There are so many vampire movies out there, dating back decades. There are the classics that everyone has come to love: Bela Lugosi's Dracula, Interview With A Vampire, and The Lost Boys. Those films brought pathos and respect to the vampire which inspired many filmmakers over the course of decades.
As a result, audiences became tired of the bloodsuckers; especially when critically panned films like the Twilight Saga, Blade Trinity, and Dario Argento's Dracula 3D turned the vampire genre into a joke. Sadly, this disdain for the subgenre caused several gems that deserved more attention to become buried within the rubble.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
The title alone was enough to make audiences think that the film was going to nothing but SyFy channel fodder. Instead, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter shows that a ridiculous concept can be executed effectively. The movie was based on a graphic novel of the same name and in many ways, it feels like a comic.
The action is thrilling, the cinematography is surprisingly beautiful, and the ties into historic events at the time should make history buffs giggle. While it's not some award-worthy blockbuster, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter makes for a fun popcorn film.
Near Dark
When one thinks of Kathryn Bigelow, films like The Hurt Locker or Detroit come into mind. Dark and gritty thrillers but in the 1990s, she delved more into vampires with Near Dark, a film that was not a financial success. However, over the years, a cult following was grown mostly due to its cast.
It starred James Cameron alumni Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, and Jenette Goldstein. Near Dark focuses on a man being forced into a group of traveling vampires after he is bit by one. The vampires are dark and genuinely threatening which was refreshing in an era when vampires became more comedic.
Fright Night (2011)
When it comes to remakes, it is a challenging task to pull them off. Luckily, Fright Night featured a crew that clearly cared about the original. Colin Farrell plays the next-door neighbor vampire while the late Anton Yelchin plays the main character trying to stop him.
That's what Fright Night has going for it: the cast. Colin Farrell is just as charismatic as Chris Sarandon, Anton Yelchin is a great lead, and the criminally overlooked David Tennant plays Peter Vincent perfectly. Despite appealing to the 3D gimmick at the time a little too much, Fright Night is a fun gory remake that rivals the original.
Nosferatu The Vampyre
Another remake, Nosferatu is a silent movie legend that is used in film classes to this day. So director Werner Herzog had a lot of courage to take on such a classic. Luckily, Herzog's love and admiration for the original is present as he effectively remade the horror legend.
The famous Count Dracula (or Count Orlok) was played by German actor Klaus Kinski. While he is not superior, he comes pretty close to rivaling Max Shreck from the original silent film. It's creepy, ominous, and oozing with the right atmosphere. For a remake of a classic film, Nosferatu The Vampyre could have been much worse.
30 Days Of Night
Imagine your somewhat typical zombie thriller about a bunch of survivors barricading themselves inside a building but with deadly beast-like vampires. That is the best summary of 30 Days Of Night; it takes a familiar concept and puts a little spin on it similar to what Dog Soldiers did with werewolves.
While the characters are effective in driving the plot, the real stars are the vampires. Rather than people with sharp teeth, they are more monstrous with black eyes, almost like demons. Danny Huston plays their leader and he is easily one of the more memorable vampire villains of the last few decades.
Cronos
The word "vampire" is never actually used in Cronos but rather Guillermo Del Toro put his own unique stamp on the concept. In his first feature-length film, Del Toro features a strange insect-like device that grants eternal life but at the cost of humanity and a thirst for blood.
Cronos a slow-burner but it never feels dull, it just slowly builds up on the intrigue and the corruption of this lonely man into a monster. Over the years, Cronos has become a cult-gem of a foreign film in the horror community due to the origins of Del Toro but just a very different take on the vampire.
Van Helsing
When Van Helsing hit theaters in 2004, critics were very quick to pan it for taking a more action-packed route of iconic Universal monsters. Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein, and Jekyll/Hyde made it into the film. However, much like Near Dark, Van Helsing and gained a large following.
As it is, Van Helsing is another popcorn flick that clearly has fun embracing its concept. It is directed by Stephen Sommers of The Mummy (1999), so it has much of the same adventure tone and concepts. The cast including Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, David Wenham, and Richard Roxborough all bring the characters to life. The vampire and werewolf action is a lot of fun with a surprising amount of CGI that still holds up.
Daybreakers
Most vampire movies are about preventing vampires from spreading. In Daybreakers, the vampires have won and have taken over the Earth with blood supply running dangerously low. Meanwhile, a human resistance gets the help of Ethan Hawke's blood geneticist character to help them.
With Hawke, Willem Dafoe, and Sam Neill in the cast, it is no surprise that the performances are stellar. From a story perspective, Daybreakers is shocking due to how many vampire cliches it avoids and throws something new to the mix constantly. It's a beautifully shot film and dabbles into many genres from action to drama to sci-fi to horror; it's a very well-rounded vampire film.
Horror Of Dracula
When most hear the word "classic Dracula" their mind immediately goes to Bela Lugosi. Lugosi is a legend and rightfully deserves to be remembered as such. However, there is another Dracula out there who is just as good, if not better than Lugosi and that is Christopher Lee.
Hammer Films' Horror Of Dracula was a huge hit in Europe but remained a cult film in the USA. Christopher Lee portrays one of the most chilling versions of the character, the cold and gothic look of the film provides a great atmosphere, and it was one of the first movies to get away with so much blood and gore. After that, it would inspire a plethora of sequels and inspire Tim Burton with many of his films.
Dracula Untold
The idea of a shared universe with the classic Universal monsters was a spark of genius. However, when Dracula Untold performed poorly at the box office, Universal scrambled and from there, the Dark Universe quickly died. Dracula Untold has garnered its own cult following and the fans agree that it was removed from the Dark Universe canon was a poor choice.
Luke Evans was perfect as an anti-hero Dracula, the movie creates a dark epic that feels like a mix of Castlevania and classic Universal movies. It gives Dracula some of the best superpowers ever seen in cinema, it sets up the universe well, and helped in bringing vampires back to being more than romance characters. At the very least, it deserves a sequel and one more chance to restart the Dark Universe.