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13 DIFFERENT VAMPIRE FLICKS to sink your teeth into!

July 4th 2007 05:06

I read last night on Yahoo news that an heir of Romania's former royal family put "Dracula's Castle" in Transylvania up for sale on Monday, hoping to secure a buyer. No price was announced, although Real Estate experts predict the castle would sell for more than $135 million, adding that Archduke Dominic Habsburg, the current owner, will sell it only to a buyer "who will treat the property and its history with appropriate respect."

The Bran Castle, perched on a cliff near Brasov in mountainous central Romania, is a top tourist attraction because of its ties to Prince Vlad the Impaler, the bloodthirsty warlord whose cruelty inspired Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula. Legend has it that Vlad spent one night in the 1400s at the castle (that’s all you need; one dark and lonely night).

After being restored in the late 1980s and following the end of communist rule in Romania it gained popularity as a tourist attraction known as, you guessed it, "Dracula's Castle." In recent years, the castle, complete with bats flying around its ramparts at twilight, has attracted filmmakers looking for a dramatic backdrop for films about Dracula and other horror movies.

Some 450,000 people visit the castle every year, so Habsburg has pledged to keep the castle operating as a museum for another three years.

In lieu of this transgression of historical horror, I’ve put together a list of thirteen vampire movies off the beaten path; undead gems of art and trash you might not have heard about, or paid less attention to in the past.

So, hide the garlic and crosses, rouge up, cloak up, pop your plastic fangs in, dim the lights, and get the coffins ready in the basement … ‘cos you’ll be up all night with this fine and dandy selection of fetid and ferocious blood-suckers!

1. Vampyr (1932, Germany/France, dir: Carl Dreyer) Young traveller Allan Grey arrives in a remote castle and starts seeing weird, inexplicable sights, including a man whose shadow has a life of its own, a mysterious scythe-bearing figure tolling a bell, and a terrifying dream of his own burial. This is a brilliant, near silent, expressionist interpretation of the vampire myth.

2. Scars of Dracula (1970, UK, dir: Roy Ward Baker) Count Dracula is brought back from the dead after blood is drooled on his remains by one of the bats he commands. When libertine Paul Carlson disappears one night, his brother Simon and his girlfriend trace him to the sinister castle and its undead host. This is one of Hammer Horror’s more violent and nasty offerings.

3. Vampyros Lesbos (1971, West Germany/Spain, dir: Jess Franco) From the hugely prolific exploitation Spainard Jesus Franco comes a psycho-sexadelic horror tale about a vixen vampiress seducing and killing women to appease her insatiable thirst for female blood. This stars the late great Soledad Miranda.

4. Daughters of Darkness (1971, Belgium/France/West Germany), dir: Harry Kumel) Originally known in French as The Red Lips, this atmospheric chiller toys with vampirism in a tale of sensual obsession. Stunning production design, location shooting and elegance of mood elevate this to high art.

5. Martin (1977, USA, dir: George Romero) A young man, who believes himself to be a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and hostile cousin in a small Pennsylvania town where he tries to redeem his blood-craving urges. Atmospheric and under-rated Romero flick - not about zombies. Tom Savini delivers the scarlet stuff.

6. Thirst (1979, Australia, dir: Rod Hardy) An intense psychological horror with a great twist: The descendant of Countess Elizabeth Bathory being abducted by a cult of self-proclaimed supermen whose state of superiority is attained by drinking from "blood cows" kept at a "dairy farm". They attempt to induct her into their sect.

7. Dracula’s Bride (1979, USA, dir: Phillip Marshak) A guilty pleasure indeed. A hardcore adaptation of the 1931 version of Dracula starring a who’s who of the adult film industry of the time: Jamie Gillis, Annette Haven, John Holmes, Seka, John Leslie, Serena, Kay Parker, Paul Thomas and featuring solid production values. The movie was re-cut as a softcore, more horror-orientated version under the title Dracula Sucks.

8. The Hunger (1983, USA, dir: Tony Scott) Deeply flawed, but stunningly filmed and with a languid, pervasive mood. David Bowie is John, the lover of Egyptian vampire Miriam (Catherine Deneuve). They dine on chic and wealthy Manhattanites. But John begins to age dramatically and seeks assistance from a doctor (Susan Sarandon). Miriam closes in on Sarah. Watch it if only for the opening scenes featuring legendary Goth band Bauhaus.

9. Vamp (1986, USA, dir: Richard Wenk) Two fraternity pledges go to a sleazy bar looking for strippers to entertain their college friends. Murphy’s Law rules the night, and after everything can go wrong it then turns out the bar staff are all undead, with Grace Jones playing the head vamp. This is a much-maligned, but very enjoyable romp.

10. Vampire’s Kiss (1989, USA, dir: Robert Bierman) Written by Joesph Minion who penned the excellent Scorsese flick After Hours (also about delusion and paranoia), this NYC tale finds Nic Cage as a corporate asshole who believes he’s been bitten by a vamp, and so acts accordingly. This is a truly biting comedy.

11. Cronos (1993, Mexico, dir: Guillermo del Toro) An aging antique dealer, Jesus Gris, happens upon an elegant mechanized scarab. It stabs whomever is holding it, yet the wound brings youthful vigor. It also brings a vampire's need for blood. The insectoid device is relentlessly pursued by a dying tycoon. A studied, but thoroughly stylish twist on vampirism from Latino golden boy del Toro (Mimic, Pan’s Labyrinth)

12. The Addiction (1994, USA, dir: Abel Ferrara) NYC college student Kathleen (Lily Taylor) is mugged and bitten by a strange woman (Annabella Sciorra). Kathleen becomes a vampire and her need for blood is similar to a drug addict's need for drugs. Christopher Walken is the head of the local vampire clan whom befriends her. This is up there with The Funeral and Bad Lieutenant as maverick Ferrara’s best films. Shot in stunning black and white.

13. Nadja (1994, USA, dir: Michael Almereyda) Members of a dysfunctional family of vampires are trying to come to terms with each other, in the wake of their father's death. Meanwhile, they are being hunted by Dr. Van Helsing and his hapless nephew. Sounds conventional, but this low-budget, monochromatic, post-modern indie flick is about as odd as they come. David Lynch executive produced and cameos as a morgue receptionist.

And one more of note I forgot about until I'd finished my post ... Andy Warhol's Blood For Dracula (1974, USA, dir: Paul Morrisey) ... Udo Kier is Dracula with a penchant for young virgin's blood ... if it ain't the real thing he throws up violently. Joe Dallesandro plays the heroic hunk on the estate. A perverse visual feast.

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: lists

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Comments

16 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by KylieW

July 4th 2007 05:24

Celebrity Obsession

I love a good vampire movie. I haven't seen most of these.

I really enjoyed Vampire's Kiss and I vaguely recall seeing Vamp. I don't remember much of that one....just Grace Jones (she's hard to forget!!0.

I'll have to check a few of these out

Comment by Damo

July 4th 2007 06:38

What a selection.
Suddenly I'm thirsty.
Grace Jones as a Vampire? That would Grace Jones as herself.
I always had fond memories of Count Yorga when I was a kid.

Comment by James Rickard

July 4th 2007 07:04

unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
Check this out...

Nice work! I love a good vampire movie and haven't seen half of these. I will add this for anyone who cares--Nicholas Cage is good in almost anything and Vampire's Kiss is no exception--he made the movie!

Comment by Ahmed

July 4th 2007 07:53

Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks

Actually Vamp reminds me of anther movie, I only saw the last half hour of it, aired on Halloween a few years ago. It starred George Clooney, there was this ex-priest with a son and daughter, in the end the son dies as well as the priest, daughter survives as does Clooney.

Another too vampire movies I know of: Dracula, directed by francis ford copolla and featuring Anthony Hopkins as professor van helsing, keanu reeves puts on a fake english accent to play Jonathan Harker which is pretty funny.

Also 'Dracula: Dead and loving it', my fave vampire movie of all time, not scary, but funny.

Comment by Ahmed

July 4th 2007 07:55

Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks

oh and Gary Oldman plays Dracula in the m ovie, I have no idea who Gary Oldman is but tonnes of people seem to appreciate his acting.

Comment by Philip Sharp

July 4th 2007 10:16

ICONOCLASTEROID
Tokenspark: Super Capsule Tokyo Blast!!!

Go ahead and kill me but I just love Blade.
I dream of someday throwing a rave with Karo syrup and food coloring coming from fire sprinklers....

Comment by JohnDoe

July 4th 2007 22:06

Film & TV on DVD

Awesome choices Bryn, Im especially fond of:
Nadja
Cronos
Vampire Kiss
The Addiction
The Hunger.

Thats most of my bloodsucking faves, I would only add

Razorblade Smile
Near Dark
Nightwatch

Comment by Cibbuano

July 4th 2007 22:46

Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

Wow, fantastic list... thanks for avoiding the obvious. I'm keen to see Martin, but Vampire's Kiss sounds hilarious.

Of course, The Hunger, Vampyros Lesbos, I'll have to watch as soon as possible.

Ahmed, you're thinking of From Dusk Till Dawn.

Comment by Bryn

July 4th 2007 23:05

Horrorphile

Cheers everyone for the comments ....

I mentioned in my intro that my selection was off the beaten path so to speak, so that's why I left out more obvious movies such as the Blade series, Coppola's Dracula, From Dusk Till Dawn (that's the one you were thinking of Ahmed), Near Dark, etc .... I forgot the Night Watch/Day Watch films ... oh well.

Comment by Bryn

July 4th 2007 23:14

Horrorphile

Cibby, cheers mate .... btw, saw Transformers ... whew. Overlong, but exhilerating. Possibly one of the most destructive films I've ever seen ...

Comment by D. Armenta

July 5th 2007 20:42

The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
L.A.M.P.

Aw man, Bryn..I was hoping to impress you by mentioning "Martin"....That was one weird movie. I believe it was Savini's first?

Comment by Bryn

July 6th 2007 03:12

Horrorphile

Armenta, yes I believe it was, back in 1977. He went on to do Dawn of the Dead the following year, again with Romero. Tom Savini is a hero of mine. Him and Rob Bottin, Rick Baker, Greg Nicotero, Stan Winston, Dick Smith ...

Comment by D. Armenta

July 6th 2007 20:17

The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
L.A.M.P.

Ditto all of the above! Did you read Savini's book, "Bizarro"? I tried every single effect he described in there, LOL!

Comment by Bryn

July 7th 2007 14:34

Horrorphile

No i haven't! I know of the book, the art of special effects makeup .... wow! that's cool! I love the "illusion" of SFX makeup ... CGI just bores me, generally ... I appreaciate when director's use it because there's no way any kind of SFX makeup is gonna look convincing ,but it needs to be used oh so sparingly ... I didn't like that Rob Zombie used CGI for blood surting from bullet hits to the body, when he should have used the usual squabs .... I get anal about these things.

Comment by D. Armenta

July 8th 2007 19:27

The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
L.A.M.P.

Oh, you've hit a sore point with me on CGI too!

I like the creativity of SFX makeup, though I agree that CGI is necessary at times; like you said, VERY sparingly used.

To me the CGI as Zombie used it was less realistic looking than blood squabs would have been--but then again, I'm anal about these things too, haha!

"Bizarro" had been out of print for years but can be found secondhand on Alibris.com or Amazon, I'm guessing. Really worth looking for--Savini got really creative with ordinary household items as well as trade tools.

Comment by Bryn

July 9th 2007 02:15

Horrorphile

It annoyed me cos I'd read him saying how old school he is about horror (thus he's doing Halloween), yet he indeeded up copping out, as far as the purists are concerned ... What's your opinion him doing Halloween?

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