Crystal Leflar’s Top 10 Vampire Movies: Part One

Posted on March 11, 2014 in Feature Articles // 0 Comments

Written by: Crystal Leflar

I remember enjoying John Carpenter’s Vampires but I loved the sort of sequel, Vampires: Los Muertos. The premise: Vampire Hunter (Jon Bon Jovi) and a priest hunt down a nest of vampires led by a badass Vampire Master whose lack of dialog only adds to her mystique. Sure, it’s a bit campy and it isn’t very highly rated by trolls on IMDB but I wish I had heard of it sooner. I would have loved to see this on the big screen. (And I don’t fork over my $15 bucks easily.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuHCNvt-r9U

What happens when you get a vampire to play a vampire in a vampire film? Shadow of the Vampire happens, that’s what. Hilarious and horrifying, dark comedy gold, my friends. Also, John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Cary Elwes, and Eddie Izzard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAn5uLNMmjk

Next up, another sequel! I liked Dracula 2000 so I watched Dracula 2: Ascension and the sequel is the one that stuck with me. A crippled professor and his students revive Dracula and hold him hostage (in his weakened state) while they try to create a cure from his blood. Of course, it’s Dracula, so shit goes horribly wrong and a wicked priest shows up to save the day kill whoever gets in his way. The whole movie is great, poetic and gory. I won’t tell you why, spoilers, you know, but I literally cheered at the end.

Can you believe there are people who didn’t like Bram Stoker’s Dracula? It was like reading the book, but better. I hated the book but loved the story, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to see this movie. Visually decadent and even sexy in an atmospheric kind of way. Gary Oldman is tragic and menacing as Dracula, who is both a man and a monster. Tragedies make the best love stories and this is one of my favorites.

I’m a child of the 80s so you’ll have to forgive me for My Best Friend is a Vampire. A teenage guy gradually turns into a vampire after a steamy night with a mysterious woman. Antics ensue. From evading bumbling vampire hunters to misfired mind control, botched dates and steak shakes, this movie is classic and campy!