Friend, Zahir had posted about a top 70 vampire film list at Snarkarati. There seemed to be some odd entries, quality wise, and some omissions as well as one film that I’d not heard of, which will be the subject of a future ‘Vamp or Not?’ It did inspire me to create a Top 100 of my own.
Things to note:
These are taken from the highest scored films I have reviewed (mainly) and, in many cases, there is very little to separate one from another.
These are all judgement calls on my part.
Certain films have not been reviewed but have been looked at under ‘Vamp or Not?’ – they have been slotted in where I believe they rank.
Honourable Mentions do not qualify for this list.
TV shows/episodes do qualify for the list.
I am hoping it will be dynamic as I see/review films not on the list.
One thing is certain, you will disagree with the list, iro inclusions, omissions and order.
Things to note:
These are taken from the highest scored films I have reviewed (mainly) and, in many cases, there is very little to separate one from another.
These are all judgement calls on my part.
Certain films have not been reviewed but have been looked at under ‘Vamp or Not?’ – they have been slotted in where I believe they rank.
Honourable Mentions do not qualify for this list.
TV shows/episodes do qualify for the list.
I am hoping it will be dynamic as I see/review films not on the list.
One thing is certain, you will disagree with the list, iro inclusions, omissions and order.
- Isle of the Dead
- Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)
- Let Me In
- Interview with the Vampire
- Vampyr
- Viy
- Black Sunday
- Near Dark
- Horror of Dracula
- Marebito
- Let the Right One In
- The Shining
- Thirst {2009}
- Dracula (1979)
- From Dusk till Dawn
- Cronos
- Vampire Lovers
- Moon Child
- Nosferatu (1979)
- Jakob's Wife
- Rigor Mortis
- Lilith's Awakening
- Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter
- Kuroneko
- The Hunger
- The Fearless Vampire Killers
- The Serpent’s Tale
- Fright Night
- Habit (1995)
- Let’s Scare Jessica to Death
- Vampire Circus
- Count Dracula (1977)
- Strigoi
- Blade 2
- ’Salem’s Lot (2004)
- Mr Vampire
- Shiki
- The Unwanted
- Doctor Sleep (Director's Cut)
- Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
- Trinity Blood
- Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural
- Black Sabbath
- Valkoinen Peura
- la Maison Nucingen
- Byzantium
- White Skin
- Nadja
- The Addiction
- Love Bites (2001)
- Sodium Babies
- Martin
- the Transfiguration
- Day Watch
- Night Watch
- Dracula (1931)
- the Vampire Bat
- Twins of Evil
- Ganja and Hess
- The Red Violin
- A Nocturne: Night of the Vampire
- Vampire Cop Ricky
- Shadow of the Vampire
- The Last Theft
- the Lost Boys
- Dance of the Damned
- Castle of Blood
- the Living Dead Girl
- Vampyres
- the Curse of Styria
- Stake Land
- The Baron
- Dreamland
- Vidocq
- Frostbite
- Bloodsucking Bastards
- Perfect Creature
- Therapy for a Vampire
- Vampire’s Kiss
- Lament of the Lamb vol 1-4
- Apostle
- the Revenant
- Netherbeast Incorporated
- Alucarda
- Twixt
- Carmilla (2019)
- The Lake Vampire
- The Carriage or Dracula & My Mother
- Urban Gothic: Vampirology
- Immortality
- Vampire in Venice
- The Monkees: Monstrous Monkee Mash
- Being Human (pilot)
- Being Human (US - Season 2) (US - Season 3)
- True Blood - Season 1
- Ultraviolet (1998)
- The Munsters - season 1 and 2
- Red Dwarf: Polymorph
- Hanno Cambiato Faccia
- The Amazing Screw-On Head
39 comments:
Slightly surprised to see Dracula Has Risen From The Grave but not Taste the Blood of Dracula.
Richard, if you look to the review of Taste the Blood, you'll see I didn't really rate it highly.
It was, however, a close call between Risen, Prince of Darkness and Scars of... I think the iconic scenes of the bell, at the beginning, and the doll symbolising discarding innocence carried Risen ahead.
All just personal taste though
Honestly, a few surprises here and there, mostly in terms of placement. But that is a matter of taste. Again, there are almost a dozen of these I've not seen (at least in their entirety) but the essence is that I agree with all the ones on the list which I recognize. Methinks I would have added Let The Right One In
Fantastic list mate. Many cheers for it. I only have one problem, and you know what it is, and it's a BIG one. The REMAKE of Salem's Lot chimes in about FIFTY! notches above the original?! I demand a re-count OR at some point down the line, the horror/vampire loving community will pester you to re-examine your review of one or the other. Other than that, what's not to love my dear Tali! Hugs and kittens, Chick
PS - LOVE that The Monkees made the Top 100.
Completely off topic, but I thought I'd let you know that I decided to try one of these bloggers myself.
http://authorsroit.blogspot.com/
I even broke my blogger cherry with a lame intro post. ;-)
Zahir: Cheers mate. Let the Right One In, I am sure, will likely make the top 100 at some point. However, as it has never had a UK release (to date) and thus never been reviewed at this site...
Chick, my friend, it wouldn't be me without my controversial view on Salem's Lot and the remake - however I thought you might just pick up on that. But hey, not just the Monkees but also Bud and Lou...
s.roit cheers for the heads up, I shall be over avisiting soon.
Great list. It'll come in handy next time I go shopping at Amazon.
cheers simon
How can LOVE AT FIRST BITE not be in your top 100 vampire films? Surely that's an oversight!
Hi Edna, good to hear from you. As I said at the head of this the only thing certain is that "you will disagree with the list, iro inclusions, ommisions and order."
As it is, the list was compiled from the best scored movies I've reviewed. The top 3 are the 3 10 out of 10's then we have the 9's, the 8.5's etc The lowest scoring films on the list are from 87 to 100 and all scored 7 out of 10 (though a large number of 7 out of 10s didn't make it to this list, judgement calls on my part).
I'm afraid Love at First Bite only scored 6 out of 10.
Hmph...
Well, what about THE VAMPYR: A SOAP OPERA then?
You know something, I haven't seen that since it originally aired. I have, however, been keeping an eye out for it recently as it only recently came back to mind.
Believe me, once found and rewatched, if it is found to be of a high mark then it would slot in within the Top 100 as the actual top 100 list is meant to be an organic 'living' list as it were.
I remember the narrator's bit about the Vampyre's "deep, dark vorrrrrtex" as being the highlight of Robert Stephens' career (not saying much, but anyway...).
I thought this a very good and fair list. My only reservation is that for sheer fun, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires should be on it somewhere. Chinese Ghost Story and Erotic Ghost story are also fun Vampire movies that ought to be on here somewhere.
Cheers Felisgris. Unfortunately 7 golden may be fun but... well its not a great movie. Don't get me wroing, I enjoy watching it but...
Chinese Ghost Story is an interesting one. One of my favourite HK movies - in all honesty - it is a great film but... is it vampire? I will have to dig it out at some point and do a 'Vamp or Not?' - if it comes out as Vamp then it would find a place here...
Erotic Ghost Story... I am not sure that I am aware of it, to be fair.
Can you pls post a list of the top 100 vampire books.
I more of a reader than a movie fanatic though i really loved the Isle of the Dead
anon, glad you enjoyed Isle of the Dead.
Though I have read many a vampire book, I have not reviewed that many. However, rather than a top 100 I might do an article including some of my top recommendations of vamp books.
Keep your eyes peeled, I'd recon towards the end of May.
Excellent fave list. Very nice and most importantly, well rounded. Movies from all periods are represented from "the classics" to "golden age" & right on through to the "latter/current" vampers. I must admit to being very partial to
the vampire movies of the sixties and seventies but indeed I have my faves from all periods. Right off the top of my head these would probably make my top 20 : )
Vampire Circus '72
Count Dracula '77
Vampyr '32
Nosferatu '22
Dracula '31 (Spanish)
Lemora '73
Let's Scare Jessica to Death '71
Dracula '58
Black Sunday '60
The Blood-Spattered Bride '72
Kuroneko '68
Valerie and her Week of Wonders '70
Lips of Blood '75
Nosferatu '79
Vampyres '74
Dracula '79 (Langella)
Vampire Lovers '70
Let The Right One In '2008
The Addiction '95
Jonathan '70
nice little list - my article iro Jonathon is in my pending file but, I must admit to being disapointed by it but that had much to do with me watching a washed out VHS of the film.
Indeed the beautiful photography I have read about was so lost within the awful print that I have made it an honourable mention for now until I see a decent copy of it.
That article will be up some time in the not too distant future.
re: Jonathan
There is a nice looking German pal dvd release floating around that makes a world of difference. Until it came out all that was available were terrible looking boots (I had one of these also). It's definitely a love it or hate it kind of film but for me seems to get stronger upon each revisit. I look forward to reading your thoughts on the film.
was really suprised that Kindred:the embraced wasnt on the list,can i ask why?Thought it was pretty good and its the only series based off a vampire rpg.Also suprised that Forever Knight didnt make the list either.
Just beause a movie is old doesn't make it good. Very happy to see Near Dark make top ten though.
Ryan
The list is subjective - it always was going to be. Kindred was good, above average fare but... in my opinion it was hit and miss in places and suffered from a dose of soap opera melodrama. Forever Knight was also good and started to reach its potential. Both series deserved to be developed further.
I agree that old doesn't make good necessarily and there are bad old movies as well as good. In the top 10 the oldest is very old, 1922, and the number 1 is 1945 - but they are both fantastic films. There are also three films newer than Near Dark in there and, when the UK DVD release happens next month and I review the film, there will be a 2010 film in the top 10 - I know because I already know how much I rate the film.
As I said "One thing is certain, you will disagree with the list, iro inclusions, omissions and order."
That said, many thanks for the comment - I appreciate it.
Controversy and debate are always interesting.
While I have high regard for Taliesin's critical judgment, I disagree about several movies (with a lot of agreement too; Black Sunday rules). And that's cool.
Among my own top twenty or so are some that a lot of vampire genre fans would take issue with:
Twilight: Fan of all the movies and can't wait for Breaking Dawn, my favorite of the books. 'Vampire caesarean' will enter the pop lexicon.
The Breed: Audacious, heavy-handed, and a bit goofy, but atmospheric in its off-kilter way. And Bai Ling is smoking.
The Return of Dracula: A nihilistic philosopher of evil comes to Mayberry (the family, but may as well be the town). And way before Salem's Lot retold Stoker's Dracula in small town America.
Rabid: Cronenberg anticipated pluripotent somatic stem cell therapy in 1977!
Razor Blade Smile: Incredibly, this charming, verve-filled gem has its haters.
Halek
Cheers Halek, especially for your comment round my critical function - most appreciated :)
Whilst we'll have to agree to disagree over the Twilight series (not content wise, as I quite like the books, but cinematography/acting wise) Of the other films you have mentioned they each have something to offer. I perhaps wouldn't score them as high but appreciate where you are coming from and, really, the same went for the series mentioned by Ryan - they have a lot to offer, I just didn't personally place them as high as the ones here.
T_ttlg
I absolutely love this list!
I did a list over on the IMDB website which was based on Snarkerati's list too.
My list is 70 titles. Many of the films listed here were included. I'm happy to find some new ones I had not yet heard of on your list, though. Some of these are sadly not available to me here, but I will be checking out the ones that are and updating my list accordingly.
I have to admit though, if I were going to complain about anything, I would say it doesn't seem fair to include TV shows with the films. There are so many good films the list could have easily been made with only movies and it seems like shows (or episodes of shows) should really have their own list. That, of course, is just my opinion, and is probably just because I would have liked to see how this list would have looked with only films on it!
In any case, great job!
(If you are interested, my list is available on the IMDB site. You can google it under "70 Best Vampire Movies" a list by pisces19. If you check it out, please leave a comment! I'd love to hear your thoughts!)
Thanks Margaret, the list has changed form as it is a 'living document' and certain titles have pushed others out. Unfortunately one or two titles haven't yet had commercial release but I've been lucky enough to be sent a screener which might explain some that are unavailable.
I take your point re the series but it was a judgement call when I constructed it.
I will certainly have a look over at your list.
Margaret - good list. There are inclusions I wouldn't have had but that, to me , is the joy of the genre.
There was even one I hadn't come across and so have just ordered Nomads - certainly worth a 'Vamp or Not?'
Thanks for your thoughts. I agree with your comments completely. It would be strange if we were in complete agreement on what movies were the best, but your list is completely respectable (anybody who includes The Living Dead Girl and Ganja & Hess amongst the best vampire movies ever is OK by me.) I am really looking forward to seeing the films I haven't seen yet. Thanks!
Hi Margaret - just to say Nomads has arrived so I'll be giving it a watch very soon and posting my thoughts on it.
Happy to get your thoughts on that and any other review/article on the blog
I really liked the The Addiction. I was able to see it again recently on the big screen at a local theater. Good stuff.
Andrew, got to say I'm jealous :)
Great site and nice list, Question.. Do you not like any of the Underworld movies?
Hi ShadowTek - thank you. And yes, I do like some of the Underworld movies, just not as much as these :)
I scored Underworld 7/10 and Underworld Evolution 7.5/10... then the scores did drop... rise of the Lycans I found a little stale (as we knew the main characters survived) and gave it 4.5/10, Underworld Awakening I liked more than some and gave it 5.5/10. The new movie, Blood Wars, to me is the weakest so far and I gave it 4/10
OK cool, was just wondering. I personally enjoyed them myself. I really liked how badass the Lycans are (as compared to most werewolf's)
The Subspecies Movies.
Especially The Vampire Journals.
I do like the subspecies movies - and agree that Vampire journals is especially cool. But I don't think they come up to the films listed in this Top 100
Hi, Andy.
I'm a bit surprised that *What We Do in the Shadows* is not included. I can understand some other omission like *Innocent Blood* or *Curse of the Undead*, but I would have thought WWDitS to be fight up your alley.
Hi Stu - the list is built firstly from the scores I gave and then by feel (so, all the films contained have scored 8 out of 10 or above, all the 8s are below the 8.5s but the ranking amongst the 8s was a subjective feel exercise, also noting that not every 8 out of 10 made the cut due to a subjective call on which ones fell below the top 100).
WWDitS is great fun but I gave it 7.5 out of 10 - which is why it falls below the top 100. However, you are right, I do like the film/series :)
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