Nosferatu (2024): Director Robert Eggers’s take on the Dracula story comes in the form of Nosferatu, which features Bill Skarsgård as the terrifying Count Orlok (doing one hell of a voice and with a wild mustache) along with a cast that includes Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, and Willem Dafoe. It’s a terrifying, tension-filled, gorgeous film,which is exactly what we’ve come to expect with Eggers’s movies.

Sinners (2025): Sinners is not only an ambitious, exciting, visually gorgeous vampire film, it’s director Ryan Coogler’s most original and personal film to date, too. With a cast led by a career-best Michael B. Jordan (as twins Smoke and Stack) along with Hailee Steinfeld, Delroy Lindo, Jack O’Connell, and newcomer Miles Caton, Sinners is the kind of big-budget, original genre film that movie fans are always waiting for. This kind of thing doesn’t come around often, and you definitely are going to want to check it out.

El Conde (2023): Are all fascists vampires? Probably. But director Pablo Larraín makes his case with El Conde, a movie that imagines an alternative history that follows Augusto Pinochet, a fascist leader who is also a literal immortal bloodsucker… who decides he doesn’t want to suck blood anymore, and wants to die. It’s a satirical horror that’s worth checking out, even if it isn’t quite as pulpy as some other films on this list.

30 Days of Night: Imagine, if you will, a horde of intelligent, sentient vampires taking over an Alaskan town, wreaking havoc just as nighttime falls upon the tiny suburb for an entire month. Yes, there are several plot holes, mainly, why does this town not having a functioning airport during the winter so these people can escape? but it’s a gruesome, entertaining extravaganza, starring none other than ’90s heartthrob Josh Hartnett.

The Lost Boys: We had to include at least one teen vampire saga, and as influential as the one you’re thinking of definitely is, we’re putting Joel Schumacher’s horror comedy on here instead. It may have even been the grandfather of the sexy young vampire genre we’ve all come to openly hate (but secretly kind of like).

Let the Right One In: In this classic Swedish vampire movie, a 12-year-old boy unsuccessfully deals with bullies at his school and seeks revenge. Fortunately for him, he meets his next-door neighbor, who also happens to be a young (seeming) vampire with super strength and a slew of other supernatural skills. 

Daybreakers: The vampires have won. Human beings are decimated. Society is now wholly contingent on the remaining blood (and humans) in the world to feed the starving. That’s how Daybreakers approaches the vampire genre, and it does a damn good job at it, particularly with Ethan Hawke at the helm.

Abigail: The newest entry on this list is 2024’s Abigail, which comes from Radio Silence, the team behind Ready or Not, Scream (2022), and Scream VI. Which tells you one vital thing: it’s scary, it’s violent, and it’s funny. A ragtag group of criminals (including Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, and more) think they’ve found a home invasion job with an easy payout, but a little girl with a blood-sucking secret proves to make it anything but.

Vampire’s Kiss: Nicolas Cage has dabbled in the Vampiric Arts a number of times through the years (most recently Renfield, which we don’t quite recommend). The standout for Mr. Cage has to be Vampire’s Kiss, where Cage, at his most manic, which is really saying something, plays a man who gets bitten by a woman, and convinces himself he’s turning into a vampire.

Shadow of the Vampire: You’ve heard of Nosferatu; Shadow of the Vampire imagines an alternate history where Max Schreck, the actor who played the original Count Orlok (played here by Willem Dafoe), is way way way way more into the whole vampire thing than anyone could have expected. Is he the OG method actor, or something a bit more… supernatural?

John Carpenter’s Vampires: The title alone, John Carpenter’s Vampires, should be enough to get you on board. Carpenter is one of the all-time horror masters (he made Halloween andThe Thing, come on), and the fact that it took him until 1998 to tell a vampire story is actually surprising. In any event, this film is based on a book called Vampire$, and is about a team of vampire slayers led by James Woods, Daniel Baldwin, and Twin Peaks star Sheryl Lee. It’s awesome.

I Am Legend: Hear us out, I Am Legend is not a perfect movie. For a flick about vampires having ravaged New York City, leaving Will Smith’s character as the lone survivor on the island of Manhattan, it’s surprisingly not scary. (Maybe it’s the CGI-vampires that ruins the effect?) That said, the movie is beautifully shot. Streets were deserted specifically for the production of the movie, likely much to the dismay of New Yorkers at the time, but at least viewers can appreciate them now.

Dark Shadows: Tim Burton’s vampire movie is based on the 1966 TV show of the same name, and it stars Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins, an 18th-century vampire who awakens in the 20th century. Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Bella Heathcote fill out the rest of the cast.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: Ever wondered what the world would have been like if President Lincoln was a secret vampire hunter? Well, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is here to fulfill your fantasy. The movie takes some…liberties with history, but the visual style is stunning.

Midnight Mass: Okay, fine it’s a “limited series.” Still, the seven or so hours you’ll spend with Midnight Mass won’t entail derivative vampire lore. The series merges vampirism with Catholicism in a terrifying trip to one small town’s Sunday sermon.

Only Lovers Left Alive: Only Lovers Left Alive is both a vampire movie, and with Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston as its leads, has a pair of stars who feel like they were born to play vampiers, and a Jim Jarmusch movie. For those not familiar with Jarmusch’s work, he tends to create a quiet, deliberate atmosphere; he puts less emphasis on “plot” than on “character,” and frequently uses deadpan humor to create fun film situations. In other words? It’s a hangout movie. Swinton and Hiddleston play blood-suckers pondering their place in the world after centuries of wading through it.

Interview With the Vampire: Based on Anne Rice’s 1976 novel of the same name, Interview With the Vampireflashes back and forth between 1791 New Orleans, 1870 Paris, and modern-day San Francisco. This vampire movie follows Lestat (Tom Cruise) and Louis (Brad Pitt) after Lestat transforms Louis, and their story later includes a ten-year-old named Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) that they also turn into a vampire.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night: This horror western from Ana Lily Amirpour features a vampire preying on men in Iran. While the film has traditional vampiric horror at its fang root, it also veers into the best of art house cinema. For something fresh, provocative, and masterfully done, check out this gem.

Underworld: 2003’s Underworld tells the story of Selene, played by Kate Beckinsale, a vampire who works to kill the Lycans (werewolves) who slaughtered her family. But after a human that she’s attracted to is bitten by a Lycan, she has to choose between her heart or her duty. Four sequels followed between 2006-2016.

Queen of the Damned: Loosely based on the second and third novel of Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles series, Queen of the Damned stars Aaliyah as Akasha, the queen of all vampires, and she desires to make legendary vampire and rock star Lestat (Stuart Townsend) her king.

Vampyr: Going all the way back to 1932 with this German adaptation of an even older short story collection, 1872’s In a Glass Darkly. It may have been a little too ambitious for the time, but now it’s a must see for all horror cinema scholars.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Based off the 1897 novel Dracula and 1973 film of the same name, Francis Ford Coppola’s vampire movie stars Gary Oldman as the vampire Count Dracula as he travels to England. Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, and Keanu Reeves also star.

From Dusk Till Dawn: The 1996 cult film was directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino, and the stacked cast includes Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Juliette Lewis, Salma Hayek, and Tarantino himself. It follows two criminals on the run as they hole up in a bar that ends up being the home base for a group of vampires.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Many fans of the legendary 1997 TV show don’t know that it was actually based on the 1992 film of the same name, and the movie follows a Valley girl cheerleader named Buffy that learns it is her fate to hunt vampires. The campy and comedic film was reportedly taken in a different direction from the original plot line writer Joss Whedon intended, so he created the darker Buffy series five years later.

Blade: Probably one of the coolest films on the list, 1998’s Blade follows the highly skilled half-vampire “daywalker” Eric Brooks (played by Wesley Snipes) as he hunts vampires. Two sequels: Blade II and Blade: Trinity, followed in 2002 and 2004.

What We Do in the Shadows: What We Do in the Shadows is a mockumentary about a group of vampires that live together in New Zealand, and the comedy was written and directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi (yes, that Taika Waititi), who also star in the film. The movie later got an American spinoff series.

Doctor Sleep: Based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Stephen King, and a sequel to King’s 1977 novel The Shining, Doctor Sleep follows a man with psychic abilities who tries to protect a young girl with similar powers from the True Knot, a cult of psychic vampires that preys on children.

Hotel Transylvania: For those who are in the mood for a child-friendly vampire pick, the animated movie Hotel Transylvania stars Adam Sandler as Count “Drac” Dracula, the owner of a monsters-only hotel in Transylvania. There are two sequels (with a third on the way), titled Hotel Transylvania 2 and Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.

Nosferatu: The highly influential 1922 silent German film follows a man that is suspected to be a vampire by his real estate agent, and the movie is an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula.

Nosferatu the Vampyre: And another one. This film, made five decades after the original, is a Werner Herzog gem. More of a character study than previous iterations, the film boarders more on tragedy than mere horror.

Fright Night: The 1985 film follows a teenager who suspects that his neighbor is a vampire, but none of his friends or family believes him. The Fright Night franchise includes Fright Night Part 2, a 2011 remake of the first film, and Fright Night 2: New Bloodin 2013.

Twilight:The entire Twilight series definitely divided fans, there are some that say the movies are so bad that they’re good, while others hold them up as a shining star of the vampire genre. Either way, the franchise made over $3.3 billion worldwide, and there are five movies to occupy your time.

Blood Red Sky: This gory Netflix film takes mothers protecting their children to a whole new level. When a group of terrorists hijack a plane, a woman transforms into a vampiric form to take them down, while trying to hide her true nature from her son.

Vampires Suck: The vampire genre in movies and television thrived in the late 2000’s, with Twilight, True Blood, and more. Vampires Suck is a direct parody of those notable shows, but more specifically Twilight. It’s the vampire movie that doesn’t take itself seriously at all.

Carmilla: Predating Bram Stoker’s Dracula by decades, the lesbian vampire novel Carmillahasn’t received nearly as much attention as it deserves. Emily Harris writes and directs this 2019 adaptation about a young woman who recovers at a house after a car crash and becomes involved in a complex triangle with two other women.

Ganja and Hess: Duane Jones (best known for Night of the Living Dead) stars in this Black vampire film alongside Marlene Clark. An anthropologist becomes a vampire after his assistant stabs him with a cursed knife. After he’s turned, the anthropologist falls in love with his assistant’s widow.

The Addiction: Lili Taylor, Christopher Walken, and Edie Falco star in The Addiction, about a young woman who is turned into a vampire, and struggles to fight her growing need for blood. It’s also notably in black-and-white, rather than in color.

Near Dark: Kathryn Bigelow directs this film about a family of nomadic vampires who encounter a young man in a small town and decide to have him join their group.

Thirst: From Park Chan-wook, who wrote, produced, and directed The Handmaiden, comes Thirst, a story of a Catholic priest who becomes a vampire and struggles with his new desire for blood.

The Invitation: Nathalie Emmanuel (of Game of Thrones) fame stars in this supernatural horror about a woman invited to a wedding by a long lost cousin, and is quickly charmed by the lord of the manor she’s staying in. As the wedding festivities ensue though, she begins to question the strange antics of the guests, and ultimately the intentions of the man she’s falling for.