Vampire Fever

With the incredible success of Eclipse this past weekend, it looks like the US has blood-sucking fever. As a nation of movie-goers we have long had a fascination with Vampires. I am not sure what draws us to these stories -- maybe the allure of eternal youth, the danger of forbidden love, or simply the magnetism of dark, brooding characters -- but the US has the fever bad.

As a result, I thought I would takes some time to highlight some great rankings of Vampire movies -- NOT named Twilight. While Twilight is a unique and interesting take on Vampires (vegetarian vamps), there have been great movies about Vampires for over 80 years starting with Nosferatu in 1922. In that original vampire movie, Max Schreck so transformed himself into the role that rumors swirled that he had actually tried to become a vampire.

Here is the Composite Ranking for the Best Vampire Movies based on all the rankings by members. Just click on any of the member names to see their Vampire Movie rankings.

Some of the interesting titles that appear on multiple lists include:

Nosferatu (1922) - A brilliant dark classic from the age of silent films. Schreck is so creepy in this one that he can invoke nightmares without any sound.

Vampyr (1932) - From Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer, this is a brilliant cinematic film where the cinematography creates the haunting mood much more than the plot itself.

Let the Right One In (2008) - A Swedish vampire flick in which the Twilight roles are reversed and a pre-teen boy defends his pre-teen vampire girlfriend from the persecution of the community.

Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor) (2006) - A haunting Russian tale of the Others that live among us with supernatural powers and a struggle between the forces of light and dark in this alternative world.