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Important Vampire Movies

© Anne Graves

First of all, I want to preface this article with a little note. These are not necessarily my favourite vampire movies, nor the best ones -- but I think they are some of the most important, in terms of vampire culture and film history. They are also presented in (roughly) chronological order -- not order of importance -- beginning with the start of the last century, when cinema began.

F.W. Murnau's "Nosferatu"

It was the first full-length film about a vampire. It's shot in a stark black and white. And it's still kind of creepy today (at least I think it is).

Tod Browning's "Dracula"

With Bela Lugosi in the title role, the image of Dracula was defined for generations to come. Mind you, the movie has laughable parts and bad acting, but Lugosi was so influential in the role that it's possible we may never have seen as many vampire movies -- Dracula movies in particular -- if not for his popularity in the role. (And I sincerely doubt there'd be Count Chocula cereal or The Count on "Sesame Street" today if it hadn't been for Lugosi.)

Hammer Films' "The Horror of Dracula"

Lugosi had the cape, tux and Hungarian accent, but Christopher Lee's Dracula had something that was pretty cool, too. Fangs. This first Hammer Film vampire production ushered in a new look for vampire movies. They were in colour -- all the better to see the blood. As well, with times a-changin' it was becoming easier to more openly display what had been merely referred to before: the sexuality of vampirism. Hammer Films are cleavage central -- no one can deny it.

"Interview with the Vampire"

If you don't know who Anne Rice is, you might as well sit in a corner at a vampire convention. As the most popular vampire author ever (Bram Stoker, of course, died before his novel "Dracula" really achieved success), the movie based on her first book is important because Rice is important in vampire literature. And the movie waspretty good after all....

"Bram Stoker's Dracula"

Francis Ford Coppola's production won Oscars (for makeup and costumes) -- not a common feat for vampire movies. And it is a pretty close retelling of Stoker's novel.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" or "Blade" or "John Carpenter's Vampires"

Along they came: vampire movies with vampire slayers as the stars. My favourite is "Buffy" -- mostly because it's nice to see a woman in a vampire movie who isn't typecast as a lesbian or a victim (sorry -- brief political rant over). I also particularly liked Paul Reubens in his little role in the flick.