# Vampire film recomendations



## Mighty mouse (Sep 13, 2006)

I think I've seen the good ones:

Near Dark
The Hunger
Ultraviolet (series)
Blade
Buffy
interview with a vampire
Queen of the Damned
Night Watch
Daywatch
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Lost Boys
Fright Night
Salem's Lot
Nosferatu the Vampyre
Nosferatu
John carpenters Vampires. 
Dusk till Dawn
Martin
Underworld 1

Not seen these, has anyone else:

Daughters of Darkness
The Fearless Vampire Killers
Subspecies
Vampire high
Van Helsing
Underworld 2

Anyone else read these, any opinions?

Books by Poppy Z
Laurell K. Hamilton. Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter


----------



## Marky Lazer (Sep 13, 2006)

Luckily you didn't mention _Dracula: dead and loving it_, probably the worst film ever made.


----------



## scalem X (Sep 13, 2006)

Seen underworld 2 from the list. (was okay, but well the effect from the first one is gone because you know stuff)
('van helsing' too, but that was erh, I watched with a girl then and only saw half , I've heard from the other people that he was good)
Haven't read any vampire novels that I remember so if I have, they weren't very good.


----------



## Foxbat (Sep 13, 2006)

I recently watched _Shadow Of The Vampire_ ( a movie based on the making of F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu) and I thought it was superb. Also, it's nice and cheap on DVD right now.

Kronos is another one worth a watch


----------



## Nesacat (Sep 13, 2006)

Shadow Of The Vampire was very well done indeed. Definitely has the 'creep' factor. Van Helsing was alright; at least the idea of a werewolf being required to kill a vampire.

As for books ... there's a whole slew of them out there. Two that I particularly liked because they offered different views of the vampire legend are Brian Stableford's Empire of Fear and Robin McKinley's Sunshine. I also liked the Don Sebastian Vampire Chronicles by Les Daniels as they span a huge swathe of world history.


----------



## ravenus (Sep 13, 2006)

I'm not sure I'd consider Queen of the Damned or JC's Vampires amongst the 'good ones' but well, each to his/her own. I also found Van Helsing to be loud and hugely annoying crap, too generic to be even enjoyable as camp.

Your list doesn't seem to have any of the Hammer Dracula movies (*Horror of Dracula* and *Brides of Dracula* are highly recommended) or even the famous Tod Browning - Bela Lugosi version of *Dracula* (which is OK, I personally found Bela rather dull). Maybe you think these are too obvious to mention.

If you haven't already you might also want to check out *Night Stalker*, a 70's (?) TV film about a vampire stalking women and robbing blood banks in modern-day Vegas and the cynical opportunistic journalist who stalks him in turn.


----------



## BookStop (Sep 13, 2006)

Lost Boys and Fright Night were kind of charming and I did like them, although not really creepy-scary at all. Interview with a Vampire is very good, but all of the others that I've seen are a bit ridiculous - not campy enough to hold charm and not creepy enough to give shivers - I'm not a fan of splatterpunk. (I haven't seen Shadow of the Vampire though and I see it's getting decent reviews). Vampire Effect, also called Twins Effect, is a fun family friendly, vampire, kung-fu tale, although younger kids might be a little freaked out by some of the images (maybe 10 and up).

As far as books - Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series was very good inthe beginning, but around book 4 she seemed to switch focus from an intriguing vampire tale to a seductive erotic tale. Not the same thing at all! But, if you like the Anita books, you may also like Charlaine Harris' vampire books. Same kid of ridiculously fun tales, but maybe even more over the top(if you can imagine such a thing).


----------



## Paige Turner (Sep 13, 2006)

_*Blood-Sucking Pharoahs in Pittsburg*_


----------



## pixter (Sep 13, 2006)

Marky Lazer said:
			
		

> Luckily you didn't mention _Dracula: dead and loving it_, probably the worst film ever made.


 
I don't know, Marky. I sat thru _Vampire in Brooklyn _(starring Eddie Murphy) back in high school.


----------



## ravenus (Sep 13, 2006)

*Shadow of the Vampire* is a pretty decent movie, although really more arty/black comedy than horror. It's main strength is a brilliant performance by the criminally underrated Willem Dafoe as the count Orlok character originally defined by Max Schreck in Murnau's Nosferatu. The movie assumes that Orlok is a real vampire that the tyrannically perfectionist Murnau employs in his film.


----------



## j d worthington (Sep 13, 2006)

Mighty mouse said:
			
		

> *Daughters of Darkness*


 
Ages ago... eh. Entertaining, but I wouldn't go much beyond that.



> *The Fearless Vampire Killers*


 
This one depends... I personally love the film; others I know are less enthusiastic, for various reasons (including the spoof of a gay vampire). But it is at very least a visually stunning film with some wonderful performances... Should at least be checked out.

And I will add my vote for *Shadow of the Vampire*... While it is indeed something of a black comedy, I found it had quite a few atmospheric moments, as well, especially in the earlier portion of the film; as a fan of the original Murnau *Nosferatu* (which should really be seen in one of the more recent restored prints ... it makes a huge difference) I found this to be a very interesting take on the entire theme.

Another film I'd strongly suggest is the rather odd but eerily hypnotic *Vampyr*. Very slow-moving by today's standards, it has always struck me as quite atmospheric and very dreamlike; it is also loosely based on Le Fanu's "Carmilla", which had a strong influence on Bram Stoker when he came to write *Dracula*. The film is by Carl Theodor Dreyer (who also did *Day of Wrath* and *The Passion of Joan of Arc*), and was released in 1932....


----------



## the smiling weirwood (Sep 13, 2006)

Sunshine! The best vampire book ever written. Nesa has such good tastes.


----------



## ravenus (Sep 13, 2006)

*@Vampyr:*

A film I personally like a good deal but generally shy of recommending. Definitely not for folks who want comprehensible narrative and sensible explanations in all their movies. Sadly it's only available on a horrible Kino DVD, it's definitely a film that a boutique label like Criterion or Eureka or even the BFI should take on the task of restoring.

Oh Vampire fiction? Among the books I've read I really liked Bram Stoker's *Dracula*, Richard Matheson's *I am Legend*, George RR Martin's *Fevre Dream* and to a much lesser extent, Whitley Strieber's *The Hunger* (Strieber's plot outline and the first half of the narrative was pretty entertaining but he suffers from the delusion that he's good at writing emotional dialog when in reality he's utterly rotten at it). And I suppose Stanislav Tem's *Solaris* from a certain obscure point of view is a vampire story 

You do find some excellent vampire stories and atleast a great variety of them if you pick up this collection called *The Giant Book of Vampires* (ed. Stephen Jones)


----------



## Nesacat (Sep 14, 2006)

The Jones collection is a good one indeed and has put together some lovely tales. Poppy Z Brite has done several collections entitled Love In Vein which are pretty decent reading.

There's Elizabeth Kostova's Historian. I was very attracted to the vampire here I'll have to admit.

Thanks Weir. It was an interesting take on an old legend was Sunshine.

There's also Dan Simmons' Carrion Comfort with its 'mind vampires' and his collection of stories called LoveDeath, which takes the word 'vampire' and runs in whole new directions.


----------



## Morpheus42 (Sep 14, 2006)

Ah I see that I have missed some vampire movies.
*starts mldonkey*


----------



## j d worthington (Sep 14, 2006)

And then there's the really off-the-wall stuff, like the 1966 *Queen of Blood*, or Mario Bava's 1965 *Planet of the Vampires*...., or *The Vampire Lovers* (based, again, on "Carmilla") with Ingrid Pitt ... each of these has their moments, but there's a lot of corn in there, believe me....


----------



## Mighty mouse (Sep 14, 2006)

Agree on the 'corn' level in Mario Bava's 1965 Planet of the Vampires. Saw it ages ago and although cited on film courses as an influence on Alien (and to my mind Pitch Black) that is about the only interesting thing about it!


----------



## Sathai (May 27, 2007)

My favorite vampire movies...

Dracula
Love at First Bite
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Lost Boys
Interview with the Vampire
Shadow of the Vampire
Bram Stoker's Dracula


----------



## gully_foyle (May 28, 2007)

Not really a fan of the genre, but I did enjoy Nicolas Cage's performance in Vampire's Kiss. A less than typical vampire story.


----------



## HBP (May 28, 2007)

I've got to say that of all the vampire shows i've watched The Underworld's were the best.  I particularly  fancy Van Helsing, watched about 30 times. Ultravoilet is also a good one.


----------



## Gav (May 28, 2007)

> The Fearless Vampire Killers



See this movie - the end.

I'd also recommend Near Dark.  Brilliant movie - with serious faults, but don't let that put you off.

There's a movie about Cowboy Vampires but I can't, for the life of me, remember what's it's called.  It's very entertaining.


----------



## Laura Stamps (May 28, 2007)

I am a big fan of the *Underworld* movies, and liked both of them. I'm also a fan of all the *Blade* movies. 

Considering we are talking about vampires in this thread (even though it is vampire "films"), I can't resist asking these questions. I guess I have been spending too much time in my paranormal forums (lol), and as an Empath I have known several vamps.

Anyway, I am wondering how many of the members of this forum are Psi-vamps or Blood-vamps? If you are also a writer, does that influence your short stories and/or novels? As a vamp, what do you think of how vampires are portrayed in films?


----------



## Gav (May 28, 2007)

Deleted because it's a pointless comment...


----------



## Laura Stamps (May 28, 2007)

Gav said:


> You've got to be kidding me...


 
No, I'm not.  

In fact, if you don't know they exist, then you probably know some and just don't realize it. Google "Psychic vampires" and "Psi-vamps" and "Blood Vamps" to start. There are several different kinds, depending on how they feed.  They have their own organizations and rules for feeding and feeders.

No, I'm not kidding. They are real for sure.


----------



## scalem X (May 28, 2007)

> I am a big fan of the Underworld movies, and liked both of them. I'm also a fan of all the Blade movies.
> 
> Considering we are talking about vampires in this thread (even though it is vampire "films"), I can't resist asking these questions. I guess I have been spending too much time in my paranormal forums (lol), and as an Empath I have known several vamps.
> 
> Anyway, I am wondering how many of the members of this forum are Psi-vamps or Blood-vamps? If you are also a writer, does that influence your short stories and/or novels? As a vamp, what do you think of how vampires are portrayed in films?



Well to be honest. I dated a (blood?)vampyre once. I don't think you'll find many on this forum though. As for her descriptions:
She was part of an organization, (the stories she told me were distressing from time to time, I'd rather not go into detail on a public forum) she did have the looks (real fangs, wore contacts, disregardless her perfect eyesight...) She did have weird stuff going on and told me in fact about these psy-vamps and so on. I bet you mean her kind.

Anyway as for the questions:
She did like the underworld movies, in fact any movie with vampires.
She wrote from time to time in English, but since she never showed me something of more than a half page length and it was thesaurused all over (no person with that vocabulary skill would make stupid then/than mistakes...) it is hard to describe. About the subjects: they varied; I could compare her style as a combination of E.A. Poe meets mm any of the Japanese, like Takeshi Kitano (battle royale)Takashi Shimizu (the grudge). In general I would say that judging by this one specimen of a vamp, the writing won't greatly differ from that of a regular person. She was still not really good, even if she had vampire skills .

Back about the forum: I guess you will find more scientists here than vamps. Although most on here are a trifle weird, I think even the number of witchcrafters and the likes are fairly small. (sorry for the terminolgy, I mean people who are really and in particular interested in these practise in a practical way) All are interested in fantasy and its aspects though.

I think the best advice I could give you, is to try approaching the things either through a psychological and social point of view or through a scientific point of view in your threads/posts concerning these subjects. Else I'm affraid all the sort of replies you evoke will be things like: "you've got to be kidding me..." and well that is probably not the sort of reply you were trying to evoke.

Anyway G'day. I'll certainly try to never date a vampyre again, now that's a certainty .


----------



## j d worthington (May 28, 2007)

Laura: My encounters with vamps has been rather limited, and quite some time ago, but I have met a few, known a very few slightly, none all that well; but the ones I did know did not leave a particularly favorable impression at the time. I understand, however, there have been quite a few changes in the intervening years, and the disparities there are quite wide. (As you say, perhaps I've known some since then, but just not known I've known any!)

But for those who haven't encountered them (or don't know they have) -- yes, there are quite a few who follow the lifestyle these days; some to extremes, some much less so....


----------



## Laura Stamps (May 28, 2007)

Thanks Scalem & J.D. for your comments!

I suppose I should clarify a bit. A Psi-vamp or Blood vamp doesn't become one because they have been bitten by a vampire. That's just in the movies. Vamps are born that way, and what they feed on is the energy of other people. Somehow they are born with less energy than most people, so they have the ability to feed off others for it. Psi-vamps feed directly on that energy. Blood vamps feed on the energy in human blood. Now the human body can't digest human blood (as far as I know), but that is not what they are after. They are after the energy in the blood.

I think everyone has met a Psi-vamp before. Those are the people who are absolutely exhausting to be around. You don't know what it is about them, but they drain all your energy through their presence or their words. That's the negative side. On a more positive side, I have heard they tend to hang out at mall and drain the hyper kids giving their moms fits. Or some are married to highstrung partners, and act as a tranquilizer for that partner.

Like I said, if you Google those terms you will be surprised what comes up. They do have organizations and rules for feeding. It is bad behavior to feed without asking. The trouble is most people who are psi-vamps don't know they are or belong to religions where the belief in this is not possible, so they drain everyone all day at will.

I know about psi-vamps and other vamps, because I am a natural born Empath. Empaths give their energy freely to others for healing, touch healing, etc. Psi-vamps look for us, because we are easy marks. So Empaths have to develop protective shields when in the presence of vamps and ways of knowing when one is around. 

Sounds a lot like a fantasy novel, doesn't it?! But it is true. The reason I asked is because there are more vamps out there than you can imagine. And in view of the vampire film thread I thought it might be interesting for a few vamps on this forum to give their point of view...if they wanted to. I just wanted to open the door, that's all.


----------



## Pamlou (Jun 7, 2007)

I responded to this thread a couple of days ago but it never showed up so I will try again. When I first got online and found all the book websites and Yahoo groups, I subbed to a lot of vampire groups. I ran into quite a few people who considered themselves "real" vampires. The poor moderators had their hands full when most people said they don't believe in "real" vampires. I know I had to take my AOL profile down because I mentioned that I liked vampire fiction and was bombarded with emails and instant messages offering to give me a test to see if I was one of them. I won't voice my opinion because I don't want to start another flame war. I also found some boards with people who believed themselves to be real werewolves. When they say you can find anything and everything on the web, they were so right!


----------



## Connavar (Jun 7, 2007)

The first two Blade movies are amazing.

First Underworld is decent.

The Lost Boys i also liked.


----------



## that old guy (Jun 7, 2007)

> Sounds a lot like a fantasy novel, doesn't it?! But it is true.


 
Of course it is. Just like the Illuminati and the Reptilians. David Icke shall set us free!!! 

Edit to add: Anyone ever see Blacula? Apparently it is hilarious.


----------



## j d worthington (Jun 7, 2007)

that old guy said:


> Edit to add: Anyone ever see Blacula? Apparently it is hilarious.


 
Yes. And yes (though whether intentionally or not.... )

*Martin*, by George Romero, _is_ a good vampire film... though quite ambiguous.


----------



## Lucien21 (Jun 9, 2007)

Apple - Trailers - I Am Legend

How about the new I am Legend movie


----------



## scalem X (Jun 9, 2007)

> Apple - Trailers - I Am Legend
> 
> How about the new I am Legend movie


Mmm seems like they replaced the zombies with vampires .


----------



## Connavar (Jun 9, 2007)

Haha typical hollywood,  "lets remake a a classic story but lets also change everything that made it good "


----------



## scalem X (Jun 9, 2007)

Well they must have thought (okay they probably didn't think):
-It's too hard for the bad guys, like 3000 zombies versus a couple of men.
-Let's use 3000 zombies versus one man, nah still too easy for the dude.
-How about 3000 smart zombies versus one man? Nah, zombies can't be smart, that's wrong.
-How about vampires? That's brilliant


----------



## Connavar (Jun 9, 2007)

A "brilliant"  hollywood mind there


----------



## Pamlou (Jun 9, 2007)

Even though the word vampire didn't appear in the previous books and movies, the other survivors were vampires. I've seen it on numerous vampire book/movie lists. In fact, this from Amazon:




> One of the most influential vampire novels of the 20th century, _I Am Legend_ regularly appears on the "10 Best" lists of numerous critical studies of the horror genre. As Richard Matheson's third novel, it was first marketed as science fiction (for although written in 1954, the story takes place in a future 1976). A terrible plague has decimated the world, and those who were unfortunate enough to survive have been transformed into blood-thirsty creatures of the night. Except, that is, for Robert Neville. He alone appears to be immune to this disease, but the grim irony is that now he is the outsider. He is the legendary monster who must be destroyed because he is different from everyone else. Employing a stark, almost documentary style, Richard Matheson was one of the first writers to convince us that the undead can lurk in a local supermarket freezer as well as a remote Gothic castle. His influence on a generation of bestselling authors--including Stephen King and Dean Koontz--who first read him in their youth is, well, legendary. _--Stanley Wiater_


----------



## Lucien21 (Jun 9, 2007)

scalem X said:


> Mmm seems like they replaced the zombies with vampires .


 
The original novel is about Vampires.

Where does the Zombies come from??


----------



## j d worthington (Jun 9, 2007)

Okay... I have been (and remain) intensely sceptical about this film. However, there were things about the trailer that I liked:

For those who have not read the book, it gives enough (but not too much) information to set up the scenario -- details to be filled in as we go along, I suspect.

The fact that it does look as if Smith is going to play Neville straight... no smartass b.s., but the way it should be played -- one man, alone, and very frightened (and lonely), in a world that is neither the world he's known before nor something entirely different; a place where he both does and does not belong. (If he does indeed play it this way, this could really change my mind about the whole thing, I'll admit.)

And it doesn't look like it's going so much for the sensational or "action" (save for the thing that got them into this mess) as for an examination of the situation and how he copes (or fails to cope) with it

They've decided to update... but not be too futuristic; so that may increase the impact by keeping it very familiar, yet -- as for Neville -- alien.

Now, if they've decided to do it this way, they don't have to follow Matheson's book slavishly -- I think that would be a grave mistake, as quite a few of the attitudes and social mores of the novel are dated now; while they work on the page, I'm not sure they'd work in a film. I still remain very dubious, but it's looking a lot better than I'd expected -- in fact, it's looking nothing at all like what I expected. So while I'm suspicious, I'm more than willing to be pleasantly surprised here.

And Lucien is right -- the novel dealt with vampires, with Neville as the only human still around (so far as he knew, at any rate... and a great deal of the story's tension hinges on that remaining possibility that he may _not_ be). So, from that angle, they're not violating anything with Matheson's story whatsoever. (In fact, that's what makes it work so -- they're not zombies, but vampires; in many ways, they are still the people he knew and loved -- yet they are his deadly enemies; it adds an emotional wrench to his encounters with them.)

Seems I might just have been wrong about this one. We'll see. If done right -- it would definitely be in my suggestions for a good vampire film -- but we'll have to wait and see....


----------



## scalem X (Jun 9, 2007)

Lol, JD, what I meant was that it initially seemed like a ripoff of 'dawn of the dead', only with the zombies replaced by vampires. I didn't even know it was based on a novel. 

I mean you have to admit: the world swarmed by the spawn of evil, only one or a few alive...


----------



## j d worthington (Jun 9, 2007)

I'd rather thought that was the case. Actually, from statements I've come across (if my memory serves) Romero has commented that Matheson's *I Am Legend* influenced him with his zombie films originally....

Incidentally, if you've not read it, it's a very good book (most of Matheson's are), and well worth reading, along with his *The Shrinking Man* (which I would still like to see a modern version of -- done well, that is -- as there were aspects of Scott's plight they simply couldn't address that well under the restrictions of the movies when the original was made -- which itself is quite a good film, even though the special effects are rather dated by today's standards). They both deal with a man trapped in a world at once familiar and terrifyingly different....


----------



## Lucien21 (Jun 9, 2007)

Night of the Living Dead was pretty much inspired by "I am Legend" and more recently I would say "28 days later" was inspired by both. (Matheson was supposedly not much of a fan of the Romero film)

The novel has been filmed twice before, probably most famously with Charton Heston in "Omega Man" which wasn't a direct adaption (Albino mutants and not Vampires)

It will be interesting to see how this film pans out.


----------



## j d worthington (Jun 9, 2007)

Yes, I've seen both *The Omega Man* and *The Last Man on Earth* (with Vincent Price -- a much closer adaptation, though with a very limited budget). As you say, we'll have to wait and see on this one....


----------



## Lucien21 (Jun 9, 2007)

P.s another vampire film on the horizon is "30 days of night" based on the comic miniseries

Trailer  IGN: 30 Days of Night Video 2016044


----------



## Pamlou (Jun 9, 2007)

Is there a reason my posts aren't reaching the boards? I posted this morning that the book was about vampires and included an editorial review from Amazon. There have been several of my posts that haven't made it and I was just wondering.


----------



## j d worthington (Jun 9, 2007)

Pamlou said:


> Is there a reason my posts aren't reaching the boards? I posted this morning that the book was about vampires and included an editorial review from Amazon. There have been several of my posts that haven't made it and I was just wondering.


 
If you're including a link, then it goes to a queue for moderation, at least until you've reached 15 posts (become an established member). This is to prevent self-promotion and spamming; but if it is in the queue and simply includes such a review, I've no doubt it will be passed once the appropriate mod has a chance to look at it.

(To clarify: 15 posts in the discussions threads, not in the "play" threads, such as the Lounge and Playroom, etc. Those don't count toward the number.)


----------



## ravenus (Jun 10, 2007)

Pamlou said:


> Is there a reason my posts aren't reaching the boards? I posted this morning that the book was about vampires and included an editorial review from Amazon.


Your post is up now (here)


----------



## Wiggum (Oct 22, 2007)

Went and saw _30 Days of Night_ over the weekend, and have no trouble recomending it.

It is very bloody, and isn't perfect, but it's easily one of the best horror movies I've seen in a theater in a long, long time.

Best. Beheading. Ever.

There were seriously three or four scenes in it that made me either jump or my hair stand on end, and I watch a heck of a lot of horror movies (gf is addicted to them) and that doesn't happen often.

If you think it might be up your alley, go celebrate Halloween by seeing it.


----------



## Pamlou (Oct 22, 2007)

I agree. These vampires were the vilest I have seen on the big screen in
a while. There was a lot of tension and blood (of course) and I loved
it.


----------



## Wiggum (Oct 22, 2007)

The little girl in the store?

_*shivers*_


----------



## vampress13 (Oct 30, 2007)

I LOVED 30 days of night. me and my bf went with a couple guys and we were all cracking up, it was awesome!!!


----------

