The 20 best vampire movies

This was the first time Drac appeared on screen, and Bella Lugosi plays him with just the right amount of flare. It hasn't aged as well as the count himself, but there's still enough here to keep audiences entertained. 

Carl Theodore Dryer's classic moves like a dream you can't comprehend. The shadows, lakes, clouds, and manors give it a hazy feel, while our hero's mission to uncover what is happening adds another layer of mystery. There's a reason people have been watching it for nearly a century; it's a case no one can seem to crack. 

Nosferatu is a true piece of cinema history. No film before 1922 had ever featured a vampire, which is why some countries decided to ban it...wimps!

And another one. This time the title character is played by Klaus Kinski, the German actor known for his role in 1972's Aguirre, The Wrath of God. He kills it as the vampire-turned-real-estate agent, sinking his teeth into the part like a lion does a piece of meat. 

Hear us out--this is actually not a zombie movie, but a vampire movie. For a pack of mutants running around New York, these things sure have sharp fangs and a sharp sensitivity to daylight. More than that, they have sickly pale flesh. The film isn't all that scary, but it does get bonus points for having a performance that doesn't pull any punches. 

Vampires get a bad wrap. Yeah, they kill people and suck their blood, but they also have chores and feelings as well. Taika Waititi's mockumentary is about how vampires would really act, and it vamps up all sorts of laughs in the process. 

Imagine if Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? had vampires, and you'd get something like Near Dark, a mid-west thriller in which a teenage boy is pulled into a car against his will. You'll notice a similarity in mood, in which the barren country vistas and blood-red sunsets, are used as a moniker for what's to come. Katheryn Bigelow may have just been starting her career, but she sure as hell knew how to shoot a movie. 

Speaking of atmosphere, you won't find a more atmospheric film than this one. Shot in black-and-white, with a soundtrack that makes you want to dance, Lily Armipour's debut feature about a girl who preys on Iranian men is unlike anything that came before it...or anything that's come since. 

The consensus from critics on The Addiction is basically how we feel. Abel Ferrara took a generic coming-of-age film and gave it some bite. It's not every day you get to see a college student get A's while also eating her teachers. 

What if a vampire was a hero, but was also a danger to himself and others? That's the dilemma at the center of Blade , a film directed by Stephen Norrington and starring Wesley Snipes.

The Lost Boys is one of the great horror comedies: there are plenty of great jokes, but there are also plenty of great scares. Kiefer Sutherland's band of vampires are not to be messed with, as you can tell by their leather jackets, as well as their love for punk-rock. That doesn't stop Jason Patric from doing his best James Dean impression, infiltrating the group and getting the girl. 

We had to get at least one animated Drac on here, and while The Addams Family is a solid spin on the formula, we're putting Adam Sandler's comedy ahead of the pack. 

OK, so this one's a bit of a mess...but it's also directed by Francis Ford Coppola and has a cast of A-list celebs. Gary Oldman plays the title monster, while Winona Ryder plays the apple of Dracula's eye, a woman so gorgeous she causes Anthony Hopkins to have an orgāsm just looking at her. Some say it's a little too sexy, but I say you can never go too sexy when it comes to Ryder. 

Nicolas Cage as a vampire? I'm listening... Nicolas Cage as a vampire and a psychopath? I'm watching the movie. Cage hasn't starred in a lot of horror flicks, even horror-adjacent ones, but his persona is perfect for this kind of role. 

Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fall in love. That was the selling point of  Interview With the Vampire, and it's a damn good one. But there's more to this movie than sexy actors, shirtless characters, and homoerotic stares. There's also a metaphor for AIDS that gives the film a reason for being.   

Let the Right One In was polarizing, but only for people who didn't understand what Tomas Alfredson was going for. His screenplay is about how loneliness can make people do terrible things, which is why terrible things happen on screen. Oskar is like any other kid who gets bullied--he wants revenge--so it's only fitting that he should ask the vamp next door for help. 

Robert Rodriguez directed this action flick about a den of vamps, and cast a murder's row of famous actors. George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, and Selma Hayek are all great, but it's Tarantino who steals the show.  

Cronos has seen its reputation rise in recent years. Some even consider it a classic now. The movie sees Federico Luppi as an antique dealer who accidentally opens a box that transforms him into a creature of the night. 

The Addiction, but with frat parties. That's the way you could describe Raw, though it's much more visceral than Ferrara's film. It's one of the most horrific, stomach-churning movies I've ever seen, with a metaphor about identity that truly cuts to the bone.