Good Vampire Movies – What Makes A Good Vampire Film?

I am a huge fan of vampire movies. One of the amazing things about this genre is how varied the actual movies are. They’re not all carbon copies of the same thing, which means there are a lot of original works among the classics. So with so many different types of movies, what determines a “good” vampire movie?

Part of that answer depends on what you enjoy most out of vampire movies. Is it gore? Terror? The sensual flair? The movie plot itself?

What makes this further interesting as a question is that even the vampire legends are different. Does sunlight really affect a vampire? What about silver? If you answered that the best vampire movies are action flicks, do you prefer “Blade,” “John Carpenter’s Vampires,” or “The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires” (think vampire kung fu with zombies – great stuff)?

There’s nothing sensual about the vampires in “30 Days of Night,” which shows vampires in a pack mentality, but there are some very attractive vampires in “Blade” and in “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.”

While the variety of various vampire movies is so great that it’s impossible to keep the list down to only one or two things that make a great vampire flick, there are a few basic things to look for:

1) Cool Vampires. This is mandatory. If the vampires are lame, the movie will be lame. There’s a lot of leeway here: it can be from the hot and alluring lady vampire, to the kung fu vampire, to the traditional played by a very strong lead (like Christopher Lee).

2) Strong hero. To fight off really evil vampires, you need a freaking cool hero.

3) Victims. What’s a good vampire movie without any victims? The vampire may be a suave monster, but they still need to be a monster.

These three things are mandatory in every successful vampire film, whether modern or old.