The 25 Best Vampire Movies of All Time

Bloodthirsty vampires are a staple of horror films, dating back before Universal opened Dracula's coffin in the early days of Hollywood. Since then, we've seen vampires in every iteration - brilliant heartthrobs, the ugliest creatures, prankster roommates, and countless other reimaginings. There have always been vampires lurking in the shadows, and there will always be wings flapping in the moonlight. Our goal here is to highlight the best of the best vampire films throughout history, covering the highlights of the period, as the list of such films is long and they come and go more often than Dracula leaves his coffin.

As always, there will be personal preferences that don't make it onto this list but still deserve recognition. "Night of fearby Tom Holland is a wacky and subtextually bizarre delight that features 80s grotesque practical effects. "A sipRob Stefaniuk is a hard rock vampire musical with multiple rock star cameos on a hilarious undead tour. Other films such as Transfiguration, Byzantium and Blood Red Sky could also be on this list, but there are still favorites that left no place for them in the top 25. Well, let's look at that , which we consider to be the treasure trove of vampire cinema throughout the history of modern cinema.

The 25 Best Vampire Movies of All Time

So here is our top;

25. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)

We're talking about the 1992 feature film starring Christy Swanson, not the TV show. In the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer, high school student Buffy Summers moves from Los Angeles to the town of Sunnydale. No one knows that Buffy is not a simple schoolgirl, but the Chosen One, who is destined to fight demons, vampires and the forces of evil. However, this general ignorance does not last long - until Buffy meets Mr. Rupert Giles, the school librarian, who turns out to be Buffy's personal Overseer, sent to train her to help her become a real Vampire Slayer.

• Directed by: Fran Rubel Kuzui
• Cast: Christy Swanson, Donald Sutherland, Paul Reubens, Rutger Hauer, Luke Perry, Hilary Swank, David Arquette
• Duration: 86 minutes

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24. Vampire: Alan Gray's Dream (1932)

Criterion called 1932's Vampire a horror classic, and with good reason. Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer implements those small technological advances that benefited cinema at the time to create a black-and-white vampire mystery that works with absurd brushstrokes. In particular, the Vampire makes extensive use of shadows that maneuver with free will to bring about a dreamlike state of supernatural influences. It's not Nosferatu, but it illustrates how vampire films can differentiate themselves through translucent visuals and more ghostly disorientation, even in the days when methods were limited. You can never stifle ambition, which will always find an outlet.

• Directed by: Carl Theodor Dreyer
• Cast: Julian West, Rena Mandel, Sybil Schmitz, Jan Hieronymko
• Duration: 75 minutes
• Streaming platforms: HBO Max, The Criterion Channel

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23. Kus / Bit (2019)

Remove stakes, holy water, and sunlight from vampire lore, and what are you left with? This is what Brad Michael Elmore aims to find out in his film. "Kusabout a gang of female vampires who have all the perks of living with fangs and none of the weaknesses. By making fire the only thing that can hurt them (a universal killer, not something specific to a vampire), Elmore poisons the vampire until all that's left is power and gender politics.

• Director: Brad Michael Elmore
• Cast: Nicole Maines, Diana Hopper, Zoli Griggs, Friday Chamberlain, Char Diaz, James Paxton, Greg Hill
• Duration: 90 minutes
• Streaming: Prime Video, Tube

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22. Night of fear (2011)

Yes, the 2011 remake of Fright Night supplanted the 1985 original. Why? Because 2011's Fright Night, starring Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots and Toni Collette, is an example of a student surpassing their teacher.

The story tells how high school graduate Charlie Brewster is at the peak of his student career: he is popular among his peers and is dating the most charming girl in the whole school. He becomes so cool that he starts avoiding his once best friend Ed. Trouble for Charlie begins when Jerry registers next door.

On the surface, he seems like a nice guy, but still something is wrong with him, although no one notices, not even Charlie's mother. After analyzing the strange behavior of a neighbor, Charlie comes to a terrible, but, alas, the only true conclusion: under the false mask of Jerry, there is a bloodthirsty vampire who has made his area his hunting grounds.

Unable to convince anyone that he is right, Charlie turns to the popular Las Vegas illusionist Peter Vincent for help and advice, hoping that the magician will help him get rid of the monster.

• Director: Craig Gillespie
• Cast: Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, David Tennant, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots, Christopher Mintz-Plass, Dave Franco
• Duration: 106 minutes
• Streaming: N/A

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21. Bloodsucking scum (2015)

"Bloodsucking Bastards" is a kind of unique film. Where else will you see typical representatives of office plankton resisting vampires, armed with sharpened rulers and pencils instead of the usual aspen stakes?

Evan works hard at work, trying to get a position as a sales manager in a corporation. In the company with him, his friend Tim, who lives according to the principle “and so-and-so will do,” and his ex-girlfriend Amanda work. And then one fine day, Evan's boss appoints a mysterious type named Max to the coveted position, who immediately raises the company's sales to unprecedented heights and increases the productivity of employees, which arouses suspicion among the main characters ...

What this plot eventually leads to shows that the scriptwriter of the film is at least not bad with fantasy. Such colorful characters as here, unexpected explanations of some plot moves and original finds are rare guests among comedic horror. Although different from a man named Dr. God could not be expected.

• Director: Brian James O'Connell
• Cast: Fran Krantz, Pedro Pascal, Joey Kern, Joel Murray, Emma Fitzpatrick, Yvette Yates Redick, Parvesh Chyna
• Duration: 86 minutes
• Streaming: Tubi, Pluto TV

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20. Lost Boys (1987)

The Lost Boys is a Peter Pan riff with more neck bites and less innocence. It's the quintessential '80s horror at the crossroads between bloody eruptions and the use of glitter, infamous for the inclusion of "Sexy Sax Man". Kiefer Sutherland's Santa Carla Vampire Gang ride dirt bikes and play mind tricks by making others think they eat insects. Director Joel Schumacher's vision is as extra-additional as the '80s allowed, and the vampire makeup design aims to stoke fears - this is a movie with surprisingly gruesome vampire features that audiences will never forget for its sense of over-the-top style.

• Directed by: Joel Schumacher
• Cast: Jason Patric, Corey Heim, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Alex Winter
• Duration: 97 minutes
• Streaming: N/A

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19. Norway (2014)

Chances are you don't even know Yannis Veslemes's Norway exists - it sat pending US distribution from around 2014 to 2021. Maybe it's because it's hard to describe this Eurothrash take on vampirism about the bloodsucker who says he'll die if he stops dancing. This is a historical piece about 1980s nightclubs and their underbelly that turns vampires into enthusiastic party animals who befriend prostitutes and end up entangled in Nazi plots… The music hits as loud as Weslemes' artistic ambitions as sequences are considered like shiny segments of a music video, where the blood can be any bright color. Everything from miniatures to Michel Gondry-style dreams flourishes. I promise you will never see a steamier, faster vampire hallucination than Norway.

• Directed by: Yannis Veslemes
• Cast: Vangelis Mourikis, Alexia Kaltsiki, Daniel Bolda
• Duration: 73 minutes
• Streaming: N/A

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18. Chronos (1993)

Guillermo del Toro's debut is as del Toro as they are. Chronos is a magical device that grants immortality. But eternal life is possible under one condition - the owner of the "Chronos" must feed on fresh human blood. You'll see baby-faced Ron Perlman acting as a mob goomba and minimal bloodsucking, except for all del Toro's incentive to write the Chronos story - his protagonist licking nose juice off the bathroom floor like a drug addict. It's del Toro's way of facing the curse of vampirism, which turns into more of a curiosity about eternal life than how someone consumes fresh blood to stay alive. You can see how del Toro develops his passion for humanizing monsters from Kronos onwards and channels his rebellious spirit when he breaks the genre.

• Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
• Cast: Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Claudio Brook, Margherita Isabelle
• Duration: 94 minutes
• Streaming: HBO Max, The Criterion Channel

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17. Blade II (2002)

There would be one or two more slots on this list and the first Wesley Snipes Blade movie would be there. As it is, Guillermo del Toro's Blade II presents the comic book franchise here as a rare sequel that outshines its original. Del Toro's prosperity is an update to the industrial blood rave aesthetic, as landscapes become more colorful, vampires become terrifying creatures, and mercenaries fight their way through monsters using high-tech weapons. Blade II capitalizes on del Toro's characterizations of creepiness and adoring practical effects, all of which are precursors to del Toro's later work such as Hellboy and Crimson Peak, without losing any of Snipes's attitude towards Blade's bad mom jamma.

• Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
• Cast: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, Norman Reedus, Thomas Kretschmann, Luke Goss, Donnie Yen, Danny John-Jules, Leonor Varela
• Duration: 117 minutes
• Streaming: HBO Max

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16. Vampire Land (2010)

The wild intensity of Stake Land may seem like a direct response to Twilight, as the film was released just two years after the infamous young vampire romance. Jim Mickle and co-writer Nick Damici (who also stars) approach vampires with an apocalyptic lens, where the survivors now roam the swarming grounds, trying to find safe havens, much like Zombieland - minus the trade-off of humor for bestial tension. Damici plays a vampire hunter who takes a charge under his wing, teaching him tricks, targeting hordes of vampires that thrash, grit, and tear their throats. The wasteland's dystopian atmospheres are paramount and the action relentless, making Stake Land one of the most effective responses to vampires as love interests in the post-Twilight world.

• Directed by: Jim Mickle
• Cast: Connor Paolo, Nick Damici, Kelly McGillis, Danielle Harris, Larry Fessenden
• Duration: 98 minutes
• Streaming: Peacock TV, Tubi, Canopy

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15. Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

Only Lovers Left Alive is too cool for school as Jim Jarmusch takes on vampirism with a light-hearted attitude towards indie rock. Hiddleston approaches the role of recluse with the grace of Joey Ramone soothing, while Swinton's grace is intoxicating. The additions of Mia Wasikowska and Anton Yelchin wreak a bit of havoc on the bloodsuckers who embrace the moody, musical chemistry of the hangouts, while Jarmusch uses his film to equate vampirism with drug addiction and humanity's increasing corruption. It's rebellious, punk rock and hipster without stigmatization, driven by harrowing yet enviable performances that even wear sunglasses at night.

• Directed by: Jim Jarmusch
• Cast: Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt, Anton Yelchin, Jeffrey Wright
• Duration: 123 minutes
• Streaming: HBO Max

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14. 30 Days of Night (2007)

In the Best Comic Book Adaptations conversation, you better not forget David Slade's 30 Days of Night. Josh Hartnett and Melissa George anchor an Alaskan townspeople plunged into darkness for 30 days and fend off a rogue gang of vampires. Danny Huston personifies vampires as creatures to be feared, just as primitive and animalistic as horror fans have come across. 30 Days of Night moves along superbly and doesn't let viewers catch their breath for a second, building on a glorious turning point in horror cinema where the attitude was still as dark as midnight but the gory heaviness went from pointless to punctual. Hence the graphic nature of 30 Days of Night, where vampiric ruthlessness is an emphasis on an already coldly tense survival scenario.

• Directed by: David Slade
• Cast: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster, Mark Boone Junior
• Duration: 113 minutes
• Streaming: N/A

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13. Ganja and Hess (1973)

Bill Gunn's experimental vampire novel stands out for several reasons, firstly because it's one of the few black vampire films, especially in 1973. Dwayne Jones and Marlene Clark play lovers united by bloodthirst as soon as the former turns into the latter as Gunn uses the essences of the black experience to convey the imprisonment of vampirism. Sam Waymon's score provides this ritualistic drumbeat, which is sometimes drowned out by vocal cries of anguish, which becomes a disorienting source of unease, even when providing the soundtrack for the love scenes. The images of nooses, pools of bright red blood being wiped by people, and this naked approach to showing vampirism as the antithesis of religion all embrace the sins of humanity with such pronounced brutality. Race, horror, and society clash at a time when vampires were mostly whitewashed European interpretations—the importance of representation strikes once again.

• Director: Bill Gunn, Lawrence Jordan
• Cast: Dwayne Jones, Marlene Clark, Bill Gunn
• Duration: 112 minutes
• Streaming: Canopy

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12. Interview with a Vampire (1994)

Interview with the Vampire is a sexy, awkward, indulgent treat that begins in 1791, Louisiana, Spain, and ends with Guns N' Roses playing over the end credits. Tom Cruise is the devilishly dapper Lestat, Brad Pitt is the dreamily conflicted Louis, Christian Slater is a beef journalist - The Interview's clumsiness goes off scale even before the mention of Antonio Banderas. Kirsten Dunst brings an assistive twist to childhood, forever stuck in a young body, confirming that performances across the board are transformative as the vampire family bicker and feed for decades. There are heaps of presence from the extravagantly decorated Louis Plantation to the penthouses of New Orleans and Paris' Théâtre des Vampires (the film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction). Clearly and confidently, they no longer make them so bright, unafraid of strange overtones and overly decorative down to the smallest detail.

• Directed by: Neil Jordan
• Cast: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Antonio Banderas, Kirsten Dunst, Christian Slater, Tandive Newton
• Duration: 123 minutes
• Streaming: Paramount Plus

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11. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn is a crime thriller that quietly transforms into a sleazy night owl vampire vault. It has everything from Salma Hayek performing a flashy dance number to overpowering vampire numbers as Titty Twister strippers rip drunk patrons apart. What starts out as an insidiously dark kidnapping scenario quickly becomes a blazing gun-toting horror brawler with Mexican influences and a gripping take on monster mania. George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis and more are turning to holy water balloons and jackhammer machines to exterminate vampires with extreme unholy violence - with a focus on the practical effects of some of the best in the business.

• Director: Robert Rodriguez
• Cast: Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Juliette Lewis, Quentin Tarantino, Ernest Liu, Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Tom Savini, Fred Williamson, Michael Parks, John Saxon, John Hawkes
• Duration: 108 minutes
• Streaming: HBO Max

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10. Dracula (1931)

Count Dracula's debut in Universal's classic monster series is the atmosphere, massive stage sets, and gothic architecture of contemporary vampire films that don't have the guts to challenge. Bela Lugosi sets the Eastern European template for the “I want to suck your blaaahd!” graph type, and for good reason. Tod Browning's Dracula is rubber bat puppets, painted backdrops and minimal '30s technological advancement, but his mood is still infinitely more captivating than most modern day vampires. Gothic architecture, cobwebs in the stone cellars of the castle, and dark black and white washing match Dracula's hypnotic horrors, while Lugosi uses his gaze like a tractor beam. That's all we could ask for in a vampire movie, especially when selling vampire movies beyond emaciated bodies and sharp teeth (at the brisk 75 minutes).

• Directed by: Tod Browning
• Cast: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Fry
• Duration: 75 minutes
• Streaming: N/A

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9. The girl returns home alone at night (2014)

In 2014, Girl Comes Home Alone at Night was the most successful debut of any newcomer to film. Ana Lily Amirpour's black and white Iranian vampire film has such a strong personality, with an outstanding performance from Sheila Vand. Amirpour's style combines skateboarding, indie rock and homage to classic vampire cinema with a modern twist. The loner Wanda seeks romance by stalking the inhabitants of Bad City at night, while Amirpour marries sweet fantasies with violent fates and spaghetti-western influences. It's a vigilante story, a hopeless romantic story, and it has a taste for evil men - all while Amirpour has valiantly established herself as an attractive director who has since delivered on such promises.

• Directed by: Ana Lily Amirpour
• Cast: Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Marshall Manesh
• Duration: 101 minutes
• Streaming: Tubi, The Criterion Channel, Kanopy

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8. Hunger (1983)

In Tony Scott's pantheon of horny vampire films, The Hunger, starring Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie and Susan Sarandon, will be hotly disturbed by 3 AM Cinemax Special Editions. Any vampire movie that starts with Bauhaus's Dead Men of Bela Lugosi immediately deserves praise, and it's all gravy after that. Killer Queen Deneuve promises her lovers eternal life, but as the 18th-century cellist Bowie discovers, that eternity does not extend to physical features as he suddenly begins an accelerated aging process. Enter Sarandon's gerontologist and a love triangle born of deceit and sealed with kisses of blood when the lust for food or sexual pleasure is rampant. So sultry, so seductive, and so chaotic that only Scott's late brother could deliver.

• Director: Tony Scott
• Cast: Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, Dan Hedaya
• Duration: 97 minutes
• Streaming: HBO Max

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7 Real Ghouls (2014)

Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi spoof vampire films as spectacularly as Rob Reiner's rock and roll mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap spoofs behind-the-scenes heavy metal documentaries. The Real Ghouls (2014) is a humorous tour of the history of vampire cinema that's not without exaggerated scenes of sloppy eating habits. This is not only one of the best vampire movies or even horror comedies since its release, but also one of the best flat comedies since 2014. He's endlessly quoted, knowledgeable about his fanged subjects, and genuinely hilarious. Werewolves, not swearing wolves!

• Director: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi
• Cast: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Corey Gonzalez-Macuer, Johnny Brug, Stu Rutherford, Rhys Darby
• Duration: 86 minutes
• Streaming: Canopy

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6. Let me in (2008)

Alfredson adapts John Ajvid Lindqvist's novel, toning down the horror elements and vampire conventions to emphasize relationships between outcast children. 12-year-old Oscar and his neighbor Eli form a compassionate bond when Oscar's victimization by bullies and Eli's latent vampirism create an unlikely bond. Society drives both children into darkness and encourages them to survive by their own means, which becomes the crux of this tender and tragic love story that never subdues its more vexing realities of revenge or feeding. Let the Right One In is a huge vampire achievement in terms of 2000s releases and all-time quality.

• Directed by: Thomas Alfredson
• Cast: Kore Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar
• Duration: 114 minutes
• Streaming: Hulu, Kanopy

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5. Almost in the dark (1987)

Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark is an unconventional vampire western that eschews ranchers' capes. It has more to do with Texas Chainsaw family values ​​than Count Dracula's Transylvanian heritage, and dares to present blood transfusion as a successful counter to undead transformations. A stacked cast including Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen play vampires who instill fear as they feed bar patrons, using their pack mentality to survive as night walkers prey on the unfortunate. Sun-scorched southern vibes and modern rawhide crumble are the bright vibes of this vamp tale that stands alone without sacrificing the viciousness that horror fans expect.

• Directed by: Katherine Bigelow
• Cast: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein, Joshua John Miller
• Duration: 94 minutes
• Streaming: N/A

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4. Struck (2013)

With rankings comes controversy, and placing Afflicted this high on this one will certainly raise questions. Here's the thing - Derek Lee and Cliff Prowse's Suffering is a wild evolution into found subjects that combines the worlds of parkour and blood-sucking rescue. Lee plays the role of a "suffering" friend who turns into a vampire, while Prowse assists in his transformation as the filmmakers use GoPro perspectives to give the experience of riding into vampirism. From Lee's physical performance as he contorts in agony to high-flying acrobatics as Lee's monster flees his pursuers, Misery is one of the most innovative vampire films of the 2000s.

• Directed by: Derek Lee, Cliff Prowse
• Cast: Derek Lee, Clif Prowse, Baya Rehaz
• Duration: 85 minutes
• Streaming: Prime Video

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3. Nosferatu, a symphony of horror (1922)

The curl of Count Orlok's claw-like fingers, his hunchbacked shadow climbing the stairs... Max Shrek vanishes under make-up effects that never glamorize vampire ailments. Nosferatu remains an influential OG vampire who proves that black-and-white silent movies can still make compelling horror stories. FW Murnau adapts an unauthorized iteration of Bram Stoker's Dracula, which is a bewilderment of atmospheric richness as furry Orlok lurks from behind the shadows to reveal his jagged, toothy grin. Vampires have rarely been scarier a century later - open your inner historian and honor your elders.

• Director: F.V. Murnau
• Cast: Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav von Wangenheim
• Duration: 94 minutes
• Streaming: Tooby, Canopy, Shudder, Pluto TV

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2. Thirst (2009)

Park Chan Wook's take on vampires, taboo, romance and shame is a knockout. The characters all yearn for something that Chang-wook explores through regular and alternate vampire experiences. A Catholic priest becomes a vampire, and a disillusioned wife seeks a forbidden eternal romance in her own sense of change - what happens next is artfully unsettled as chaos welcomes kidnappings, murders, and speculations of eternal imprisonment. Chan-wook delivers a thoughtful vampire riff that gets dangerously creative. Horror endings don't get much better than The Thirst either.

• Directed by: Park Chan Wook
• Cast: Song Kang Ho, Kim Ok Bin, Seo Dong Soo, Ra Mi Ran, In Hwan Park
• Duration: 134 minutes
• Streaming: N/A

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1. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

Francis Ford Coppola adapts Bram Stoker's Dracula with supreme decadence as a gothic horror creature that is also a lavish blockbuster. Coppola famously demanded that only on-set and in-camera effects could be used, resulting in an amazing feast for the eyes, from werewolf costumes to projected arteries throbbing atop Winona Ryder. Gary Oldman's loud command over his opponents as Count Dracula and Anthony Hopkins' hilariously straightforward take on Van Helsing are triumphant performances - don't forget the accent Keanu Reeves is trying to make for Jonathan Harker or Tom Waits losing his mind as Renfield. Coppola retains the spectacular nature of Old Hollywood by exaggerating every aspect of his production of Dracula in a way only the 90s allowed. He doesn't get better and has never been better than Bram Stoker's Dracula when it comes to vampire movies.

• Director: Francis Ford Coppola
• Cast: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves, Richard E. Grant, Cary Elwes, Billy Campbell, Tom Waits, Monica Bellucci, Sadie Frost
• Duration: 128 minutes
• Streaming: N/A

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This was our list of the best vampire movies. Let us know your thoughts on what we missed in the comments below!