10) SALEM'S LOT It has the lot.
James Mason, the guy from Starsky & Hutch and a head vampire who is a cross between Neytiri from Avatar, Nosferatu and Richard O?Brien from the Crystal Maze, and if that doesn't scare you nothing will.
The film is improved as he/it doesn't talk, which only seems to enhance the vampire?s sinister character rather than diminish it.
It?s a rarity, a Stephen King movie that doesn't suck.
9) CRONOS Hollywood films love a good Scarab.
You never see or hear of them at any other time or place.
Even in Egypt they look at you like you?re mad if you mention them.
the ?Cronos device? is a little mechanical beetle (the scarab) that attaches itself to you, feeds on your blood and offers immortality in return.
Del Toro?s debut film is a multi-layered tale of history, science, religion( and scarabs) all wrapped up into a fresh-take on an, at times, tired genre.
8) BLADE Dark, sinister, action-packed, edgy, entertaining coolness.
Say that again...
coolness.
It has Snipes and Kris Kristofferson (and Stephen Dorff to a lesser extent).
How can it be anything else? It was the film that really boosted Marvel?s rise to power and paved the way for people like Bryan Singer and Sam Raimi.
Director Stephen Norrington shows his background in music videos with a banging soundtrack.
It has techno in it, more films should do this...
7) BRAM STOKER?S DRACULA What a line-up! Francis Ford Coppola directing, Anthony Hopkins, Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Monica Belluci, Sadie Frost, Richard E.
Grant and even Tom Waits.
To be fair this is also a disadvantage as Reeves, the lead, effectively drowns amid the talent.
Though this was early on in his career.
It doesn't skimp on the eroticism and goes beyond its Victorian origins in that sense.
But overall it?s all about Oldman, who is a delight to behold and steals every scene.
6) 30 DAYS OF NIGHT Formulaic? Yes.
It is simple and straightforward.
Town is attacked by vampires, much blood and gore is spilled.
But it is done well.
It is simply good fun and even Josh Hartnett doesn't ruin it (which is somewhat surprising).
Melissa George (She was the sexy one called Angel, in Home and Away) gives a good support role as his estranged wife, despite her accent wavering between Aussie, English and American.
There?s nothing new here, blood, carnage, tension and a lack of scarabs.
Watch it.
5) NEAR DARK Massively underrated film.
Bigelow?s vampires are grim, gritty, mean and dirty.
There is nothing foppish or romantic about them.
What makes the film stand out even more is the camaraderie of the gang as they cruise the freeway?s looking for fresh kills.
A Texan, gothic western road-movie with a stellar cast (Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein and Bill Paxton who are all excellent.
Near Dark?s emphasis is on the vampire as a hunter, not a lover, and still holds up as a great movie nearly 30 years later.
4) LET THE RIGHT ONE IN It?s set in the 80?s, in Sweden and the hero is a 12-year old boy, oh and the vampire is very good with a Rubik?s Cube...
hang on, bear with me...
This is a vampire film that is absolutely stunningly made.
It was Oscar nominated.
Yeah? that?s right, impressive huh? It?s nostalgic, romantic, violent and unpredictable, unhampered by Hollywood?s tight reins creating an atmospheric, weird little oddball of a horror film.
Scandinavians can't do anything wrong lately and this is a good example of how to make a vampire film or any film for that matter.
3) INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderas as impeccably-attired pale vampires.
There is certainly something for the ladies, for the men? Well there is a 12-year old Kirsten Dunst.
But hold on...
she steals the show.
Its a tough role to play, how many child actors ruin films by effectively being pretty poor? loads.
Not Dunst, she nails it.
If you like your vampire films to be decadent, full of pomposity and blatant homo-eroticism then this is for you.
The production values won an Oscar, and its hedonistic, gothic splendor continues to influence and inspire to this day.
2) FROM DUSK TILL DAWN A Tarantino and Rodriguez vampire flick...
you know what you?re going to get.
It doesn't disappoint.
A film so over-the-top in its violence and ridiculousness that it works brilliantly well.
Tarantino and Clooney have arguably never been better and inject just the right amount of humour and menace, oh and it has Salma Hayek dancing in a bikini cuddling a snake.
A must-see film for anyone who likes entertainment and crotch-firing pistols.
1) THE LOST BOYS Everything that was great about the 80?s is here.
Right here.
The mullet hairstyles, the dated clothing, the synthetic rock music soundtrack.
Kiefer Sutherland...
look forget Jack Bauer..
THIS is the real Sutherland.
The Lost Boys is a vampire film that is in reality about teenage rebellion.
Acceptance and angst.
Adolescent trials and tribulations.
Youth culture.
Too heavy for ya? Corey Feldman is in it, and he makes everything alright.
Because Feldman was an 80?s God.
It isn't particularly scary but don't let that put you off, because The Lost Boys is to vampires what the Goonies were to entertainment.
It just rules.
James Mason, the guy from Starsky & Hutch and a head vampire who is a cross between Neytiri from Avatar, Nosferatu and Richard O?Brien from the Crystal Maze, and if that doesn't scare you nothing will.
The film is improved as he/it doesn't talk, which only seems to enhance the vampire?s sinister character rather than diminish it.
It?s a rarity, a Stephen King movie that doesn't suck.
9) CRONOS Hollywood films love a good Scarab.
You never see or hear of them at any other time or place.
Even in Egypt they look at you like you?re mad if you mention them.
the ?Cronos device? is a little mechanical beetle (the scarab) that attaches itself to you, feeds on your blood and offers immortality in return.
Del Toro?s debut film is a multi-layered tale of history, science, religion( and scarabs) all wrapped up into a fresh-take on an, at times, tired genre.
8) BLADE Dark, sinister, action-packed, edgy, entertaining coolness.
Say that again...
coolness.
It has Snipes and Kris Kristofferson (and Stephen Dorff to a lesser extent).
How can it be anything else? It was the film that really boosted Marvel?s rise to power and paved the way for people like Bryan Singer and Sam Raimi.
Director Stephen Norrington shows his background in music videos with a banging soundtrack.
It has techno in it, more films should do this...
7) BRAM STOKER?S DRACULA What a line-up! Francis Ford Coppola directing, Anthony Hopkins, Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Monica Belluci, Sadie Frost, Richard E.
Grant and even Tom Waits.
To be fair this is also a disadvantage as Reeves, the lead, effectively drowns amid the talent.
Though this was early on in his career.
It doesn't skimp on the eroticism and goes beyond its Victorian origins in that sense.
But overall it?s all about Oldman, who is a delight to behold and steals every scene.
6) 30 DAYS OF NIGHT Formulaic? Yes.
It is simple and straightforward.
Town is attacked by vampires, much blood and gore is spilled.
But it is done well.
It is simply good fun and even Josh Hartnett doesn't ruin it (which is somewhat surprising).
Melissa George (She was the sexy one called Angel, in Home and Away) gives a good support role as his estranged wife, despite her accent wavering between Aussie, English and American.
There?s nothing new here, blood, carnage, tension and a lack of scarabs.
Watch it.
5) NEAR DARK Massively underrated film.
Bigelow?s vampires are grim, gritty, mean and dirty.
There is nothing foppish or romantic about them.
What makes the film stand out even more is the camaraderie of the gang as they cruise the freeway?s looking for fresh kills.
A Texan, gothic western road-movie with a stellar cast (Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein and Bill Paxton who are all excellent.
Near Dark?s emphasis is on the vampire as a hunter, not a lover, and still holds up as a great movie nearly 30 years later.
4) LET THE RIGHT ONE IN It?s set in the 80?s, in Sweden and the hero is a 12-year old boy, oh and the vampire is very good with a Rubik?s Cube...
hang on, bear with me...
This is a vampire film that is absolutely stunningly made.
It was Oscar nominated.
Yeah? that?s right, impressive huh? It?s nostalgic, romantic, violent and unpredictable, unhampered by Hollywood?s tight reins creating an atmospheric, weird little oddball of a horror film.
Scandinavians can't do anything wrong lately and this is a good example of how to make a vampire film or any film for that matter.
3) INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderas as impeccably-attired pale vampires.
There is certainly something for the ladies, for the men? Well there is a 12-year old Kirsten Dunst.
But hold on...
she steals the show.
Its a tough role to play, how many child actors ruin films by effectively being pretty poor? loads.
Not Dunst, she nails it.
If you like your vampire films to be decadent, full of pomposity and blatant homo-eroticism then this is for you.
The production values won an Oscar, and its hedonistic, gothic splendor continues to influence and inspire to this day.
2) FROM DUSK TILL DAWN A Tarantino and Rodriguez vampire flick...
you know what you?re going to get.
It doesn't disappoint.
A film so over-the-top in its violence and ridiculousness that it works brilliantly well.
Tarantino and Clooney have arguably never been better and inject just the right amount of humour and menace, oh and it has Salma Hayek dancing in a bikini cuddling a snake.
A must-see film for anyone who likes entertainment and crotch-firing pistols.
1) THE LOST BOYS Everything that was great about the 80?s is here.
Right here.
The mullet hairstyles, the dated clothing, the synthetic rock music soundtrack.
Kiefer Sutherland...
look forget Jack Bauer..
THIS is the real Sutherland.
The Lost Boys is a vampire film that is in reality about teenage rebellion.
Acceptance and angst.
Adolescent trials and tribulations.
Youth culture.
Too heavy for ya? Corey Feldman is in it, and he makes everything alright.
Because Feldman was an 80?s God.
It isn't particularly scary but don't let that put you off, because The Lost Boys is to vampires what the Goonies were to entertainment.
It just rules.