My 5 Favourite Vampire Movies

To celebrate the impending arrival of Moonlit Genesis, and by impending I mean its tentatively scheduled for early next year, I thought I might drop a post about my five favourite vampire movies.

I love vampire movies. Amazon Prime in particular has a huge number of Z-grade and independent horror movies, some of which turn out to be pretty good if you don’t try to compare them to Hollywood blockbusters, and sometime even if you do. It’s all subjective anyway.

So here’s my top five favourite vampire movies!

#5 Byzantium

Byzantium moves at a different pace to many vampire movies. It’s a slow burn (and consequently one of my least favourite forms of storytelling), so it has to be pretty good to make my top five. Although lavish with history and mythology, it’s a character story at heart, telling the events in both the past and the present while bringing the two halves together beautifully.

The story itself is universal – a mother-daughter relationship about growing up and growing apart, a situation that often causes conflict within families. Here it’s done against the collision of old worlds and the new, and old biases set against new futures. It’s beautifully told.

#4 The Lost Boys

With a rocking soundtrack and a fun 80s vibe that simply can’t be replicated, The Lost Boys is an action comedy based around teenagers, family and friendships.

Although the title and some of the story’s themes riff off the classic Peter Pan children’s story, it’s got plenty of gratuitous gore and action to satisfy any teenager (and teenager at heart).

Overall, it’s a fun story about two brothers and their bond.

#3 Dracula 2000

The title may vary slightly from country to country, but this is the only one of my picks that’s truly a vampire story at its heart.

It focuses on the mythology behind modern-day vampires. It’s surprisingly funny and intelligent for what’s billed as slash-and-gore horror (from Wes Craven).

The movie asks a single question: “Who is Dracula?”, and answers it with surprising eloquence and insight. Despite the billing it’s not overly horrific, and it has only a few cheap scares.

However, it is sexy and surprisingly stylised. Overall it’s a very clever and well thought-out story, and is about the only vampire movie I can think of that so convincingly explains the mythology behind vampires.

#2. Underworld

Underworld is an action movie pitting vampires against werewolves. Like many vampire and werewolf stories, its themes revolve around the old hatreds of racism and maintaining/upsetting the status quo.

Underworld does this through the relationship between a vampire whose job is all about hunting and killing werewolves, and a newly bitten werewolf she decides to help for her own reasons. Although a full on action movie with lots of guns, politics and brutal conflict, it’s still a star-crossed lovers story centering on the threat their relationship poses to the established order and those who want to maintain it.

#1. We Are The Night (Wir Sind Die Nacht)

We Are The Night is my favourite vampire movie for many reasons, which I’ll explain. A German film with the options of subtitles and dubbing for the foreign-language impaired (like me), it’s better to watch it in German with the subtitles on.

It’s quite different from most vampire movies in that it’s not about blood, gore, vampire mythology, action or horror, though it has those elements.

What it is, is a gritty story about a troubled teenager desperate to get out of her situation of poverty and the bleak future she sees for herself, even though her actions make her a slave to it. By the time the story starts she’s already a petty thief with a criminal history, and it’s not long before she gets bitten by a vampire and taken in. She’s soon given everything she’s ever wanted in the way of wealth and inclusion, or at least, she’s given everything she thinks she wants.

It also has one of the best ‘vampire transformations’ I’ve seen, subtle yet compelling over quite a few scenes.

There’s a worm in the apple of Eden though, and you might be a little surprised that it has nothing to do with vampires or decadence and superficiality. While the movie incorporates all the traditional vampire elements you might expect, it’s really about staying true to yourself.

Moonlit Genesis

I can’t promise Moonlit Genesis will be as visually stunning as any of these movies being limited to text and all, but if you use your imagination and pretend you’re watching it you never know… Use this link if you want to check out the first couple of chapters of Moonlit Genesis.