I really need to see Let the Right One In.

  21. Seconding (or…eighth-ing??) the vote for Nosferatu, although my fondness for it may be deeper than others' because of how I first saw it in its entirety: It was played at the Elgin, accompanied by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (yes! Live! In the pit!!!), and it was truly, creepily magical to see it that way.

    I also just recently saw, for the first time, Vampyr. There are some genuinely skin-crawly moments in that one.

    Otherwise, though, thumbs up to your picks, and THANK YOU for rightly discounting Twilight for the crap that it is! MY VAMPIRES DON'T SPARKLE.

  22. Wow, what a fun list! I actually quite enjoy the 1931 Dracula and saw it for the first time this year, I love the tone and pacing and the 'drama' ness of it all. I don't know if I could make a top 5… there are so many good ones!

    I have to chime in on the Near Dark love, it's aged better but is the same time period as The Lost Boys. Ok, aged better might not be the best way to say it, but it's worth checking out.

  23. You hit it all on the head. The 70s Kinski version of Nosferatu is pretty good too…but it is a real buttwarmer, sacrificing plot for mood. The scene where the boat hits the dock and a billion (maybe more) rats come off of the ship still sticks with me. Oh, and I need to see LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. Thanks for making this a Twilight Free zone. I swear, I want to attack one of those emo kids into that series and drink their blood for real.

    MARTIN is a Romero vampire film that really got under my skin. It is really ugly. Arterial spray is pretty big in that one, and I think it is late 70s too.

    Great work here!

  24. I can't believe they are already doing an American version of "Let The Right One In"! It just seems too soon to be doing an English language adaption of it. I think we should just be enjoying the original version for the time being.

    Great list though!

  26. Holy hell…thanks for all the great comments folks!

    @ Aiden… Do check it out, it's one of the more underrated films of the decade.

    @ Danger… I thought about an honourable mentions list, but actually feared it'd get too long. BLADE easily would have made it…probably BLADE 2 as well. Don't think UNDERWORLD would have landed though, as it's one of the few films I was able to watch on "mute" and follow perfectly. That's not a compliment 🙂

    @ Movieman… Not only can I not wait to read your write up on DRACULA, but I can't wait to get your reaction on RIGHT ONE. I can't stress enough how unforgettable a film it is.

    Oh, and have you tried watching DRAC with the score Phillip Glass recorded for it?

    As for the scene you mention in INTERVIEW, that was actually one of my favorite parts. It sums up many people's views towards vampires…we're so in love with them that we will stand back and watch them in complete awe, even as they devour one of us right in front of our eyes. Sure Armand might settle his victim with a whisper of "No pain."…but can't we all see what a lie that is?

    @ Shannon… Thanks for the NEAR DARK suggestion. As I've said in the comments a few times, I'll add it to the list 🙂 Oh, and as much as I like to poke fun – have fun at your movie this weekend. I know how much you're looking forward to it.

    @ Mediasaurus… Thanks for the comment – feel free to cross-post this bad boy. Now get thee to a video store and rent RIGHT ONE. (How many people have I told to do that now? I've lost count).

    @ Ehch… I remember when that screening happened! Colour me jealous as it sounds like it'd be an unforgettable night at the movies!

    @ Nicki… It's the way of the world with Hollywood. It won't be as good, but at leat it will make the amazing story accessible to the legions of North American audiences who don't have the patience for foreign fare. And who knows…it might not suck!

    @ fandango… Gonna check out your link in a bit, and can't wait to read what you're working on.

    In the meantime, might I take you back a few weeks, and remind you of this.

  27. I am not a fan of Nosferatu but most people seem to love it.

    Bela Lugosi made a great Dracula. He looked the part and sounded the part.

    Christopher Lee was quite a scary Dracula and I can understand why a lot of people think he was the best Dracula, but I prefer the BBC's version which came out as a mini-series. It was truer to Stoker's story. Louis Jourdan (yeah, the guy from Gigi) strarred as dracula and although he did not look so good in the cape a Lugosi did, he made a great vampire. Other cast members included Frank Finlay, Susan Penhaligon and Judi Bowker (the girl from Black Beauty), who were pretty popular back in 1977 when the series was made.

    I love vampire films and one that comes to mind it Near Dark. If you have not seen it, you might want to check it out. It's great. Here is a link to a Wikipedia article about it Near Dark is in a class of its own, but put it next to a lot of other vamp movies and it would be top of that class.

    What about From Dusk Till Dawn? How could you forget From Dusk Till Dawn? I've seen that a few times and I never get sick of it.

    Glad to see Lost Boys made your list, If I was making a list like this it would be on it as well. I remember when it first came out and Barry Norman gave it a very poor review on Film 87. I though it looked great and wanted to see it anyway. Loved it when I did. Favourite quotes: 'Death by stereo' & 'So who is she David? The Flying nun?"

    I've never seen Let the Right One In, but now I know about it I'm going to go looking for it. Thanks for the tip.

  28. I agree with M. Carter that I'd put Bram Stoker’s Dracula on the list. I happen to caught parts of it just this last Halloween, Gary Oldman made for an awesomely sultry & terrifying Dracula, a testament to his amazing talent! But yeah, Keanu & Winona's accent were atrocious, and their acting weren't much better, either. It was even more glaringly obvious against a virtuoso like Sir Anthony Hopkins!

  29. omg, I always forget From Dusk Til Dawn too… I keep thinking it's a zombie movie for some reason.

  30. @ Steve… Welcome to my little corner of cyberspace and thank you for your long and well-thought-out comment.

    I'm not sure why I never saw DUSK TIL DAWN. it might just be that I heard crummy things about it when it was released, and I just never circled back. regardless, enough people have mentioned it in this onslaught of comments that I don't think I can ignore it any longer.

    @ RTM… I was a fan of BRAM'S DRAC when it first came out, so maybe I should revisit it. Funny thing though, the one detail of that film that always springs to mind first, is the horribly tasteless cut from a shot of a severed head tumbling though the air, to a shot of a gigantic prime rib roast on a silver platter.

    Ick.

    @ Shannon… S'alright, we won't mock you. Much.

  31. Thank you for adding Shadow Of The Vampire and Interview. Too many people don't give these movies the love I believe they deserve.

    Again, I'll have to catch Let The Right One In.

  32. Can't disagree with you here. Let the Right One In was one of 2008's best films and it makes all recent vampire films pale in comparison.

  33. @ Heather… Two of my faves, wouldn't have it any other way. Willem Dafoe's work in SHADOW is the stuff of legend!

    @ Danny… Agreed. And now that jake has thoughtfully pointed out how to find the correctly subtitled version, I'm can't wait to get myself a copy.

  34. I dunno if anyone will spot this, but I've heard that U.S. Blu-Ray copies of Let the Right One In now have the proper subtitles. Someone posted on The Digital Bits that he found a copy in his Barnes & Noble. I went to check mine but it was so packed that the shelves were in disarray and I could find a copy of the movie period. But hey, 'bout damn time, eh?

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