Vampires are synonymous with blood - the magical elixir required for them to maintain eternal life. Since Bram Stoker gave rise to the vampiric tradition with his 1897 book Dracula, writers and filmmakers have been obsessed with exploring the many ways vampires interact with blood. These creatures seem to either delight in carnage or live in contempt for what they deem a terrible curse.

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When it comes to movies, these divergent interpretations of how and when vampires feed lead to very different cinematic traditions. While some horror movies about vampires are excessively gory and violent, others are understated and much more psychological.

Love Gore: 30 Days Of Night (2007)

30 Days Of Night (2007)

The vampires in 30 Days of Night are snaggle-toothed monsters who see humans as blood-filled vessels to feast upon. Based on the Steve Niles comic books of the same night, the movie follows residents of a small Alaska town who are besieged by hungry vampires during its month of total darkness every year.

Danny Huston is terrifying as Marlow, the head vampire who instructs his group to embark upon a ferocious rampage. The result is a ghastly nightmare, one made even more bloody when set against its white, snowy landscape.

Hate Blood: Nosferatu (1922)

Nosferatu (1922)

Nosferatu is a brooding, expressionistic silent film loosely based on Stoker's Dracula. Set in Germany, it follows a Transylvanian vampire named Count Orlok from the Carpathian Mountains to his new residence in the fictional town of Wisborg.

Orlok hopes to seduce the wife of his real estate agent, Thomas Hutter, and the movie develops a dream-like, alluring tone as Orlok closes in on the woman - Ellen. There's not a drop of blood to be found in this black-and-white masterpiece that set the standard for subsequent vampire features.

Love Gore: From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

Robert Rodrigeuz pays homage to exploitation flicks and B-movies with his demented and barbaric ensemble film From Dusk Till Dawn. George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino play criminal brothers who carjack a family vacationing in Southern California in hopes of fleeing to Mexico.

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Harvey Keitel and Juliette Lewis make up members of the caravaning family. When the captors and their captives make a pit stop at a saloon across the border, Hell literally breaks open and a legion of beastly vampires line up to make a banquet out of the bar's patrons.

Hate Blood: Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

Tilda Swinton laying on Tom Hiddleston's lap in Only Lovers Left Alive

Two ancient vampires grapple with existential dread in Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive. The film stars Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton as Adam and Eve, weary bloodsuckers who pay for specially sourced blood in lieu of feeding off contaminated contemporary humans.

Adam passes time making music in his Detroit mansion while Eve travels the world. While visiting her depressed companion, Eve's younger sister Ava (played by Mia Wasikowska) shows up in Detroit - where the more rambunctious vamp stirs up some trouble.

Love Gore: Near Dark (1987)

Near Dark (1987)

Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark is a violent neo-Western that just so happens to center around a group of wandering vampires. What's even better than this basic premise is the vampire clan is played by Bill Paxton, Lance Hendriksen, and Jenette Goldstein.

RELATED: The 10 Best Vampire Movies From The '80s (According To Rotten Tomatoes)

The movie contains quite a few blood-soaked kill scenes, but it also contains some of the most beautiful cinematography of any '80s vampire movie. While the vampires gorge, Bigelow weaves together a painterly, eerie tale that still resounds to this day.

Hate Blood: The Hunger (1983)

The Hunger (1983)

Considered one of the most erotic and atmospheric vampire movies of all time, The Hunger sees David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve playing a pair of bloodsucking lovers. Deneuve's character Miriam has been around since the day of Ancient Egypt, and she transformed Bowie's character John in 18th century France.

Now living in contemporary New York City, the suddenly-aging John employs the help of Dr. Sarah Roberts, an aging specialist. Roberts, played by Susan Sarandon, catches the attention of Miriam - who hopes to make the human her new lover.

Love Gore: Let The Right One In (2008)

Let The Right One In (2008)

In 1980s Stockholm, Sweden, a bullied young boy named Oskar befriends a mysterious girl named Eli - only to discover she's a vampire. Let The Right One In is a harrowing, stark story about young love, one marked by sequences of shocking violence and bloodshed.

RELATED: 10 Great Vampire Movies That Have Nothing To Do With Bram Stoker

A child vampire proves even scarier than an adult one here, and Eli proves what she's capable of when she starts attacking Oskar's tormentors. While the brutality depicted in Let The Right One In is far from excessive, anyone who winces easily will find the film too ferocious.

Hate Blood: Dracula (1931)

Dracula (1931)

Bela Lugosi remains the most iconic Count Dracula, and Universal's 1931 Dracula still tops the list of effective vampire movies. Directed by Tod Browning, Dracula is a solid adaptation of Stoker's novel - one that doesn't rely on blood and guts to tell its story.

Instead, Lugosi is a sensual and insidious old vamp who works like a magician to lure his victims into his lair. Gothic horror at its best, what Dracula lacks in jump scares it makes up for in ambiance.

Love Gore: Bloodsucking Bastards (2015)

Bloodsucking Bastards (2015)

In Bloodsucking Bastards, blood flies as fast as the jokes. This low budget indie film's events transpire in a cubicle-laden contemporary workspace, where weary staffers conduct soul-sucking office work.

Things take a turn when employees begin to transform into raging vampires. While far from the best horror-comedy of all time, Bloodsucking Bastards manages to generate enough gasps and laughs to keep audiences entertained.

Hate Blood: Blacula (1972)

William Marshall in Blacula (1972)

At its core, Blacula is a tragic love story about a cursed African prince in search of the modern reincarnation of his long-lost love. William Marshall plays the titular character in this classic Blaxploitation movie, a royal who was turned into a vampire against his will while visiting Translyvania in the 18th century.

200 years later, Blacula awakens in Los Angeles, where he traverses the city's black neighborhoods and night clubs. Despite its budgetary restrictions, Blacula is a worthy return to the kind of beguiling vampire first brought to life by Bela Lugosi.

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