The 1990s was a golden age for vampire movies and TV shows. It was the decade that brought us a big-screen version of the Marvel comics favorite Blade, and both film and TV versions of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
There was Francis Ford Coppola’s lavish version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and the star-studded adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. And that’s all without mentioning Robert Rodriguez’s brilliantly bonkers From Dusk Till Dawn. It wasn’t just the big films and TV shows that delivered the goods for horror and vampire fans either. In fact, there’s an abundance of long-forgotten and often overlooked vampire movies and series ripe for revisiting.
Cronos
Guillermo del Toro cut his teeth with this indie horror drama about a mysterious device capable of granting eternal life to whoever controls it. It soon becomes apparent, however, that the gift of everlasting life comes with a few unpleasant drawbacks.
Written and directed by del Toro in his debut film, Cronos is a strikingly original and intelligent vampire tale, that is both grisly and gripping in equal measure. It’s also notable for featuring a memorable appearance from frequent del Toro collaborator Ron Perlman as the film’s major villain.
Forever Knight
A bona fide cult classic, Forever Knight ran for three seasons and 70 episodes but has largely been forgotten since it went off the air in late 1996. The Canadian procedural series centered on Nick Knight, an 800-year-old vampire working as a police detective in the homicide division of the Toronto police force, where he is desperately trying to earn redemption for centuries of wrong-doing.
Notable for originating the concept of the sympathetic vampire, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, more specifically, Angel, owe a huge debt to Forever Knight for developing this intriguing concept.
The Addiction
Abel Ferrara, the filmmaker behind films like Driller Killer, has never been one for playing it straight. So, it was hardly a surprise to learn The Addiction is a little more creative than your average Bram Stoker knock-off.
Featuring in a career-best turn, Lili Taylor plays Kathleen, a New York student who ends up turning into a vampire. Soon she’s having to adjust to her new lifestyle and the unique cravings it brings. A biting allegory on addiction and the concept of sin, the film is presented in black and white, while proceedings are enlivened further by Christopher Walken.
Ultraviolet
This British series lasted just six episodes, but ended up having significant influence over the vampire subgenre as a whole. Ultraviolet focused on Detective Michael Colefield who, while investigating the disappearance of his best friend, ends up uncovering a sinister vampire conspiracy to take control of the planet.
Featuring early appearances from True Blood’s Stephen Moyer as well as Idris Elba, Ultraviolet was unique in its modern and scientific approach to the topic of vampires. Gone are many of the supernatural elements associated with the Bram Stoker creation, with vampires instead depicted as strong, fast and utterly terrifying.
Innocent Blood
Pitched by director John Landis as “a Hammer horror film as if it was directed by Scorsese” Innocent Blood is overdue for a reappraisal. Landis pulled off a coup in casting Anne Parillaud as Marie, the protagonist vampire with a thirst for bad guys. Fresh from wowing audiences as the seductive female assassin in Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita, this film saw her take center stage in a chaotic mob movie with a gothic twist.
A horror comedy blending the vampire genre with elements of buddy cop humor and the familiar gangster epic, Innocent Blood boasts standout laughs alongside a few big scares.
Vampires
The 1990s are often unfairly characterized as a fallow period for filmmaker John Carpenter, but cult favorites like In The Mouth Of Madness and Vampires suggest otherwise. James Woods stars as Jack Crow, a bona fide vampire slayer raised as an orphan by the Catholic Church to take on the spawn of Satan. He’s the leader of a crack team of vampire hunters and a character with a habit of uttering cool one-liners while dispatching his enemies.
A serious take on the vampire genre, the film also serves as a fine homage to the great Westerns of years gone by.
Kindred: The Embraced
Billed as a cross between The Godfather and Melrose Place, Kindred: The Embraced struggled to find an audience and only ran for eight episodes. But it was ahead of its time, offering the kind of crime-laced, vampire-led storytelling that would rise to popularity in the 2000s with True Blood.
The series focused on C. Thomas Howell’s Detective Frank Kohanek and his pursuit of Mark Frankel’s Julian Luna, an alleged mobster who is in fact Prince of San Francisco and the rule of the five vampire families or “the Kindred.” It's like Game of Thrones but much cheesier and with vampires.
Bordello of Blood
Based on a story written by Back to the Future creators Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis in the 1970s, Bordello of Blood was released as a Tales from the Crypt movie, blending horror and comedy to fun effect.
Featuring a rare starring role for the late, great Dennis Miller, Bordello of Blood saw Miller star as private detective Rafe Guttman, a man whose investigation into the disappearance of his brother takes him to the titular bordello. Pretty soon he learns the scantily-clad ladies there are not what they seem, prompting him to team up with a televangelist to take them down.
Dracula: The Series
This child-friendly take on the Count Dracula legend amounted to just 21 episodes but still enjoys a cult status among a small section of fans. Featuring an early starring role for 24’s Mia Kirshner, the series saw Dracula adopt the disguise of Alexander Lucard, a wealthy tycoon with evil intentions.
In his way are Gustav Helsing and a trio of children entrusted with foiling his dastardly plots. A fun enough premise, the show was notable for including new rules: Dracula could walk in sunlight while anyone he bit turned into a zombie-like servant but they could be cured with Holy water.
The Wisdom of Crocodiles
A fresh-faced Jude Law made an early bid for stardom with this chilling English vampire thriller. Law plays Steven, a man who seemingly has it all. He’s smart, funny, and has a way with women. In fact, Steven is in pursuit of the perfect woman. The problem is, he has yet to find it, with each of his previous relationships ending in tragedy.
That looks set to change after he meets the strong-willed Anne (Elina Löwensohn). This seemingly ordinary psycho-thriller soon takes a turn for the strange when it becomes apparent Steven’s bite is definitely worse than his bark.