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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

My personal top favorite vampire films

My Best friend is a vampire (1987). I admit it, this is a guilty pleasure, all the way. I love Robert Sean Leonard. Plus, it's very 80s.

Let the right One in (2008). Well done. I found it most impressive though not deeply moving. It was the oasis in a sea of really bad recent vampire flicks, in my opinion.

Near Dark - 1987's other superb vampire offering. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. I love this film. I wish I owned this. The bar scene is hands down the most memorable. With a cast ripped from Aliens featuring Lance Henricksen, Bill Paxton (Does he ever survive a film?) Jenette Goldstein, and Adrian Pasdar (more widely known for his recent performance as Nathan Petrelli from Heroes). It is a dark film done well. The vampires aren't sexy, just dangerous and dirty.

The Hunger (1983) How could I not love this? Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, Bauhaus. Beautiful, edgy, tragic vampires. Now, the thing is, although I love this film I have to admit I love this film because of its camp factor in my universe. I don't love The Hunger because it's an exceptional vampire film, I love it because it's such a cultural icon at this point. This film deserves to be on this list because it covers the vampire/lesbian/death quota for all vampire movie lists.

Shadow of the Vampire (2000) - a movie that is a take off of the original Nosferatu from 1922. A brilliantly filmed and acted film. If you are familiar with Nosferatu (1922) you should be set. If you haven't seen this film, see it. It's great. I loved the performances given by John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe. Amazing actors in a fine film.

Nosferatu (1922) The classic. Worth every minute. For me at least a horror classic. I like my vampires deep down creepy.

The addiction (1995) - Strangely disturbing. Lili Taylor, Christopher Walken, Annabel Sciorra and Edie Falco round out the cast. I love Lili Taylor and have since her turn in Say Anything. She's great and powerful, and in this she's pretty disturbed. I love that this film was shot in black and white. The blood and needle scenes are upsetting. Again, fine performances by all, with a premise that vampirism is an addiction. Throw in some existential pondering and suffering and you have this film.

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995) I love this film, it is a fun mockery of the past 20 years of Dracula movies. I'm a big Mel Brooks fan. I also love Peter McNicol's version of Renfield. My favorite Renfield is Tom Waits, but it's because I love Tom Waits and his music and anything he's in.

Okay, so these are just my top vamp flicks. What are yours and why?

3 comments:

  1. I love RSL, too, but I've never seen, or even heard of, My Best Friend is a Vampire. I'll have to check it out.

    I sheepishly admit to also liking the oh-so-cheesy vampire flick Once Bitten. I love cheese, be it in my mouth or in the films I watch.

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  2. Oh, also, I remember a movie, but I don't remember the title. If I remember correctly, Angel recommended it to us way back in the day. It was about these two brothers. The younger one thought that his brother might be a vampire. Also in the movie was an aborted baby found (in a box?) and a neighbor woman, who (I think) was sleeping with the older brother...

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  3. gunma-gal. The movie you were thinking of is Reflecting Skin, and it has a young Viggo Mortenson in it. My Best Friend is a vampire is a wonderfully cheesy 80s vamp film, worth it I think.

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