The Good, The Bad, and The (Strange)?

[electroaddict]

What is the BEST vampire movie ever made? and the WORST? and what about the most BIZARRE?

--e

[XxSilverHxX]

I would say Blade 1 and 2 rank at the top prob. not No.1 but there my favorite.

[peter johnson]

Jeez, what a topic . . .
Okay, going for best first . . . How do we define "best"?  Cinematically?  Then I suppose Dryer's "Vampyr" would qualify.  Sheet, this is rough . . .
Okay, okay okay:  I will vote for Hammer's "Horror of Dracula (1958)" as the best vampire picture ever made.  Drive a stake through me if you will.
The worst?  I would have to say "Count Yorga:  Vampire", if only for all the scenes of clearly visible film crew personnel left in the final cut.  (Look!  There's the light crew!!).
Most bizarre?  Easy:  "Attack of the Mushroom People (Japanese)".  From an Arthur Rackham short story.  They're supposed to be possessed by mushroom spores, but it is essentially a classic vampire picture.  Really quite good, believe it or not.  Hammer's "Circus of the Vampires" runs a very close second . . .
peter johnson

[Molly]

Ok here goes it took me a while to raid my video cabinet but this is what I came up with:

Favorites would include
"Lost Boys".....mmmm....jason patrick...........
"Once Bitten" Jim Carrey at his 80's best
"Interview with the Vampire"
     Totally stupid movies but you have to love them, "My Best Friend is a Vampire"...."Salems Lot" it was stupid but it's classic...and lastly "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" what can I say?  We got a girl kicking evil ass who gets Luke Perry to fall in love with her and PMS finally has a useful purpose.  What female wouldn't like Buffy?

Movies I will not be putting in my vcr ever
"Little Vampires"
I know you guys are going to hate me for this but....."Blade".....I finally got it out (big sigh)...after seeing everybody gush about it I finally found the courage to say it.  I did not like Blade.  I'm sorry, I'm just not a fan like everybody else.

[Vermin Boy]

Personally, I like "Vampire's Kiss." Nicolas Cage plays a yuppie who's convinced he's turning into a vampire; he starts wearing cheap plastic fangs, sleeping under the couch, eating pigeons and cockroaches, and psychologically tormenting his secretary. Don't let the box cover fool you into thinking it's some dumb romantic comedy; this is JET black humor, and Nicolas Cage (who I'm not usually a fan of) turns in an amazing, over the top performance.

"From Dusk Till Dawn" is also a great treat for a fan of drive-in films; Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez realized they were in the position to do whatever the hell they wanted, and made this great, vulgar comedy with one of the most radical plot twists in history (plus, it's got Tom Savini and Fred Williamson as a pair of badass bikers!).

Also, I should mention the original Dracula. Sure, it's slow by today's standards, the direction is just plain flat (story goes that Tod Browning was so despondent over Lon Chaney's death that he just didn't care), but Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye turn in two of my favorite performances of all time as Dracula and Renfield. Plus, you gotta see the one that set all the rules.

[Malus Diabolus]

Best vampire movie of all time:  Bram Stokers Count Dracula. (read the title carefully- it is not the one with Keanu Reeves) Christopher Lee is truly the best vampire ever.
Worst vampire movie: Adicction (spelling?) with christopher walken. A more pretentious and tedious pile of crap I have yet to see.

[Cullen]

Horror of Dracula (AKA just plain old Dracula ) is a classic.  I love this movie.  I could watch it over and over again.  The last part (the big chase scene) is a blast.

Fright Night comes close.  In fact, in many ways it puts the more modern horror movies to shame.  It's also one of the few cases where a movie steals left and right from other films (the Dan Curtis Dracula and Taste the Blood of Dracula are the most noticeable) and comes away better than the sum of its parts.  A fun flick that I haven't seen in a while.

That's gotta change.

Speaking of Dan Curtis, no talk about Vampires is complete without mentioning The Night Stalker .  One of the few TV movies that has stood the test of time (due, in no small part to writer Richard Matheson), it's worth checking out.  The series that inspired it however... that's for "acquired" tastes.  Bad TV that's good for you, in other words.

Of a more modern bent, I liked Shadow of the Vampire .  An unusual take on Vampires, if ever there was one.  It's plot details work on the movie Nosferatu (another classic that needs mentioning), as a real Vampire wrecks havoc upon the film crew making the movie.  Can't tell you why I liked it; I just thought it was a creepy little piece.

Last but not least, I have to mention Lifeforce , the best movie about space Vampires out there.  Wooden acting and a questionable plot, I have to say, but I like it nonetheless.  (And not because the Main Villain Chick spend most of her time naked.  Well, maybe a little.)

That's all I can think of now, but there's more out there worth talking about.

There is always more.
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[Cullen]

Told ya there was more:

Near Dark is a movie I know I've see.  I remember a scene with a kid vamp running through the sunlight.  It gets good marks, the way I recall it.  Been too long for me to say any more than that.  Might be worth a look.

Black Sabbath and Black Sunday are also good.  Both are by Mario Bava.  One is anthology film, the other a full length feature, but at this moment my brain froze up and I can't tell you which is which.  Damn it; why'd they have to use similar names?

Black Sabbath I think is the feature, and it stars the gorgeous Barbra Steele in a dual role.  This is the best Italian Horror movie, bar none.  The dubbing is interesting; one of the voices in it sounds like Speed Racer.

The anthology movie, which I believe is Black Sunday has three stories in all (as I recall) and only the last has anything to do with Vampires.  It stars Boris "Greatest Actor in the Universe and All Around Good Guy" Karloff.  I might be a little thick with the praises for Karloff, but he's excellent in this, his only Vampire role.
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[Fearless Freep]

Worse: "Nadja", "American Vampire"

[Chris K.]

A TASTE OF BLOOD (1967)- Herschell Grodon Lewis made this well-crafted vampire tale from Donald Stanfords script (which does have shades of the original Bram Stoker's tale). Add some gory scenes (i.e. a victim is stabbed with a pool cue), a vampire who is pasty faced and lit blue, some fine performances and you got an excellent vampire tale that runs 117 minutes (Lewis' longest picture too).

THE BODY BENEATH (1970)- Andy Milligan made this little shocker on location in England. For those who were disappointed with some of Andy's other films, THE BODY BENEATH is quite a suprise. The camerawork is really good, performances are top-noch, and the locations are excellent. Also, actor Gavin Reed is really good as the vampire disguised as Reverend Alexander Algernon Ford, and his acting is even better too. Andy sure made a winner here.

[J.R.]

One of the best is Warner Von Herzog's 70's remake of Nosferatu. It's truly creepy and gothic.

[John]

Here are my picks;

Best
-=-=-
Dracula (1979) -- Very atmospheric and for once it doesn't look like modern actors on old-time sets.

The Lost Boys - Dumb in spots, but it works.

Near Dark - They never even use the word vampire.

Fright Night I & II - I like them both.

Salem's Lot - I really liked this miniseries. The scene with the kids floating outside the window really creeped me out.

Worst
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Modern Vampires - This is one of the worst vampire movies I've ever seen. It has Rod Stieger playing Van Helsing, screaming to the cops in a bad german accent "Vhat are you arresting me for? I'm not crazy, you haff to kill the vampires!"

Razorblade Smile - Unattractive female vampire works as an assassin in a new-wave London.

Return to Salem's Lot - Tarnishes the reputation of the first one. Worth seeing only for a very early role by Tara Reid.

Strangest
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The Hunger - I'm never been able to finish watching this.

[Lee]

I second The Hunger. That movie is beyond out there. It ain't even in the same galaxy!