Published today as part of Borders Shortli email, 1/18/05
My Ten Favorite Vampire Movies
By Christopher Moore, author of the brand new book, You Suck: A Love Story, a hilarious tale of vampire romance.
1. Near Dark - The director, Kathryn Bigelow, just took a concept and ran with it: Vampires in Winnebagos. Lance Henriksen as Jesse, the Civil War-era vampire, is terrific. Bill Paxton as the over-the-top redneck vampire is scary and - well - scary.
2. Underworld - Who could have seen this coming? Normally I don't care for the "big vampire myth" stuff, but this one looked so cool and was so slick that I can watch it again and again.
3. Fright Night - Chris Sarandon is the perfectly charming vampire next door. This is a great example of a story where nerds become heroes.
4. Dracula - Made for TV (1973) with Jack Palance in title role, teleplay by Richard Matheson, a terrific writer, who wrote many of the Twilight Zones, as well as a stack of classic horror novels. The closest adaptation of the book I've seen, with an ending that was even better than the book.
5. The Night Stalker - Another Richard Matheson script. I was in junior high when this came out, and it was the first attempt I can remember to really integrate a vampire story into modern American life. What better setting than Las Vegas?
6. Innocent Blood - Anne Parillaud could do no wrong after La Femme Nikita, as far as I'm concerned. She was a terrific, sexy young vampire, and Landis, who directed American Werewolf in London, perhaps the best horror/comedy ever, did a great job.
7. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I don't know how Joss Whedon felt about this movie, but he should be very proud for having brought the concept of a narcissistic cheerleader who is "the chosen" vampire slayer into the world. We all know that Sarah Michelle Gellar made the role her own, but Kristy Swanson was an awfully good Buffy as well.
8. Lost Boys - Joel Schumacher directs a terrific cast about a vampire loose on the boardwalk of Santa Cruz.
9. Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966, Christopher Lee) - The first Hammer film for me. I saw this alone in the theater when I was about nine. It not only scared the bejeezus out of me, I got all kinds of confused about why I got this "funny" feeling at the sight of peasant girls in low-cut dresses. (A Hammer film trademark.)Honorable Mentions:
Salem's Lot - I wasn't thrilled with either of the TV movies they made from this book, but it's one of my favorite vampire books of all time, so I had to mention it.Queen of the Damned - I liked Stuart Townsend as Lestat, and sort of wished he could have retroactively played the part in Interview with the Vampire. Aaliyah made a great Akasha as well. Too bad a plane crash made this her last film role.
From Dusk Till Dawn - Clooney, Tarantino, Robert Rodriquez, Salma Hayak, and Cheech Marin - what's not to like?
Copyright © 2007 by Christopher Moore.
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