T
here are more types of vampires than there are types of blood. Vampires, creatures of myth and legend that have become iconic pop culture monsters, endure not just because of the unholy curse that animates them but because they are so versatile. These bloodsuckers terrify us, but they also entice us. They’re a grotesque other, and they’re an alluring image of our uninhibited selves. They’re sexy, they’re diseased, they’re the ruling class and the repressed victims. No other monster has their range, and it’s only fitting that vampires have left their distinctive fanged mark on the movies in so many ways.
Vampires have been haunting movies for over a century of cinema. Following some early works in the 1910s, like 1913’s The Vampire, in which vampires appeared more as femme fatales rather than supernatural blood drinkers, filmmakers looked to sources like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and to myth and the occult for inspiration. Ever since Count Orlok emerged in 1922’s Nosferatu, vampire movies have never fully retreated into their coffins. Sometimes the subgenre has a surge in popularity. We’re experiencing one right now, as the past couple of years have seen the release of big studio vampire movies like Abigail, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, Renfield, Salem’s Lot, and Robert Eggers’ upcoming Nosferatu remake. Not all of those movies are the best of the bats (though Nosferatu might be, check back here in December for an update). But the deluge of vampire movies means it’s as good a time as any, especially in Spooky Season, to count up all the Counts and other vampires and celebrate some of the best vampire movies ever made.