Source Syfy
Vampires. What can I say? They are mysterious, sexy, ageless and fascinating. The most popular vampire is probably Dracula. There are many mythoi about vampires from all over the world. Many different cultures have their own version of them. Movies have been telling stories of them for almost a hundred years starting with Nosferatu, Eine Symphonie des Grauens (Nosferatu A Symphony of Horror) in 1922. These are some of my favorites.
Twilight Saga is either loved or hated. I happen to love it. They used a different mythos to portray vampires. It was the first I had heard of this line of legend. It is an adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s novel series of the same names. It stars Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen and Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black. Bella moves from Phoenix Arizona to Forks Washington and meets her new classmates. Among them are Edward Cullen and his “siblings”. They stand out and apart from the crowd. Bella soon finds out the family secret. They are vampires. Like the Quileute legends. In fact, the Cullen’s and the Quileute are mortal enemies with an uneasy truce. Jacob, a Quileute youth, falls for Bella just as Edward does. Bella manages to attract the attention of the wrong vampires. They try to kill Bella. The Cullen’s stop him. The girlfriend of the dead vampire picks up the torch and continues to go after Bella. All the while, Bella, Edward, and Jacob have one hell of a love triangle going on.
Interview with a Vampire is the adaptation of Anne Rice’s book of the same title in the Vampire Chronicles. It stars Brad Pitt as Louis, Tom Cruise as Lestat, Christian Slater as Malloy and Kirsten Dunst as Claudia. Interview with a Vampire is the story of Louis as his mortal life ends and his life as a vampire begins. Lestat teaches Louis what it means to be a vampire according to him. Lestat has no conscience but Louis does and does his best not to kill indiscriminately. They come across a house with a child crying. It was Claudia. Her mother died from the plague. Louis drank her blood and later Lestat gave her blood to turn her. The three spent years together. Eventually, Claudia goes insane and is killed. Louis and Lestat get into a fight and Lestat ultimately loses. Louis is free to move on with his life.
Queen of the Damned is another of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles adapted for film. I personally like this one better than Interview with a Vampire. I love the way Lestat was portrayed in this movie. Queen of the Damned stars the late Aaliyah as Queen Akasha, Stuart Townsend as Lestat and Marguerite Moreau as Jesse. In this movie, Lestat wakes from an extended period of sleep. He is in the modern world and is looking to step out of the shadows. He becomes a rock star. Lestat catches the attention of Queen Akasha again and also has a world of vampires gunning for his death. Akasha wants to keep him safe and make him her King. Jesse is a human who is obsessed with Lestat and hunts him down.
Lost Boys is a movie I was not allowed to watch as a kid so I snuck it as soon as I could. Lost Boys stars Corey Haim as Sam, Corey Feldman as Frog, Jason Patric as Michael and Kiefer Sutherland as David.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula is romantic and horrifying and I love it. Dracula stars Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker, Winona Ryder as Mina Murray Harker/ Elisabeta, and Gary Oldman as Dracula. This movie is an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel of the same name. Dracula, way back when went to war and left his beautiful and beloved wife, Elisabeta, behind where he felt she would be safe. She died. He found someone that looks exactly like her, Mina, and feels that this is his Elisabeta reincarnated. He tried to seduce her fiancé Jonathan Harker so he has access to her. Dracula and Mina meet while he is in London and he befuddles her mind. Still, he tries to woo her to come to him.
Dracula Untold is one of the most badass movies about Dracula told. It stars Luke Evans as Dracula and Sarah Gadon as Mirena. It doesn’t follow any Bram Stoker novel but does deal with the same Dracula as Bram Stoker. It tells the tale of how Dracula became damned. The why and the how are answered and it makes him look less of a monster and more of a hero.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer is just a funny, wacky vampire movie. I love it. It stars Kristy Swanson as Buffy, Luke Perry as Pike, Donald Sutherland as Merrick, Rutger Hauer as Lothos and Paul Reubens (AKA PeeWee Herman) as Amilyn. One day Buffy Summers is a regular high school girl and cheerleader. Suddenly she finds out that she comes from a long line of vampire slayers. It is time for her to study and train to be a vampire slayer because the big, bad vampire Lothos is coming for her. Lothos wants to kill or turn her.
Underworld Saga is in a word? AWESOME! Underworld stars Kate Beckinsale as Selene, Scott Speedman as Michael, Michael Sheen as Lucian, Shane Brolly as Kraven and Bill Nighy as Viktor. Selene is a death dealer. Her job is to protect other vampires and kill the Lycans led by Lucian. This has been her world for centuries. Lucian wants the war to end, the war between Lycan and vampire. He is looking for a descendant of the original immortal, someone in the Corvinus line to infect him with both Lycan and vampire viruses so he can be both at once. Michael is that descendant and Lucian infects him with the Lycan virus before Selene can save him. Selene later infects Michael with the vampire virus and Michael completes the transformation. Michael and Selene must run to save themselves.
Van Helsing stars Hugh Jackman as Van Helsing, Kate Beckinsale as Anna Valerious and Richard Roxburgh as Count Vladislaus Dracula. Van Helsing is the man to go to about evil. It is his mission to rid the world of bad guys. He is sent to Transylvania to check out the situation and finds that Dracula is using Victor Frankenstein’s research for his own means. He teams up with Anna, who wants to save her brother, to stop this heinous evil.
Source: Dazed
These are my favorite vampire movies. What are yours? Did I list them or miss them? Let me know in the comments below. See you next week!
The reason you’d never heard of the “mythos” used in the “Twilight” series before is because it had never existed before the books came out. It was one example of the desperate moves some authors have made to make vampires more dateable, but I will give Meyer credit for taking vampire sex to its logical if brutal conclusion. One of the interesting things about conservative writers is they often compensate for keeping their male heroes virgins by making them more physically overpowering (Edward could probably kick Dracula’s ass in a fist fight).
Really interesting list, Andie! I liked how each of the movies you described sounded so different from one another, even though all of them are about vampires. Speaking of Queen of the Damned, I just reviewed this movie on my blog for a special Halloween double feature I coordinated. Here’s the link if you want to check it out!
https://18cinemalane.wordpress.com/2018/10/31/queen-of-the-damned-review-halloween-double-feature-part-2/
Love your site!
Thanks, Andie! Even though I’ve only discovered The Game of Nerds recently, I really like it! It’s great that, on this site, there’s something for everyone!
Thank you so very much! I love working here! We try to give something to everyone! I even write articles on different Gods and Goddesses for mythology nerds 😁