The Marvel movie Morbius didn't come from thin air. Dracula, with Bela Lugosi, set a very high bar. While it's not on Ranker's top 10, there's no denying that it set the stage for subsequent vampiric films to actually have fun and play with the central concept of immortality and the moral reconciliation of taking life to preserve one's own.
That's where Ranker's top 10 ranking comes in, the films that toy with the core concept. Some are blockbusters, some are 1980s classics, and all have at least one thing that makes them memorable.
Van Helsing (2004)
• Available to stream on Peacock
The TV series was different from Stephen Sommers' film in several ways, but they both still went for over-the-top monster fighting. Unfortunately, Sommers' movie didn't score high with critics, but it seems it's done well with general audiences over time.
Riding high off the success of Underworld, Van Helsing feels like a natural fit for Kate Beckinsale, who makes just as big an impression as Helsing himself, Hugh Jackman (also riding high off of some X-Men and X2 success). If anything Van Helsing feels like a horror comic brought to life, and while it isn't high art, it has an appeal.
Fright Night (1985)
• Available to rent on Amazon
Written and directed by Tom Holland (not to be confused with the MCU's resident web-slinger), The Princess Bride, Child's Play) as the sinister vampire next door.
The 2011 remake, starring Colin Farrell in Sarandon's role, is an excellent take on the story in its own right and is benefitted from a memorable score and an incredible cast: Farrell, Imogen Poots, Toni Collette, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, David Tennant, and the late Anton Yelchin.
Underworld: Evolution (2006)
• Available to stream on Tubi TV
While not quite as revered as the 2003 original, Len Wiseman's second Underworld movie follows Kate Beckinsale's Selene and Scott Speedman's Michael as they try to dodge assassination attempts by William Corvinus, the first lycanthrope.
Underworld: Evolution was like every other installment of the franchise in that it wasn't particularly well-reviewed, critically. However, Evolution's reputation has held up as one of the more entertaining installments of the five-film series, and a major step forward in its establishment of extended lore.
30 Days Of Night (2007)
• Available to stream on Tubi TV
Armed with the perpetually underrated talents of Josh Hartnett and Ben Foster, 30 Days of Night is an adaptation of the comics miniseries by the same name.
30 Days of Night felt like odd kin to Zack Snyder's 300, which was released just one year before. Namely, both were adapted from comics that were obscure compared to the source material for Spider-Man 3 (2007). 30 Days of Night didn't meet the reception of Snyder's film, but it functions very well both as a horror film and as an action film.
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
• Available to stream on HBO Max
it's just as quotable as his solo projects. However, From Dusk till Dawn is a strange beast in more ways than one.
Number one, it was George Clooney's first leading role in a film (after having achieved fame via E.R.). Secondly, Tarantino not only wrote the film but also had a major starring role (his best to date). Lastly, Robert Rodriguez's film is one of the very few to undergo a massive tonal change midway through, yet not miss a beat.
Underworld (2003)
• Available to stream on fuboTV
Few would have expected Len Wiseman's modestly-budgeted vampire vs. werewolf war movie Underworld to spawn four sequels, but it did, and it's one of the better examples of the vampire action film.
Kate Beckinsale (who starred in all but one of the five movies) portrays Selene, a Vampiric soldier (Death Dealer) who believes that the past can be the key to the future. Unfortunately, her slumbering former leader, Viktor (Bill Nighy), is not at all who she re. In fact, he may prove that her enemies extend beyond the lycanthrope.
Blade (1998)
• Available to stream on Netflix
Blade is not only one of the most beloved vampire films, it's also the start of seeing Marvel properties on the big screen. Outside of the CGI effects, Blade is remarkably well-aged nearly 25 years later.
Mahershala Ali will undoubtedly make his own mark on the role, but the character of Blade will always be somewhat inseparable from the presence of Wesley Snipes. The actor is clearly taking the role seriously and has fun in the process. This could also be said of Guillermo del Toro's Blade II, but not of David S. Goyer's Blade: Trinity, which featured Snipes' Blade utterly devoid of energy.
Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
• Available to rent on Amazon
Interview with the Vampire is a bloodsucker epic, fueled by well-modulated performances from Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Christian Slater, and, especially, Kirsten Dunst.
Dunst gives a performance that rivals the work done by Natalie Portman in her debut, Luc Besson's Leon: The Professional. Ten-year-old Claudia is the heart of the film, trapped in an eternal life she neither chose nor wanted. The same could more or less be said of every other vampiric character, but some handle it with ion and comion while others handle it with lust and the thirst for power (Cruise's Lestat).
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
• Available to stream on Netflix
Featuring Gary Oldman as the most seductive vampire there is, Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula is a thinking person's horror film. It arguably skews drama just as often as it skews horror, but no matter which genre it's dipped its foot in, Coppola's film is lurid and gorgeous.
What's astonishing about Bram Stoker's Dracula is how its reputation hasn't dwindled even a fraction. On top of being a critic favorite (save for Keanu Reeves' interesting performance), the movie has held onto its status as a fan favorite. Furthermore, the chameleonic Oldman
The Lost Boys (1987)
• Available to rent on Amazon
The late Joel Schumacher's The Lost Boys could not be any more different from his Batman & Robin save for one crucial similarity: both films swing for the fences.
The Lost Boys is a play on fandom, old school horror, and the teen drama film. The fact that it pulls off every aspect of its referential nature (already impressive for the late 1980s) is a miracle, and it makes for one of Schumacher's best, perhaps even positioned at the top of his filmography.
