Friday, June 28, 2013
With Byzantium coming out this Friday, I thought it would be fun to do a countdown of my favorite vampire movies. For any of you who are unfamiliar with the films, I’ll give a brief description of the plot so you can get a feel for if you should see any of the movies!
So, here goes nothing:
10. 30 Days of Night
This one is pretty simple. right as a small town in Alaska goes into it’s one month period of darkness, some vampires show up to take advantage of the lack of sun. Josh Hartnett plays the town Sheriff who takes it upon himself to save all of (well, most of) the inhabitants.
I feel like this movie has kind of grown on me since I saw it. The first time I saw it, I found the ending to be a bit corny, but other than that, I loved the movie. Since then, I’ve actually grown to really like this movie. The vampires in it are unique and downright terrifying. And the style of the entire film is pretty neat. I still think the graphic novel was better, but not by much!
9. Underworld
(I’m not gonna lie, this plot sounds eerily like twilight, but it’s way better, so don’t be scared.) The story follows Selene, a vampire warrior. During the ongoing war between the vampires and the Lycans, Selene falls in love with one of her enemies.
I think this movie made it onto my list, not only because of the vampires, but because of the vast depth of the world that it covers. We don’t just see vampires in here (like most of the movies on my list), we also get to see Lycans (which are just badass werewolves) and some pretty awesome humans caught in the crossfire. I love the concept of vampires and Lycans being in a never ending war. Oh, and Bill Nighy.
8. Let Me In
A young boy, with very few friends, befriends a girl who lives in the same building as him. Little does he know that he just made friends with the vampire next door.
This was a surprising remake of another phenomenal vampire movie, which you may or may not find later on this list, called Let the Right One In. While both movies are excellent in their own regards, I think that this one aims to be more of a vampire flick in the sense that it tries to scare and show how truly terrifying vampires can be. It also didn’t hurt that Chloe Moretz, one of this generations up-and-comers, was perfect in the female lead.
7. Bram Stoker’s Dracula
It’s effing Dracula, do you really need a plot summary??????
Holy shit, Gary Oldman as Dracula! Do I really need to say more?! Fine. Francis Ford Coppola was the bazillionith person to tackle the tale of Dracula, and he was absolutely up to the challenge. Everything about this movie was perfect, from the cinematography to the script. Oh, and did I mention...Gary Oldman?
6. Daybreakers
In the not-so-distant future, a plague has ravaged humanity and turned a majority of the population into vampires. Now, the human race is a minority and we must hide from the vampires. The story focuses on Ethan Hawke’s character, who is trying to find a solution to the blood supply shortage. But then he stumbles upon something much, much greater.
You may be kind of surprised at how high I have this on my list, I mean damn, even I’m surprised. I just thought that this film was such a great change for the genre, really turning everything on its head.
5. Blade
Blade is about a half-human, half-vampire who goes around hunting vampires. It’s really as simple as that. Totally badass, right?
This movie does not skimp on any front. The action sequences, to this day, are still cutting edge. The world is so real. And, damnit if the cast isn’t spot on. I mean, Weasley Snipes really is Blade. We’ll never know, because he’s a daywalker. Damn.
4. Fright Night (1985)
When Charlie realizes that his new neighbor is a vampire, he has a lot of trouble convincing anybody else of the fact.
This movie is absolutely hilarious, while still being scary as hell. It came out soon after Evil Dead, and it feels a lot like that kind of film. It really is a horror comedy of epic proportions. And the make-up/effects for the movie are pretty solid.
3. From Dusk til Dawn
When two criminals kidnap a family on vacation, they have to find a place to lie low. Unbeknownst to them, they pick a vampire bar as their hideaway.
I honestly didn’t know that this movie had vampires in it until, well, they were on screen. I thought it was phenomenally written by Quentin Tarantino, and the direction by Robert Rodriguez was beautiful. I also thought the cast was to die for. Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis and George Clooney. Not to mention Tarantino himself. Such a great movie, and the last half hour is just non-stop excellence.
2. Let the Right One In
I told you this one would show up later! See, I’m not a liar.
I thought that this one was a much better film than the remake because it focused much more on the relationship between the two kids, rather than the fact that she was a vampire. While it does come up, I think this movie was more about the bonds of friendship and how that works. Absolutely beautiful. Also, Swedish.
1. Interview with the Vampire
The easiest way to describe this film is: a vampire recalls the tales of his ridiculously long past. Really, that’s pretty much how you sum it up.
This movie has so much going for it. Neil Jordan (who also directed Byzantium) composed some really beautiful shots for this film, and encompassed so many different looks throughout the film that it was just beautiful. And the cast was just...wow. Tom Cruis, Brad Pitt and Kirsten Dunst were all absolutely perfect. And it probably didn’t hurt having Anne Rice, the writer of the series that inspired this film, writing the screenplay.
Well, there you have it. Those are my ten favorite vampire movies. What do you think? Was I was off base? Are you outraged that Daybreakers made it on and Lost Boys didn’t? Well, I can take a verbal beating, so leave your complaints (or maybe nice things?) in the comments below!
30 Days of Night you mentioned top in the list, this is worst movie I have ever seen. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the best vampire movies, my suggestion is if you can change the list please mention this movie on top.
ReplyDeleteI think you're mistaken. 30 Days of Night is actually the bottom of the list :P and while I think that Bram Stoker's Dracula is a great movie (especially for how amazing Gary Oldman is) there are still several vampire movies that are better, especially movies like Interview with a Vampire and even Shadow of a Vampire (which I didn't see until after writing this.)
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