We love vampires here at GATA. If there were a competition for the coolest creatures to emerge from the genre of horror, then hands down, without a question, vampires would be murdering the rest of the competition, all the while looking nonchalant while they did it. They are just that cool. By their very nature, the fact that they can only come out at night opens up their world of possibilities to all the most interesting activities. Think the blood rave from Blade: could that have happened in the middle of the day? Now there are some raves during the day, but who ever wanted to see a sweaty, wide-eyed monster shaking their body during the daytime? Why do you think the clubs turn the lights down so low? It’s not just for ambience, we can tell you that.

So to pay tribute to the sexiest and coolest denizens of the night, we’ve decided to compile together a list of some of our favourite films to feature these fanged devils and in the true spirit of GATA, we’ve tried to avoid the most obvious of takes, which means unfortunately there is no Twilight or Van Helsing; no matter how much you complain. Scroll down to check out our list below.

VAMP

Richard Wenk (1986)

This 1986 underground comedy is a classic example of everything the 1980s did right in cinema. Filled to the brim with sizzling green and pink neons, the film is so dazzling in tone you might feel tempted to put on some sunglasses before watching. If the camp neon-infused aesthetic of Brian De Palma’s Scarface was injected with the spirit of Bram Stoker’s Dracula before being pushed through the blender of a teen comedy then you might be left with some semblance of what this film feels like.

The film’s plot is simple enough, featuring a duo of frat kids as they delve into the dark underbelly of the city’s nightlife scene in search of a stripper to perform at their college party. What they don’t know is that the strip club they find themselves in is infested with blood-sucking vampires who feed on their customers. With a message as subtle as Arnold Schwarzenegger hitting you over the head with a wooden mallet the film may not have been the darling of the critics down at Cannes, but if you’re down to switch off and bask in the absurdity of its 94-minute run time then you may end up enjoying yourself a little more than you would care to admit. Oh, and the Queen Vampire is Grace Jones. Enough said.

Blood of Dracula

Herbert L. Strock (1957)

A film that has the honour of being the first instance of a vampire having fanged teeth in US cinema, Blood of Dracula is a 1950s horror that, by today’s standards, would do little in the way of shocking audiences, but in its time was probably a reason for overly sensitive mothers to stop their kids from going to the movie theatres.

The film centres on a troubled young girl who is sent to a boarding school against her will. In this school, she encounters a manipulative science teacher who decides to utilise her anger and hypnotic techniques to turn her into a blood-sucking vampire who terrorises the campus. Fantastic nostalgia from a film that perfectly encapsulates the vibe of late 1950s drive-through features.

Blood Bath

Stephanie Rothman, Jack Hill (1966)

This bizarre ‘60s horror centres on the story of Sordi, a mad artist who has the slight issue of being unable to stop himself from killing the models that pose for him. This slightly problematic habit is caused by the spirit of his long-dead ancestor haunting his residence, who transforms him into a murderous vampire every time he sits down to create art. Wow. And we thought it was just because he was a tortured artist.

This film even for the B-movie genre is utterly baffling, managing to cram a slew of bewildering scenes into a very short run time of 60 minutes. One of our favourite things about the film, involves lead actor William Campbell, transforming into a completely different actor every time her changes into a vampire. Continuity? Who needs it when you have corpses being dropped into molten, bubbling wax and hilarious Beatnik cameos. Wonderful stuff.

The Hunger

Tony Scott (1983)

Have you ever wanted your vampires to be just a little bit more chic? Are you tired of your standard cape-wearing Dracula flick? Then fear not for Tony Scott’s 1983 film The Hunger has more than its fair share of stylish bloodsuckers. Featuring the late David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve, The Hunger stars two elegant and fashion-conscious yuppie vampires living in Manhattan, who spend their days indulging in classical music and their evening luring unsuspecting youths to fatal foursomes.

When John (David Bowie) begins to rapidly age and die, Miriam (Catherine Deneuve) begins searching for a new life partner, which leads her to the brilliant scientist Sarah. Sarah who is developing research that could potentially expand the lifespan of humankind, immediately falls for the charismatic and seductive vampire. What follows is a dangerous game of erotic sex and murder, that forces Sarah to fight back against her vampiric stalker, proving that vampires may not hold all the cards when facing up against humans. Also, did we mention David Bowie was a vampire?

Thirst

Park Chan Wook (2009)

Thirst is Old Boy director Park Chan-Wook’s take on the vampire genre. A sweltering maelstrom of iconoclastic imagery, bloody love and contentious spirituality. Song Kang-ho stars in the film as Sang-hyun, a troubled and charismatic priest who finds himself met with a difficult crisis in his vocation. When he volunteers for a dangerous mission in Africa, he finds himself injected with a terrifying virus, that mirrors that of leprosy, in an attempt to find a cure. Miraculously surviving, he returns to Korea where he finds himself lusting for blood, and even resorting to siphoning it from the bodies of comatose hospital patients.

Upon a chance meeting with the beautiful Tae-joo (Kim Ok-Vin) he is confronted with the troubling dilemma that faces the vampire kind: how to satisfy one’s blood lust? A non-predatory existence, seeking the blood of only those that offer it up freely or giving into the dark nature of vampirism and revealing in the glory of the hunt. For fans of the Korean auteur Park Chan-Wook, this is a must-watch, a beautiful and inventive reimagining of the fabled myth.

Vampyr

Carl Theodor Dreyer (1932)

This vampiric classic interestingly takes from the stories of Sheridan Le Fanu, and predates the famous work of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Featuring female vampires instead, this story differs from the male-centric perspective we usually associate with the Vampire genre. While the vampires differ slightly from what you may expect, lacking the fangs, Carl Theodor Dreyer’s classic film did introduce some staples of the genre that know and love today such as: the wooden stake through the heart and the mysterious European tome that reveals all the secrets of how one should slay a vampire.

The film itself is about a traveller by the name of Allan Gray, who is a follower of necromancy and encounters a troubled elderly man whose daughter has been attacked by a vampiric creature. The young woman, called Léone, lies in a feverish condition, fighting against the disease that will slowly turn her into a vampire. The film features stunning visuals that is par for the course for such a visionary director like Carl Theodor Dreyer. It is a story that blurs the line between the living and the dead, and a fundamental piece of the history of modern vampire stories.

Daughters of Darkness

Harry Kümel (1971)

Now here at GATA we could be accused of being ones to favour aesthetics over substance, and if we were to be called up to the courts of good taste, then we would plead guilty as charged when it comes to this matter. Daughters of Darkness from 1971, is one of those movies that clearly prioritises the style of its design and cinematography over critical acclaim. And we love it all the more for this reason.

At its core, it is a historical retelling of the story of Elizabeth Bathóry; a Hungarian noblewoman who allegedly murdered over 600 girls in order to bathe in virgin blood and preserve her youth. The main character played by Delphine Seyrig, is meant to be a continuation of her story, having survived centuries since the 1500s. The story focuses on that of Bathory locked in a nearly empty hotel with the only other guests being a newlywed couple who she becomes fixated upon. Seyrig gives a hypnotic performance in this film, seducing the couple with her entrancing behaviour, while simultaneously also drawing seductively drawing in the audience with her charisma.

Near Dark

Kathryn Bigelow (1987)

One of the most ‘90s films without actually being from the ‘90s. Near Dark strips back vampire lore and brings it screaming into the “modern” day with a “blood is a drug”, punk philosophy. Throwing away traditional gothic tropes such as garlic, crosses, stakes and big bats, and replacing them with postmodern angst, leather-glad characters and half of the cast of the Alien franchise. Atmospheric and beautiful, the film remains a stunning example of the inscribed visual style that came out of the late 80s and 90s, before CGI and green screen became the default methods of Hollywood.

The Addiction

Abel Ferrara (1995)

Another film that parallels the plight of vampirism with that of a drug addict. Directed by the maverick filmmaker Abel Ferrara, The Addiction embodies much of the arthouse intensity that made Ferrara so famous. His films are intense and graphic, often just as shocking as some of the most hardcore exploitation films. The Addiction tells the story of introverted philosophy student Kathleen Conklin, who is attacked by a female vampire who calls herself “Casanova”. After soon developing a hunger for blood, she wrestles with this new reality where she must decide between satisfying her bodily urges or feeding on those that surround her. Shot in gritty black and white this film was nominated for the Golden Bear Prize at the 45th Berlin International Film Festival.

Martin

George A. Romero (1977)

Before Twilight. Before Buffy the Vampire Slayer and before The Vampire Diaries, we had the OG teen vampire flick: George Romero’s Martin. Based on an unfinished novel called Blood, Martin follows the titular character of Martin as he does everything in his power to win the award for weirdest teenager in town. While being awkward, shy, and taciturn, much like any normal teenager, Martin regularly indulges in drugging and raping women, all the while imagining that he is a 1930s movie-style vampire. Martin is raw, and disturbing and manages to be a film that walks the tightrope between psychological drama and B-movie horror. It is complex and layered and leaves it to the audience to decide whether or not its main character is truly a vampiric monster or someone who is extremely mentally ill.