10 Sexiest Movie Vampires
The Vampire has been a part of our collective consciousness for centuries. The mythology of vampires has evolved over time, but our continued obsession with mortality and our desire to explore the darkest parts of the human psyche have kept it alive and thriving in popular culture. We can’t help being drawn to them, attracted to their darkness and their power. Willingly, we invite them in. We go out into the dark in search of them, daring them to have a taste.
In film, the modern vampire is the embodiment of these desires. We thirst after them, flirting with danger and death. They represent our guilt and shame – our repressed sexuality. In this Movie List from The Film Magazine, we’ll journey from Victorian Era London to 1980s California to bring you the vampires that tempt us, turn us on, and frighten us to our core. These are the 10 Sexiest Movie Vampires.
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10. Mimi – Kiss of the Damned (2013)
Directed by Xan Cassavetes, Kiss of the Damned is a gothic thriller that pays homage to the Hammer Horror films of the 1960s and 70s. The film tells the story of Djuna (Joséphine de La Baume), a reclusive vampire who falls in love with Paolo (Milo Ventimiglia), an American screenwriter and human – until Djuna turns him into one of her own.
Their fairy tale is short-lived. Enter: Mimi (Roxane Mesquida), Djuna’s little sister. They’re polar opposites, constantly at odds with each other, both unable to accept the other’s lifestyle. Mimi is impulsive and selfish, draining the lives of humans like an addict, unable to control her appetite. But she’s cool and stylish, first appearing Matrix-style in a shiny leather jacket and black sunglasses, although it’s clearly the middle of the night. In contrast to Djuna, Mimi is unashamed in both body and mind. While Djuna hides her body in suffocating lace, Mimi’s outfits are short, tight and revealing. Mimi represents Djuna’s repressed self, uninhibited by her desire and hunger.
Her three-way with an unsuspecting couple is both titillating and unnerving, given the gruesome way we know their encounter will end, but Mimi’s seductive power over others doesn’t end with weak and vulnerable humans. She tempts Xenia (Anna Mouglalis) into drinking the blood of a virgin and eventually seduces Paolo in a steamy and erotic shower scene. Mimi is a vampire you’d love to spend the night with – although you might not make it ‘til morning.
9. Dracula – Dracula (1931)
It’s hard to overstate the impact of Bela Lugosi’s generation-defining turn as Dracula in Universal’s 1931 adaptation of the Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston stage play of the same name. Today, it’s easy to characterize Lugosi’s Dracula as campy and maybe even a little silly, but the character was received far differently at the time.
The sexual themes in Dracula are subtle, but they are there simmering beneath the surface. Quoting from “The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead”, scholar J. Gordon Milton writes, “In the original stage and screen presentations of Dracula, the vampire’s bite substituted for the sexual activity that could not be more directly portrayed.”
In terms of the performance itself, Bela Lugosi’s Dracula is elegant and foreign. He’s often shown in shadow, his wide and piercing eyes highlighted. Dracula is no doubt the villain in this film, but he’s also entrancing. He is a mysterious stranger who awakens the sexual desires of a repressed Victorian society.
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