Posted by Wyatt Weed in Featured Articles, Guest Blog, Top 10 Lists | 16 comments
Guest Blog: Wyatt Weed’s Top Ten Vampire Films
OK, I know you vampire fans can be a fanatic lot, so this list is sure to upset some of you, but this is MY list. I can’t be wrong – you know why? Because it’s my list! Seriously, please comment and debate, and maybe we’ll all end up seeing some movies we haven’t seen before.
Wyatt Weed’s Top Ten Vampire Films
1. Interview with the Vampire (1994)
In my opinion the most well produced, adapted, and directed of all vampire films. Great source material, serious treatment of the subject, fine direction and acting. And it didn’t cost $100 million to make.
2. Blade (1998)
If “Interview” is the yin, “Blade” is the yang – action packed, stylish, great characters, and a believable, emotional new take on the old vampire clichés.
3. Dracula [aka: 'Horror of Dracula'] (1958)
This is the first and still one of the best of legendary Hammer Studios’ vampire films of the 50′s and 60′s. Great color, lighting, melodrama, and strong, iconic images. This film burned Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee into my brain long before the Star Wars films did.
4. The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)
Impeccably well shot and designed, this Roman Polanski film mixes comedy and horror in equal measure. “Interview with the Vampire” and “Van Helsing” both owe a debt to this film.
5. Fright Night (1985)
The original re-invention of the vampire myth, this film again mixes horror and comedy at a break-neck pace with strong characters and well placed special effects. If for no other reason, see it for Chris Sarandon’s apple-eating, song-whistling vampire
6. Lifeforce (1985)
Yeah, it’s clunky, over the top, and there seem to be chunks missing, but it is epic, scary, and jaw dropping. Mathilda May was a mesmerizing vampire from space, and not because she spent most of the film naked…although that didn’t hurt…
7. Blood: The Last Vampire (2000)
I’m talking about the animated original, not the new live-action version. This isn’t feature length, but it is fast, vicious, and has incredible fight choreography that live action films can only aspire to.
8. Vampire Hunter D (1985)
My second Animé entry on this list, this film is titanic in scale and cosmic in concept. It also made me realize that I have a thing for girls with green hair…
9. Mr. Vampire (1985)
Part of the “Jiang Shi” or Chinese vampire sub-genre, if you’ve never seen a hopping vampire film, see this one. Produced by Sammo Hung, this film will have you laughing, squirming, and then wow you with some great chop-socky fight action.
10. Innocent Blood (1992)
This one just barely makes the list, but it’s fresh and original and contains a mix of genres never seen before – vampires and the mafia. It also has Anne Parillaud handcuffed and naked on a bed.
10 well-known vampire films that didn’t make my list – and why…
1. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Francis Coppola’s epic is overly artsy and seems more interested in technique than story, and this could have been the greatest love story ever. Extra points for retaining the “diary entry” style of the original novel.
2. Underworld (2003)
I liked the first film, but it drew from too many other sources – Blade, The Matrix, etc. It was also a bit convoluted. Number 2 was OK, and I didn’t even bother with Number 3…
3. Let The Right One In (2008)
Many people lost bladder control over this one, calling it a classic and one of the greatest films they’d ever seen. I LIKED it, but it was overly long, and went off on tangents it didn’t explain. In some cases these were references to the book that were not fully explored, so why put them in at all? Start the hating now, but this is one film, much like RINGU, that I think will benefit from a Hollywood remake.
4. Near Dark (1987)
Meh. This is a cult classic, but I never got it. It’s alright, but I think it was a good idea not pushed nearly far enough.
5. Dracula (1931)
A classic, it helped jump-start the genre, but by today’s standards, I don’t feel it holds up. It is slow and feels much like the stage play it was based on. You gotta love it, but…
6. Dracula (1979)
This John Badham/Frank Langella version ALMOST made my list – ALMOST. It is sexy, has some great gags, but ultimately comes off as a really good TV movie. And that’s OK.
7., 8. Nosferatu (1922, 1979)
The original silent film has amazing images and a creepy main vampire – almost made the list. The re-make is too darn slow.
9. The Hunger (1982)
Too artsy. Deneuve and Sarandon making out, pretty darn good, but still too artsy. Made David Bowie boring, and that’s hard to do.
10. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Sorry folks – this is two different films, slammed together in the middle, and all of it is WAY over the top. It’s fun, don’t get me wrong, and George Clooney is great, but the best part of the film is Salma Hayek dancing on a table and stuffing her foot into Tarantino’s mouth.
You put Innocent Blood on there. You ROCK! Oh but about your Vampire Hunter D entry. The art and your comment suggest you were actually talking about the 2002 Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. I love the original but the new one was vastly superior not to mention directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri (of Ninja Scroll fame). Epic indeed. You should also try Blood+ the Series if you liked the OVA. I would have to put Alucard from the Hellsing Ultimate OVA series.
I was surprised that "The Lost Boys" wasn't even mentioned. I know it's the cliche for the 80's vampire film, but it has enough of a following that it should have been mentioned. I liked it way more than "Fright Night". I personally am a huge fan of "Near Dark", more than I am of "The Lost Boys". Good list overall.
You know, I just plain missed The Lost Boys. I discussed this list with people, no one said a word! Maybe it's just been off the radar for a while? I agree, it should have been on here somewhere, even on the Ten that Almost Made It. A bit cheesy, a lot 80's, but I completely overlooked that one. Good call.
Eli Eli lama sabachthani?" which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
LTROI should be on this list, Wyatt. And you think the american remake of LTROI will be better than the original? Well, here you have the answer:
Abby Abby lama sabachthani?
" In some cases these were references to the book that were not fully explored, so why put them in at all?"
Because everything is there, in the movie even if it's very ambiguous. That's the beauty of this masterpiece. After I saw it the first time I couldn't get it out of my head. After a week I put all the pieces together and when I saw it a second time I was pretty sure my interpretations were right. And guess what. They were. (I've just read the novel). Because of that, LTROI is one of my best movie experiences. Now, if that isn't a sign of a really good movie, then i don't no what. So maybe you can understand why I think your question is really, really silly.
I don't personally feel that a movie should require that the book be read to achieve full understanding, with the movie then relegated to being only a "visual companion", if you will. I think a sign of a good adaptation is that you DON'T need the book to follow along. The Lord of the Rings films are a good example – I haven't read a single one of the books, yet don't feel like I was missing anything when I watched the films, despite the fact that I hear there was a lot cut. I feel the same way about the Harry Potter films – never read any of the books, but the films make sense to me.
It sounds like you connected with this film much more strongly than I did. The audience I saw it with, mostly people I knew, were split 50-50.
I knew this choice would get some reaction, and I respect your passion for this film. It IS a unique achievement. I also applaud you for a polite opposition – there's nothing worse than getting your head ripped off over on Ain't It Cool. Those talkbackers are SERIOUS…
But as I said, I didn't need the novel (it just confirmed the conclusions I already had). My interpretations were right anyway. I felt that everything was there. You only have to think a little. And what's wrong with that? The only thing they left out very deliberately was Håkan's pedo aspect but that only made his and Eli's relation even more ambiguous and put a new depth also in Eli's and Oskars relation. The result was even better than the novel. I mean, the novel isn't some sort of "the only truth". And if it didn't exist a novel. Would you like this movie more, then? Concidering your quite poor arguments you might have. That's why I think your arguments lacks.
And why must everything has to be explained anyway? In almost every Hollywood production every action has to be justified and explained. It's beginning to be quite boring, actually. The film "Let the Right One In" leaves it to the greatest tool you possess – your imaginative mind.
Buffalo here again. I just want to say that NO interpretation about LTROI is wrong. Just because I hit the spot doesn't mean I'm superiour of any means. I know a lot, very different, intelligent and even more interesting thoughts than this and that's why it's a great movie.
Come on. Jim Carrey, "Once Bitten"… no love… LOL, J/K
Hey, I actually considered putting "Love at First Bite" on the list…that is a funny movie…
Lifeforce? Maybe it was just ruined for me when I saw it down in Rolla (back in the college days) and the film kept breaking. I just didn't really think (during the pieces that didn't break) that the film really hung together in a continuity kind of way. Other than that, I'd have to agree with the Lost Boys comment above.
The film breaking would definitely add to the "chunks missing" thing I was talking about…
I loved your lists over all. I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what was missing…and then someone said Lost Boys…I agree with you about From Dusk Til Dawn, but that's not what teed me off the most about it. When the Vampire Queen gets killed a little less than halfway through the picture…there's a problem. (It boggles the mind how she managed to last that long, if that's all that needed to happen to take her out.)
I've never seen Mr. Vampire. I will definitely have to check that one out. Have you ever seen Blood and Donuts (gross title, I know)?
I HAVE to see a film called Blood and Donuts, if for no other reason than my unbalanced love for deep-fried toroids!!
If you're talking about the 1995 feature film, Blood & Donuts isn't all that bad, has some cool original interpretations of what makes a vampire film. It's a dark comedy, kind of slow moving at times, but is creative enough to be worth a look. David Cronenberg's role as the Crime Boss is worth viewing the film, at a minimum.
Satanico Pandemonium that was her name! There's not enough coffee in the world to get me firing on all cylinders…I swear.
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