After Sinners had such a gangbusters weekend, I got on a vampire kick. I have spent a few days watching all these dark, scary, and sometimes hilarious movies.

I've steeped myself in the vampire genre and picked out some movies I think are the very best these bloodsuckers have to offer.

Today, we're going to go over those titles and see how I rank them

Let's dive in.

1. Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens) (1922)

  • Director: F. W. Murnau
  • Writer: Henrik Galeen (Adapted from Bram Stoker's Dracula, though unauthorized)
  • Cast: Max Schreck (Count Orlok), Gustav von Wangenheim (Hutter), Greta Schröder (Ellen Hutter), Alexander Granach (Knock)
Sometimes the first one is the best one. You could just watch this movie all day; it's haunting and creepy and has wonderful creature design.

2. Dracula (1931)

  • Director: Tod Browning (with uncredited contributions from Karl Freund)
  • Writer: Garrett Fort (Based on the play by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, which was adapted from Bram Stoker's Dracula)
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Count Dracula), Helen Chandler (Mina), David Manners (John Harker), Dwight Frye (Renfield), Edward Van Sloan (Van Helsing)
There's just something about Lugosi creeping down the stairs that sticks with you. I feel like this movie set all the tropes for everyone to follow, and it feels like people are just doing impressions after that.

3. Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in) (2008)

  • Director: Tomas Alfredson
  • Writer: John Ajvide Lindqvist (Based on his novel of the same name)
  • Cast: Kåre Hedebrant (Oskar), Lina Leandersson (Eli), Per Ragnar (Håkan)
This thriller keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. You see the innocence of a child, but also the inhumanity of man. Blood flows freely in this movie, and it's one of my favorite movies to show people.

4. Interview with the Vampire (1994)

  • Director: Neil Jordan
  • Writer: Anne Rice (Based on her novel of the same name)
  • Cast: Tom Cruise (Lestat de Lioncourt), Brad Pitt (Louis de Pointe du Lac), Kirsten Dunst (Claudia), Christian Slater (Daniel Molloy), Antonio Banderas (Armand), Stephen Rea (Santiago)
This is such a sexy movie, it really brought hot vampires to light. I think all modern vampire movies owe it a debt by adding an element of seduction. You sort of want to be one of these creatures in this movie, you want their life of sorrow.

5. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

  • Director: Francis Ford Coppola
  • Writer: James V. Hart (Based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker)
  • Cast: Gary Oldman (Count Dracula), Winona Ryder (Mina Murray/Elisabeta), Anthony Hopkins (Professor Abraham Van Helsing), Keanu Reeves (Jonathan Harker), Richard E. Grant (Dr. Jack Seward), Cary Elwes (Lord Arthur Holmwood), Sadie Frost (Lucy Westenra)
Coppola is one of those filmmakers who knows how to honor the past but bring the visuals and story to the present. He had homages here, but the movie concentrates on how it can scare us in modern times, and the cinematography is amazing.

6. Near Dark (1987)

  • Director: Kathryn Bigelow
  • Writers: Kathryn Bigelow & Eric Red
  • Cast: Adrian Pasdar (Caleb Colton), Jenny Wright (Mae), Lance Henriksen (Jesse Hooker), Bill Paxton (Severen), Jenette Goldstein (Diamondback), Tim Thomerson (Loy Colton)
I just saw this movie for the first time recently. I was struck by how cool it made the world of vampires, but also how dirty and pulpy of a movie it was. Like it was challenging its audience to engage with the underworld.

7. The Lost Boys (1987)

  • Director: Joel Schumacher
  • Writers: Janice Fischer & James Jeremias (story and screenplay), Jeffrey Boam (screenplay)
  • Cast: Jason Patric (Michael Emerson), Corey Haim (Sam Emerson), Kiefer Sutherland (David), Jami Gertz (Star), Dianne Wiest (Lucy Emerson), Barnard Hughes (Grandpa), Edward Herrmann (Max), Corey Feldman (Edgar Frog), Jamison Newlander (Alan Frog)
Like many modern vampire movies, this one is a genre-shifting coming-of-age story that turns cool kids into vampires and makes you want to join up.

Summing UP The Best Vampire Movies

Vampires are such a fun character idea for both villains and heroes. They have lots of rules, specific powers, and can help you solidify the horror genre.

Now that you have all these movies to check out, you should watch them and decide which ones you think are best. Or if you have ones to add, tell me about them.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

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