1. FRIGHT NIGHT

This was the first vampire movie I ever saw that really struck a chord with me. It wasn't some giant castle in a far off land, it was a nice suburban neighborhood. The vampire is the nice guy nixt door, who your mom just invited to dinner, but you know, and worse than that, he KNOWS you know. Now tack on the fact that nobody will believe you, and he knows that too. Much more interesting than "Nosferatu" when I was at that pivotal age, so it tops my list and set the tone for my tastes in the genre.

2. LOST BOYS

Along the same lines as above, but closer to home. What if your own brother was a vampire. I don't mean a sneak into your room in the middle of the night and steal your cigarettes type vampire, like mine is, but a full fledged bloodsucker. Like many of these, it isn't exactly scary, but vampire films shouldn't be. You should be charmed by them, as that's one of their powers. The best ones are the ones you would want to hang out with. Kiefer Sutherland was at his most likeable as one of the undead. Also, it should be noted, this film was when Joel Schumacher could direct bat men.

3. NEAR DARK

Very cool, very stylish. Kathryn Bigelow is one of the most under used and under appreciated directors on the market. She became a cult favorite with this gritty tale about a group of nomad vampires, banding together, struggling for survival. It paints them as far less than glamourous, and reflects more on the desolation and limitations inherent in their race. It also has the best use of boot spurs I've ever seen.

4. FRIGHT NIGHT PART 2

An excellent follow up to the original. It's plot is a little less accessible, but from a character standpoint very natural. Now Charlie is trying to put the events of the first film behind him, convinced it never happened, while the TV vampire hunter who was finally convinced to help him is jumping at every shadow, and finds out there's another anemic with pointy teeth, who just happens to have revenge on the mind. The role reversal was cool, as was some of the humor and creative uses of folklore.

5. SUNDOWN: THE VAMPIRE IN RETREAT

Pretty much an unheard of movie, most video stores don't carry it, and it's not priced for retail, but worth tracking down. It has quite a few cult favorites, such as Bruce Campbell, Deborah Foreman, M. Emmett Walsh, John Carradine, and Maxwell Cauffield. It also has a neat plot. The small town of Purgatory is a town of vampires. They are working on creating a blood subtitute, not only to help quench their thirst, but to advance medical science. Unfortunately, half the town wants to stick with "the old ways," and it becomes a standoff, Western style. It's creative, well shot, and quite funny. By the end, the budget becomes apparent, but by then you're likely having too much fun to hold it against them.

by AG

1. EMBRACE OF THE VAMPIRE

This movie sucks. It's about a stupid-ass vampire (Spandau Ballet's Martin Kemp) who's looking for the reincarnation of his dead lover or something, and at one point, he turns into Jennifer Tilly. Stupid fucking movie. But, it does have the distinction of being the only vampire movie - to my knowledge, and I'm happy to be corrected on this - where Alyssa Milano takes off her top and makes out with a chick. Based solely on this, this is the best vampire movie ever.

2. FROM DUSK TILL DAWN

After the arty, homoerotic mincery of Interview with the Vampire came a host of equally effete and sucky knock-offs (except for Embrace of the Vampire which, I reiterate, features Alyssa Milano taking off her top and making out with a chick), and it looked like the heyday of the good ol' fashioned "Let's Kill Us Some Vampires" movie was gone forever. But all that changed in early '96, with the release of this double-chili-cheeseburger proud-to-be-a-B-movie killing spree, which didn't go to the obsequious Anne Ricey lengths of glorifying vampires into some sort of goth poet gods, but made them out as ravenous feeders out to eat anything with a pulse. Fare thee well, ruffled pirate blouses and lace curtains and porcelain dolls and hand-sculpted caskets. Welcome back garlic and crosses and holy water and shitloads of blood.

3. THE LOST BOYS

As a kid, I seldom watched horror flicks for one simple reason: they scared the shit out of me. Good news for me, then, that I was a ripe old 12 years old the first time I checked out this horror-comedy from late, great screenwriter Jeffrey Boam. Back before Joel Schumacher became obsessed with rubberized nipples (or, not to give short shrift to his private life, at least before he brought this obsession to the big screen), he was a borderline great practicioner of stylized, moody horror flicks, and this was his best work in the genre. Of course, it does lose points for a.) not featuring Alyssa Milano, and b.) not featuring Alyssa Milano taking off her top, and c.) not featuring Alyssa Milano taking off her top and making out with a chick, but hey, they can't all be classics.

4. ONCE BITTEN

Probably not one of the all-time greats of the genre, but I haven't seen a whole lot of 'em, and if I haven't made it obvious by now, I absolutely refuse to list Interview with the Vampire on this page. This is a funny enough comedy, with a pre-Jim Carrey Jim Carrey squaring off against vampire "vixen" Lauren Hutton (herself a bit long in the tooth, pardon the pun, to be considered a proper vixen). Nowhere, however, does it feature Alyssa Milano taking off her top and making out with a chick, which leads me to ask, what exactly, then, is the point of making a vampire movie?

5. EMBRACE OF THE VAMPIRE

Oh, what the hell, folks. A classic deserves a second - or fifth - mention. Let's give it up for Alyssa Milano taking off her top and making out with a chick! Woo-hoo!

by jim

1. DRACULA (1931)



Bela Lugosi IS Dracula, fuck Christopher Lee, fuck Gary Oldman, fuck everybody else. He was the only one who ever understood and nailed the romantic element essential to making the vampire genre really work. Most actors have approached the role as if they were local kids working in a haunted house. Lugosi provided the depth, the smoothness to pull it off. Thanks to Tod Browning for making the whole film shadowy and never losing it's dreamlike sleepy pace. Bela was one of the screens first versions of the cursed count and easily it's best.

2. NOSFERATU (1922)



If nessecity is the mother of invention, than this child is her masterpiece. Unable to secure the rights to use "Dracula", German horror master F.W. Murnau, created the hideous Count Orlock (Max Schrek), to bring life to his vampire tale. This is the only movie in the genre that can compete with Lugosi's DRACULA and despite stylistic advantages (thanks to the brilliant Murnau and those wacky Germans), it only falls to the way side by the slightest of margins.

3. THE LOST BOYS



Easily the most "fun" vampire movie ever made, THE LOST BOYS is an '80's staple that doesn't ware thin upon multiple viewings. The best work that Jason Patric, Jami Gertz, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Edward Herrmann, Barnard Hughes or Keifer Sutherland would ever do, it makes you really question how it came together so nicely. Espicially when you consider the later work of the films then cool director, Joel Schumacher. Jeffrey Boam's screenplay is the real glue here. It plays to the actors strengths and took an interesting new slant on the teen film, that would effect all that came after it.

4. FROM DUSK TILL DAWN



There are a lot more bad vampire movies than there are good. Everytime, just when I'm about to say forget about it to the genre, someone pops in their head and makes a movie that makes you wish they made more vampire movies. This was one of those. Sadly, the two sequels that followed blew chunks, but who needs sequels when you've got an original, this cool, this stylish and this much fun to watch. George Clooney and Harvey Kietel are at the top of their games here. Hell, the movie is so good it even makes Quentin Tarantino and Juliette Lewis look good. They make inventive use of the genre's trappings, rethinking them to make them fresh again.

5. BLADE 2



Hey, I said there was a shortage of great vampire movies. While this one is a distant fifth to the four that precede it, it still ranks as one of the top flicks in the genre. Good effects and a perfect brooding vamp in Wesley Snipes. This film could have a more solid hold on it's Top 5 placement if it weren't for so many missed opportunites in the film's execution.