Image credit: Aniplex, CJ Entertainment, Perviy Kanal, SVT, Paramount Pictures, BBC Films, Free Lunch Productions, Columbia Pictures, Industrial City Films, Glass Eye Pix
These vampire movies didn't quite get their due when they first hit the screens, but totally worth revisiting.
Next time you're in the mood for some hemoglobin-heavy horror that doesn't suck, give these a watch.
10. Blood: The Last Vampire (2000) An American airbase in Japan. It's 1966, and there's this seemingly young girl named Saya who's enrolled in the base's school. But, twist: she's not just any student; she's a katana-wielding vampire slayer who looks like a teen but is actually centuries old.
The base is infested with bloodsuckers in disguise, and Saya is undercover to hunt them down. Things get sticky when she discovers that the school nurse is a vampire in cahoots with other creatures lurking in the shadows.
9. Thirst (2009) A beloved priest named Sang-hyun volunteers for a deadly experiment to find a vaccine for a virus. Things go sideways when he gets infected and receives a blood transfusion that saves his life but turns him into a vampire. Now, he's wrestling with a thirst for blood and a sudden surge of carnal desires, a big no-no for a man of the cloth.
His moral compass spins out of control when he starts an affair with an old friend's wife, Tae-ju, who's stuck in a life of drudgery and dreams of escape.
8. Day Watch (2006) This is the dizzying sequel to "Night Watch," and it slams us right back into the supernatural tussle in Moscow. Anton, the protagonist, is still in the middle of this thousand-year-old struggle between the forces of light and dark. He's part of the Night Watch, keeping an eye on the vampires and other dark creatures. But now, there's a cursed chalk that can rewrite destiny, and everyone wants a piece of it.
The Day Watch, enforcers for the dark side, and the Night Watch find themselves in a frantic chase to get the chalk.
7. Frostbiten (2006) Welcome to the Swedish winter, which seems to last forever, and in this little town, it actually does because the sun ain't rising again anytime soon. A new doctor, Annika, and her teenage daughter, Saga, are about to find out that small towns can have big secrets. There's this mysterious pill floating around at high school parties turning kids into bloodthirsty fiends. Meanwhile, Annika's strange co-worker, Gerhard, has a sinister past linked to a vampire experiment from WWII.
The cold never bothered these vampires anyway, and as the endless night creeps on, Annika and Saga have to fend off the party-turned-feast as their neighbors turn into night crawlers.
6. Shadow of the Vampire (2000) The year is 1921, and we're on the set of the classic silent film "Nosferatu." But here's the catch: the actor playing the vampire, Max Schreck, is a bit too convincing. That's because he's a real vampire, and the director, F.W. Murnau, has struck a deal with him for the sake of authentic cinema. Schreck will play the vampire in return for getting to feast on the film's lead actress once the shoot wraps.
It's all behind-the-scenes drama, old-timey movie sets, and a vampire who's struggling to stick to the script.
5. The Hamiltons (2006) The Hamiltons seem like your run-of-the-mill American family dealing with the loss of their parents, but beneath the surface, there's a gruesome secret. The siblings are actually vampires, and they're struggling to keep their desires under wraps while they figure out how to feed without drawing attention.
The eldest, David, takes charge to uphold their family values, but when the youngest, Francis, starts peeking behind closed doors, he unravels the disturbing truth about their meals and what's really in the basement.
4. Stake Land (2010) The world's gone to heck in a handbasket in "Stake Land," thanks to a vampiric epidemic that's turned America into a dystopian nightmare. We follow a stoic hunter known only as Mister and a young boy named Martin as they traverse the desolate lands. Mister is teaching Martin how to survive: sharpen stakes, kill vampires, and stay alive. Along the way, they pick up a few other survivors, trying to reach a safe haven known as New Eden.
But it's not just the vampires that are a threat; it's the crazed cult called the Brotherhood that believes the vamps are God's judgment.
3. Let the Right One In (2008) This Swedish film takes a chilling and melancholic look at the vampire myth. Oskar is a 12-year-old boy dealing with bullies and a broken home. His world changes when he meets Eli, a peculiar girl who moves in next door. She's strange, smells funny, and only comes out at night.
As their bond deepens, Oskar discovers that Eli is no ordinary girl – she's been 12 for a very long time. With her caretaker gone, Eli shows Oskar the ropes of her nocturnal lifestyle, and as their friendship blossoms, they confront the bullies and the stark reality of Eli's existence.
2. 30 Days of Night (2007) What if vampires went to a place where night lasts for a month? Enter Barrow, Alaska, during its polar night. The townsfolk are prepping for a month of darkness when a gang of vampires, led by a chilling Marlow, decide it's buffet time. The sheriff, Eben Oleson, his estranged wife, Stella, and a scattering of survivors must use their wits and whatever tools they can find to stay alive until the sun rises again.
The tension is palpable as the group moves in the shadows, trying to outlast the predators.
1. Midnight Son (2011) "Midnight Son" is a low-budget indie story about Jacob, a young security guard, who has a condition that prevents him from being in the sun and an insatiable hunger that can't be quelled by food. As he starts to unravel the truth about his cravings and his body's strange reactions, he delves into a lonely existence, trying to make sense of what he's becoming.
When he meets Mary, a local bartender, his world brightens for a moment, but his condition worsens, leading to a tragic struggle that questions the very nature of his humanity.
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