Auburn leaves are falling and the air is getting crisp. Apple cider and candy apples are in abundance. Those who like pumpkin flavor are on cloud nine. It's also Halloween season which means its time for horror marathons. One staple of horror films are vampires.
In pop culture zombies are the pinnacle creatures of the horror genre. Personally I've always preferred vampires and feel the love towards vampires is severely lacking. In all mediums the mythology behind vampires is what draws me in. They have certain rules to abide by in order to survive, they can morph from human form to demonic creatures or bats in a snap. Not all vampires die the same, some explode other's simply dust away, some scream like hell as their bodies burn. All playing a role in the deep mythology of the living dead.
Since I love movies and vampires here are my top 5 vampire movies.
1. The Lost Boys
The Lost Boys on the surface is a campy tonally completely 80's film. The clothes, the hair, the music, the famous beach concert scene all a product of it's times. The film still holds up well and damnit it is a fun ride in the process. Known for it's tagline "You'll never grow old, and you'll never die, but you must feed". The film has so much to offer, Keifer Sutherland who is an underrated actor brings a ice cold cool factor to vampire lead David. Jason Patric shows talent that lead to many thinking he would be a bigger star than he is. Jami Getz plays her torn lover role well, let's not forget 80's superstars the two Corey's Corey Haim and Corey Feldman.
The MTV style fast camera shots and quick cuts depictly how fast the vampires seek and destroy it's still an editing marvel. The theme song "Cry Little Sister" is infectious and you will find yourself humming it randomly. The house seige at the end of the film perfectly depicts the many ways vampires go out. Vampire lore in this film includes the "head vampire" of a pack who must be killed to save any half-vampires.
The movie is legendary and sparked two too late too little sequels in the 2000's that attempted to cash in on name value. There has been a planned TV show in development at the CW for a few years that just can't get new life. One iteration for the show included a pretty cool idea of following the core vampires through various decades . Even if the show never gets off the ground, the demand for more Lost Boys content is there and the first film is undoubtledly a classic.
2. Blade
Before Marvel Comics as a result of the MCU became the juggernaut that it is today, they were just trying to survive and sold film rights to help stay afloat. In the process came Blade released in 1998 and starring the 1990's Black king of action films Wesley Snipes. Blade is a Dhampir a half-human half-vampire whose lifes mission is to eradicate the bloodsuckers of the world. He finds himself in a battle with Deacon Frost (bad ass name) played by Stephen Dorff who gives a vicious villain performance.
Blade has kick ass action scenes, and more kick ass action scenes. It also gives the vampires of it's world a deep mythology and show how sophiscated their society is. They are wealthy, they have mere mortals who wish to be vampires doing their dirty work during the day. "Pure Bloods" or born vampires are considered superior to those who were converted. They keep archives of their history and worship their own religion and blood gods.
The sequel delves deeper into the vampire culture in this film universe. The third film introduces the original vampire Dracula but falls very flat compared to the first two. Blade is considered a comic book movie above all else, but the inclusion of vampires give its horror attributes.
Besides the two sequels, Blade also spawned a mini anime series and a TV show in the mid 2000s starring rapper Sticky Fingaz. Marhershala Ali is set to bring the character back in the MCU this decade.
3. Underworld Series
This film series all six of them have all the ingredients about vampire lore I love. A full mythology of origins, powers, hierarchies and way of life. Vampires in this film series having ruling elders who take turns hibernating and awakening to lead the species in their war against the lycans (werewolves). Both sides were the result of a genetic mutation centuries ago, and have established their own communities living alongside humans.
The films are all about the action and have bare plots, especially the first one it's nothing more than a film trying to capitalize of the Matrix's aesthics and special effects, with a Romeo + Juliet love story. All set against the backdrop of a centuries long war between mythical creatures. Despite that I'll stop what I'm doing and watch these films when they come on.
4. Fright Night
This vampire film released in 1985, and stars Chris Sarandon of Scarface fame and William Ragsdale as an 80's lovable loser who is obessed with old school horror films, he suspects something's not quite right with his new neighbor. He set's out on a mission to prove that his neighbor is a vampire and responsible for the recent abductions in the area.
Fright Night is 80's comedy/horror at it's finest. William Ragsdale plays his role well, and Chris Sarandon plays creepy vampire Jerry with enough convinction he wanted to drive a stake through his heart yourself. A sequel was released a few years later, followed by a remake in 2011 starring Colin Farrell and another sequel in 2013.
5. Once Bitten
Released in 1985 and starring Jim Carrey in his first film role as high schooler Mark. Once Bitten has the typical teenage tropes of the 1980's...a teenager just wanting to get laid. Mark has been desperate to lose virginity but his longtime girlfriend won't budge. At the same time there is a vampire countess played by Lauren Hutton who must drink the blood of a virgin three different times by Halloween to stay immortal. A bit of a spin on traditional vampire lore, the film follows Mark as he starts to slowly convert while still trying to get lucky.
Once Bitten isn't gory by any means, and it's a horror comedy but isn't really laugh out loud funny. It deserves some praise for switching up the vampire mythology just a bit on how some may survive. It's one of those films you can turn on and check out from reality for a couple hours.
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