<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Vampires in Movies essentially began with Nosferatu (German, 1922), an unauthorized silent adaptation of Dracula by Bram Stoker, starring Max Schreck as the titular vampire. Stoker's widow fought an ongoing legal battle to have the film suppressed and destroyed, but the movie has long outlived her.

London After Midnight (MGM, 1927), starring Lon Chaney, was the first American vampire movie (even though the vampire was ultimately revealed to be a hoax). Sadly, no known copies of the film still exist, although it was remade in 1935 as Mark of the Vampire with Bela Lugosi. A 2003 “reconstruction” of the original film was composed entirely of photo stills.

Dracula (Universal, 1931), starring Bela Lugosi, was the first vampire talkie. A huge success, it kicked off a long-running series of sequels: Dracula's Daughter (1936), Son of Dracula (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945), and Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1949). Although the Universal horror films dominated the 1930s and 1940s, other American studios occasionally dabbled in the vampire genre, with such films as The Vampire Bat (Majestic, 1932), Mark of the Vampire (MGM, 1935), Return of the Vampire (Columbia, 1944), and Isle of the Dead (RKO, 1945).

The '50s were a lean decade for vampire films, as science fiction largely eclipsed the Gothic horror tradition. The result were such oddities as The Vampire (United Artists, 1957), in which an experimental drug turns a man into a vampire; Blood of Dracula (AIP, 1957), in which hypnosis turns a teenage girl into a vampire; and the first vampire western: Curse of the Undead (Universal, 1959). Return of Dracula (1958), starring Francis Lederer as a Transylvanian count in modern-day Los Angeles, took a somewhat more traditional approach.

Gothic horror came roaring back with Horror of Dracula (aka Dracula, Hammer, 1958), which tweaked the old Universal formula by adding vivid color and a new emphasis on sex and violence. Hammer Films, a British company, was the major producer of vampire films for the next two decades, including eight more Dracula movies starring Christopher Lee and/or Peter Cushing: Brides of Dracula (1960), Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1965), Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1968), Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970), Scars of Dracula (1970), Dracula A.D 1972 (er, 1972), The Satanic Rites of Dracula (aka Dracula and his Vampire Bride, 1973), and The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (aka The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula, 1973). Hammer’s output also included three films based on Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu–The Vampire Lovers (1970), Lust for a Vampire (1970), and Twins of Evil (1971)–which contained an even greater emphasis on female nudity. They also produced a number of stand-alone vampire flicks, including Kiss of the Vampire (1962), Countess Dracula (1970), Vampire Circus (1971), and Captain Kronos: Vampire Slayer (1974). The Hammer films were eventually parodied by Roman Polanski in his comedy The Fearless Vampire Killers (MGM, 1967)

Around the same time, Mario Bava directed a series of atmospheric Italian vampire films, of which the first and best was Black Sunday (1960), starring Barbara Steele as a female vampire who returns to life centuries after her execution. Other memorable Bava films include Black Sabbath (1964) with Boris Karloff and Planet of the Vampires (1965), a mixture of science fiction and horror.

Back in the United States, vampires returned in such popular drive-in horror movies as Count Yorga, Vampire (AIP, 1970), The Return of Count Yorga (AIP, 1971), Blacula (AIP, 1972), and Scream, Blacula, Scream (AIP, 1973). House of Dark Shadows (MGM, 1970) was a gorier feature-film version of the popular vampire TV show. Martin (independent, 1977), directed by George Romero, provided an intriguing look at an alienated young man who may or may not be a real vampire. Later, the end of the seventies was marked by a mini-boom of new Dracula movies, including Dracula (Universal, 1979), starring Frank Langella; Nosferatu the Vampyre (German, 1979), a remake of the original silent film, starring Klaus Kinski; and Love at First Bite (AIP, 1979), a successful comedy spoof starring George Hamilton as Dracula. (Note: this “Dracula” boom was preceded by a couple of new TV versions of the Bram Stoker novel. See entry on Vampires on TV.)

The eighties produced a handful of memorable vampire films, including The Hunger (MGM/UA, 1983), based on the novel by Whitley Strieber; Fright Night (Columbia, 1985); Lifeforce (Cannon, 1985); The Lost Boys (Warner Bros., 1987), and Near Dark (1987). There was also a spurt of vampire comedies, of varying degrees of quality, such as Once Bitten (1985), Vamp (New World, 1985), and Transylvania 6-5000 (1985).

The nineties boasted at least two high-profile literary adaptations. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, was a lavish new version of the classic novel, starring Gary Oldman as the Count. Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) was the long-awaited film version of the bestselling novel by Anne Rice. Tom Cruise’s casting as the Vampire Lestat was controversial at the time, but the film ultimately won over both audiences and Anne Rice herself. Other notable films from this era included From Dusk to Dawn (1996), written by Quentin Tarantino; Blade (1998), based on the Marvel Comics character created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan; and John Carpenter's Vampires (1998), based on a novel by John Steakley.

Humorous takes on the vampire genre fared less well in the nineties. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) is best known today for inspiring the later television series. Innocent Blood (1992), directed by John Landis; Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), starring Eddie Murphy; and Tales from the Crypt Presents Bordello of Blood (1996) all made little impact. The less said about Mel Brooks’s Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), the better.

Vampire cinema continues to proliferate in the new century. Dracula 2000 (er, 2000) has inspired two direct-to-DVD sequels to date, while the 21st century has also seen two more Blade movies: Blade II (2002) and Blade: Trinity (2004). Queen of the Damned (2002) was an underwhelming sequel to Interview with the Vampire, with Stuart Townsend replacing Tom Cruise as Lestat. Van Helsing (2004) was an (overly) action-packed attempt to revive the old Universal monsters, including Dracula and his brides. Underworld (2003), starring Kate Beckinsale as an unstoppable vampire warrior, seems to have started a boom in movies about kick-ass vampire super-heroines, including such upcoming films as Bloodrayne (2006) with Kristanna Loken, Ultraviolet (2006) with Milla Jovovich, Rise: Bloodhunter (2006) with Lucy Liu, and, of course, Underworld: Evolution (2006). Shadow of the Vampire (2000) amusingly brought matters full circle by “revealing” that the vampire in the original silent Nosferatu was actually a genuine bloodsucker hired by director F. W. Murnau for the sake of authenticity! Willem Dafoe played the vampire playing "Max Shreck," the actor playing Nosferatu.

Besides these mainstream films, vampire pornography is also a flourishing subgenre, but that’s a whole different topic . . . .