Top 20 vampire movies

Top 20 is a tall assignment, and while there are certainly plenty out there, I have a top ten list with the following purpose: to show the wide variety of vampire movies out there, not necessarily the scariest. This list will let a beginner see the many different shapes the genre of vampire films can take.

I’m a big fan of horror movies, and especially of a good vampire movie. While there are tons of cheap crap vampire movies out there, there are is also a wide array of great vampire movies that, best of all, vary greatly from one film to another. The trouble with making a top ten list for vampire movies is that some people like vampire comedies, others like the strange surreal vampire films, while others want blood and guts an the scariest movie they can find.

So for this list, my top ten vampire movie list is focusing on ten great, diverse vampire movies. This list is the top ten for variety among vampire movies. This list will show you the wide array of types of vampire movies, put in no particular order (since taste and preference and the differences between these movies makes it impossible to compare them on the same lines).

Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie des Gravens (1922)

This is the grandfather of all vampire movies, a movie that never should have been made. This film is a black and white silent picture that stars Max Schrek as the creepy Count Orlock. This film was an expressionist film that remains extremely popular today, but because of a weird way: half the people who still watch this film find Nosferatu extremely creepy and scary, while the other half find it campy and hilarious.

This is one of the earliest vampire films, and after it’s release, Bram Stoker’s widow sued the director, saying this was a blatant rip off of her late husband’s novel: Dracula. The court found in her favor, and every negative of this film was supposed to have been destroyed, but pirate copies kept cropping up all over the place. Once the copyright to Dracula wore off (copyrights last 70 years after the author’s death), the movie was re-released in DVD format and is now available on DVD. Whether this movie hits you as very creepy or hilarious, it’s worth seeing.

John Carpenter’s Vampires (1998)

John Carpenter’s Vampires is one of the better recent vampire movies that actually takes the effort to be a vampire movie, and not an action film disguised as a vampire movie. James Woods plays the role of the main protagonist, a vampire hunter who is obsessed

Comparison of vampires and werewolves

Werewolves and vampires are both classic monsters that have survived in myth and fiction for hundreds of years. They have been portrayed in numerous variations, both separately and together.

Popular vampires in America today are almost all ideological decedents of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Bram Stoker created many elements of the modern vampire myth, including abilities such as turning into animals, and weaknesses such as aversion to sunlight. Long before Stoker, however, vampires were portrayed as courtly gentlemen, powerful, possibly rich, and not to be crossed lightly. Many of these classic views may go back to Vlad Tepes, called Dracul, and said to be an inspiration for Stoker. Certainly throughout the middle ages many powerful men in Italy and France encouraged rumors that they were vampires to intimidate their enemies.

Werewolves do not have any definitive source, but for a long time were widely shaped by the European perception of wolves: cruel, vicious, and eternally lusting for blood. It is only in recent years, as wolves have become seen in a more sympathetic light, that werewolves have begun to take on some of the romantic appeal that vampires have had for centuries. While recorded cases of people claiming to be vampires are relatively common,

Vampires and werewolves are both defined by a single characteristic. Vampires have fangs and drink blood. Werewolves are men that turn into wolves (or in rare cases, wolves that turn into men). Everything else is a secondary characteristic.

The commonly cited secondary characteristics of vampires are the need to die before you become one, the return to death during the day, being nearly impossible to kill, but being vulnerable to a stake through the heart, sunlight, fire, or blessed objects, and mind control. Oh, and some can fly. Vampires a generally said to have control over every aspect of their supernatural abilities.

Werewolves are most often believed to turn into wolves during the full moon. When they are in this shape, they are believed to have little or no control over themselves. These days they are commonly believed to be vulnerable to silver, a characteristic which probably developed when one of the Beasts of Gevaudann was supposedly killed with a silver bullet.

Vampires and werewolves are both created in the same manner – a person who is bit by a vampire or werewolf, becomes a vampire or werewolf. There are several variations on this – a common variation for vampires is that they have to exchange blood three times before the change can take place.

The Problem with Vampires

I’ve been catching reruns of this show, The Mad, Mad House on the reality channel. The premise of the show is that a bunch of people with alternative life styles – the ‘Alts’ – take on a group of normal people in a mansion and whichever normal person stays the most normal at the end of the episode, that person gets booted. See, they’re testing their capacity for change and growth. Or something. Anyways, the Alts are composed of a naturist, a modern primitive, a voodoo priestess, a witch and … a vampire.

Well, he’s a guy who says he’s a vampire, though I seriously doubt that he’s immortal and undead or any of that stuff. He drinks blood, sure, and he sleeps in a coffin during the day, and he has prosthetic fangs attached to his incissors, and he has creepy contact lenses, and he’s really pale, but as far as being a ‘real’ vampire – if that term can be used for a fictional creation from folk lore – Naah. He aint it. This ‘vampire’ is just one more weirdo looking for some attention.

Vampires strain my ability to suspend disbelief, especially depending on who’s vampire you’re talking about. Like take the ‘classic’ vampire as described by Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Dracula has been ‘living’ for centuries in Transylvania and they know about him in the area but for some reason nobody has taken the trouble to dispose of him. That’s okay. They mind their own business in Transylvania. Well, according to the legend he can’t be seen in mirrors, is scared of crosses, is mostly afraid of daylight, hates garlic, enjoys long walks in the country, fine dining and genuine people. He can be killed with a stake through the heart or fire … and maybe silver. I’ll have to check.

Every time that Dracula feeds on someone till they die- pay attention, this is important – they also become a vampire. And that is the problem. The mathematics of vampirism just doesn’t work out. Dracula would have created a geometric progression of undead so that each vampire would inturn create multiples of more vampires, and they would each one of them create even more so that you would have a pyramid scheme of the undead. It would not take long until the entire world is full of vampires and who’s going to be left to suck on?

This is hinted at in Steven King’s excellent vampire novel, Salem’s Lot. It’s a great book. I really love it. But at the very end when the hero has gone off with his boy companion, after the whole village of Salem’s Lot has been turned into vampires, I wonder … what’s stopping the vampires from going to the next little village in Maine, or the next one, or the next one and so on? Answer: Nothing. They’d just keep going until the entire world is full of vampires and, you guessed it, there’s no one left to suck on.

Anne Rice takes care of this problem, sort of, in her vampire novels the most notable of which is Interview with the Vampire. In her scheme, it’s not enough to just be bitten by a vampire; That won’t turn you into one automatically. Instead, the vampire has to select you and then there has to be a process where you drink blood from the vampire and by doing that you ingest the essence, which turns you into one of the immortal undead. But there’s a catch, of course. You have to be beautiful. I guess it’s comforting to know that there won’t be any eternally ugly ones, but still … that’s so not fair to all the non-beauty queens out there. The benefit of this is that they aren’t promiscuously making more of their own kind. Sort of undead birth control.

What really bothers me most about her books is that once you’re a vampire you can never have sex again. The act of draining someone of their blood is supposed to be an orgasmic experience that’s even better than the real thing, but I don’t care. It just wouldn’t do it for me. I’m used to the old fashioned way, thank you. Her vampires are real sensuous and all that, and in love with each other, and that’s nice. But as much as they love each other, they can never consumate that love in any meaningful way.

And her vampires feed every single night – one human sucked dry apiece. Here’s where the math really gets tricky. In Interview with the Vampire there are three vampires in the group and they live together for about seventy five years. So let’s do the math: That’s about twenty five thousand victims, times three, which yields approximately seventy five thousand dead bodies around this very, very small group. Do you honestly mean to tell me that this would totally escape everybody’s attention? Not even the dumbest law enforcement would miss this coincidence. Okay, Anne cheats a little and says that her vampires have a special way of healing up the bite marks so that the supernaturally dead people would be taken for just normal, regular dead. But still, they have no blood and we’re supposed to believe no one would ever figure that out?

I don’t think so.

The vampires I like the best are the ones in the TV show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This is a great show and the greatest thing about it is how tongue and cheek everything is. Things may seem more than a little improbable now and then, but the characters roll with it. Creator Joss Whedon’s vampires are more fully realized, and these guys have ‘romantic’ lives, if you know what I mean? You do know what I mean. Right?

Yeah, they get it on. The story lines are much more satisfying and the inherent Romeo and Juliet type conflict is heightened when Buffy the Vampire Slayer is involved with not one, but two seperate vampires … and she’s a vampire slayer! Boy, tell me love isn’t blind. Joss’s vampire infested world does kind of have the problem of too many vampires that make even more, but he does have a slayer to take care of the overpopulation, like Buffy is their predator. If I had to choose from which type of vampire I could have faith in, his would definitely be the closest.

Exploring the vampire in cinema – Part 20

Horror movies are one of the greatest genre in the movie world and in the world vampires have a very high status. They’ve managed to scare us, intrigue us, made us fearful of the canines, of fearful of darkness and fearful of the howling in cold nights. The most famous vampire of them all is Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, and has been featured in many movies whether its horror or satirical. Keanu Reaves played Jonathan Harker in the movie “Dracula”. Dracula was also featured in “Van Helsing”, “Blade”, etc.

“Nosferatu” or the living dead was one of the classic vampire movies. It has a libel case stating that it was based on Dracula.

In many movies we’ve seen vampire hunters running around with a stake, silver weapons,etc. From Nosferatu to modern day vampires, the myth and legend of vampires is still fresh in the audience. they are still intrigued by the blood sucking, indestructible by any weapon, gravity defying creatures we call vampires. They have made a different type of world in themselves, they are hunted, killed but stillthey have the power to create the awe in movies when something happens due to them or to them. And with the modern technologies being used in the field of Cinema, the movie-makers have thrilled the audience more than usual. More and more vampire movies are being made and it has become hard to keep track of them all. If U ask somebody what is his or her favourite vampire movie then they’ll tell you a name of a movie which clearly shows how popular vampire movies are this world. Not only Hollywood but vampire movies have been made around the world as movie-makers know they are popular among viewers and good for box office.

So wherever we are in the future I’m sure we will come across movies and where there are movies, there are horror movies and where there is a will to frighten there is a vampire.

Common attributes of vampires

Nosferatu, devil-made, blood suckers, vampires have been called many names throughout history and legend. Vampires have plagued real life personas, movies and books as long as stories have been passed down. The attributes of vampires can vary upon the type of vampire and who the vampires maker was. However there are several common attributes of vampires.

The first and most prominent disposition of the vampire is that they are all pale. They are the walking dead. The only time a vampire is flushed or looks real is after the vampire has fed. The blood of a vampire’s victim pumps life back through the veins of the vampire.

Another feature of the vampire that is common in all vampires is the lack of a heart beat. Not that many would get that close to a vampire alive but if anyone ever did the sound of a heart beat would be lacking. If however a vampire has just fed it is possible to hear the faintest whisper of a heartbeat.

All vampires need blood to survive. Some stories and legends will tell you that vampires of a certain age will no longer have to feed but according to other stories and legends a vampire’s thirst is not something that can be dismissed. Eventually they will whither away from lack of food i.e. blood.

A vampire will not die easily. Even when starved a vampire does not die. A vampire will be whither away yet the state of mind almost like meditation can be achieved. A vampire’s state of mind can be affected in various ways through this malicious act. The last thing anyone wants to deal with is a crazy vampire so think before you try to starve one. Also many vampires have special attributes like physic abilities, strength and persuasion. These can make it harder to kill a vampire.

All vampires can die. There are several ways to kill a vampire. A stake through the heart, sunlight and fire are the main ones according to Dr. Van Helsing, the best vampire tracker according to Bram Stoker. New vampire stories state that some vampires especially those with strong blood can go into sunlight without being affected this however according to legend is highly doubtful. A vampire that goes into the sun will burst into flame. Fire is something that all vampires avoid like the plague. A stake through the heart is not something any vampire wants to feel.

Another common attribute among vampires is that they do not get sick. Often if a vampire is made when it was sick it is miraculously cured by transition. Common colds, plaques and disease do not happen to vampires.

These are just some of the common attributes of vampires. May you never meet one in person to compare these attributes with.

Vampires in Anne Rices books

Anne Rice creates an intricate, detailed history of vampire lore in her novels. Her ideas redefine what it means to be a fictitious vampire; most vampire tales have since owe much of their theories to Anne Rice. She recreates the tale of origin of vampirism, rewrites the transitional stage between being a human and being the living undead, and redefines what it means to live as a vampiric creature. All this she shows us through the complex and interweaving tales of her many characters of The Vampire Chronicles’.

Firstly, how does Rice’s vampire lore differ to previous ideas? The first writer to truly create the vampire as a quintessential icon of the horror genre was, of course, Bram Stoker. Before Anne Rice, Stoker’s vampire lore was the most famous.

Dracula’s vampirism arose from his use of the black arts to defy God and mortal death. Anne Rice’s vampires originated in Egypt, when the evil spirit Amel fused with the spirit of the Queen Akasha as her spirit left her body after an attack. They joined spirits re-entered her body, fusing with her heart and brain, creating a hybrid between mortal human and immortal spirit: a vampire.

Stoker’s Dracula creates other vampires in the same way Rice’s vampire do, by draining their blood and feeding them his own. However, unlike with Rice’s vampires, Dracula’s vampires are always weaker than him, and bound to him almost as a slave.

The transition between being alive and being undead also differs: in Stoker’s novel, the transformation takes days, in which the victim appears very ill and weak, gradually displaying signs of vampirism, such as a defiance to all things holy; in Rice’s novels, the human dies the same night he or she was bitten, going through a painful mortal death which lasts varying amounts of time, until that same night, they rise as a young vampire.

According to Stoker, the only way to kill a vampire is to sever its head, and then pierce its heart with silver. Sunlight does not destroy them. In typical vampire legend, vampires are nocturnal creatures, but the destroying properties of sunlight are not mentioned. The first depiction of sunlight killing a vampire was in the 1922 silent film Nosferatu’. According to Rice, young vampires are killed by sunlight, but as they grow more powerful with age, they build up a resistance. Fire and decapitation also kill her vampires, but holy water, crucifixes (Actually, I’m quite fond of looking at crucifixes’ Louis) and garlic do not.

Dracula has

Common attributes of vampires – Part 3

COMMON ATTRIBUTES OF VAMPIRES

Vampires are the mysterious “undead,” bloodsucking, seductive predators of myths, legends, and nightmares that have haunted mankind’s psyche for thousands of years.

When Bram Stoker released his novel, “Dracula,” in 1897, it gave rise to the folklore and fears surrounding this legendary creature. Through the centuries, many subsequent variations and adaptations have followed, but basic vampirisms have incredulously remained intact into modernized interpretations of this blood-lusting monster.

Some common (fictionalized) vampire attributes include:

* Before being bitten by an existing vampire, most vampires were originally normal human beings.

* Vampires possess fangs that are used to pierce the carotid artery in the neck. This allows them to feast upon the blood of the victim.

* Once you have succumbed to a vampire’s hypnotic entrancement, and allow him to feast upon your blood, you die, only to arise from the grave as a reanimated corpse, a new member of the Kindred of the undead. (In some instances, the vampire may not drain you completely and only take small amounts of blood to infuse his strength over several feedings, but unless something interrupts the pattern, you will end up the same way.)

* Vampires crave the blood of the living to quell their hunger, hunting between dusk and dawn, their most powerful hours of the night.

* They usually retreat to a coffin or sarcophagus (hidden in a basement or cellar) during the daylight hours, to regenerate.

* Vampires are able to shape-shift, normally taking on the form of a bat, wolf, rat, spider or a cloud of mist.

* A vampire’s hair and fingernails are usually long and, though they are “dead,” they appear quite healthy.

* Vampires originated from Transylvania, Rumania, Bulgaria or Hungary.

* Vampires have no reflection in a mirror because they do not possess a soul.

* Though they possess super-human strength, hearing, and seductiveness from dusk until dawn, the hours just before, and just after, midnight are when a vampire’s abilities are the strongest.

* They are not normally able to move about feely in the daylight and will suffer burns and depleted energy if exposed to intense light for any length of time.

* They do not cast a shadow, cannot walk upon consecrated ground, cross running water, or cannot enter a house without being invited.

* Garlic, holy water and crucifixes can repel a vampire but they will not kill him.

Exploring the vampire in cinema – Part 4

Arguably, the most fascinating , imaginative and terrifying creature to be featured in world cinema over the last century is the vampire. A creature who is blessed/cursed with eternal life, and must find sustenance in the blood of human beings and animals alike. Over the years, there have been many myths and laws introduced to govern vampires in both film and literature, these include that vampires are bound to the night, as contact with direct sunlight will kill them. This suggests many interesting notions, such the dark side of life to which vampires are inexorably constrained. Day and night, Ying and Yang, good and evil.

The earliest vampire film was “The Vampire”, made in 1913, written and directed by Robert G. Vignola. This film was an interesting starting point for the vampire film genre, in that the vampire the title refers to is in fact a woman.

Released nine years later, was arguably the best vampire movie of all time, “Nosferatu”,

Directed by F.W Murnau, and starring Max Schrek in his unforgettable performance as Count Orlok. This film was of course, a silent black and white picture, although even to contemporary fans it is widely considered a master work of cinema. The movie is essentially the Bram Stoker novel Dracula’, and was in fact based on the book without permission, and subsequently destroyed, although it was later restored. What is interesting and unique about Nosferatu, is the portrayal of the vampire, Count Orlok. Despite being the film’s villain, he displays a range of emotion and feeling, and even draws sympathy from the audience. This is an interesting point, as one of the common myths of vampires is they have no reflection. Reflection allows for a complete and honest representation of ones own self, and when used in this context, carries a dual meaning and relevance. The vampire has no reflection, and therefore cannot see his own image or physical nature, this represents something of a half life, and an inability to reflect upon himself or his actions.

The Bela Lugosi film Dracula’ (1931) become another benchmark of vampire films, and introduced the notion of the sexual nature of vampires and the themes of temptation and lust. Again, most contemporary vampire films have male vampires as opposed to female vampires, perhaps to add the dimension of misogyny ,violence and animalistic lust associated with men to the creature.

The nature of the vampire as portrayed in films does not allow for much interaction