10 Best Movie Vampires
8. David – The Lost Boys (1987)
The Lost Boys is a comedy horror from the 1980s that is very much of its time, but still has the same pull now as it did over thirty years ago.
The narrative of this Joel Schumacher movie surrounds a new family moving to a suburban American town, only for their two boys to be sucked into a world of vampires, the leader of which is David. Played by Kiefer Sutherland, David’s blonde mullet, leather jacket and solo earring really epitomised the “bad boy” look of danger at the time, making him not only an iconic vampire but a somewhat unlikely heartthrob for filmgoers and particularly vampire-lovers everywhere.
Who doesn’t want a young blood-thirsty Kiefer Sutherland to surprise them in the middle of the night?
Recommended for you: Top 10 Joel Schumacher Movies
7. Selene – Underworld (2003-2016)
2003 Len Wiseman film Underworld put a whole new spin on the vampire film, substituting the bloodlust and allure of the vampire for a more action-packed idea: a war between vampire and werewolf.
The protagonist of the film is Kate Beckinsale’s Selene, a charismatic figure who dons a stylistic catsuit and long leather coat as she seeks revenge on a werewolf clan, bringing the style of the gothic into a more modern, action-orientated landscape.
Dual-wielding guns and throwing punch and kick mêlées aplenty, Selene is a vampire to be feared, ensuring her place on this list despite the relatively small amount of blood-drinking on offer in this horror-adjacent actioner.
6. Viago, Vladislav, Deacon – What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Taika Waititi’s What We Do In the Shadows (2014) might not be even remotely scary as a vampire film, but it is fiendishly funny.
Set and shot in New Zealand, and filmed in a mockumentary style, What We Do In the Shadows follows three vampire flatmates – Viago (Taika Waititi), Vladislav (Jermaine Clement) and Deacon (Jonathan Brugh) – as they try to make it in the modern world with a newly turned vampire, Nick (Cori Gonzalez-Macuer).
Waititi’s dry sense of humour is at its best here, with the the four vampires trying to use google for the first time or begging to be invited into nightclubs, but this film also makes many references to vampire mythology and cinema’s rich history of vampire stories (not least Blade).
These characters may not be the fearsome threats of others on this list, but they’re just as iconic in their own ways, What We Do In the Shadows offering a nice change in tone for vampire movie fans.
