Vampire Novelist David Wellington (13 Bullets) Names Top Ten Vampire Movies

There’s a distinct possibility that as you’re reading this you’re already thinking, “Oh, I hate vampire movies!” That’s probably because, after zombie movies, no sub-genre of horror movie has ever generated so many horrible, pointless films. And yet when handled correctly, the vampire remains the most effective and yes, scary monster out there. Here are ten movies that will make you believe a man can suck blood. I’ve intentionally stayed away from movies about Count Dracula (a sub-sub-genre all its own), and for you Twilight fans, well, sorry kids. Shouldn’t you be updating your Facebook page right now? For the rest of us, these are the ten greatest vampire movies:

10. The Lost Boys (1987)
There are some of movies that aren’t great, but because of some redeeming feature, they transcend notions of quality and taste. The Lost Boys has some good bits, like the Frog Brothers, or Kiefer Sutherland having too much fun with his role, or the bridge scene, or its amazing soundtrack, but nothing really stands out as superb. Yet people love the movie. They really do. Why? Because it has heart. Because always, always, it remains entertaining, which puts it above 99.999% of all movies ever made.

9. 30 Days of Night (2007)
It’s full of plot holes, wooden performances, and the ending is silly. It’s also seriously kickass. Some truly creepy vampires invade the town of Barrow, Alaska, above the Arctic circle where the sun won’t rise for another thirty days. They proceed to lay the town to waste in one long, achingly elegant and nasty overhead tracking shot. Then we spend the rest of the movie watching them get killed off in glorious, grisly ways. Pure cinematic gold.

8. Lifeforce (1985)
A cult classic from director Tobe Hooper and not just because the wardrobe department completely forgot about star Mathilda May. A space shuttle mission to Halley’s Comet finds an alien spacecraft co-designed by H. R. Giger and Charles Addams. Inside are three space vampires in suspended animation… suffice to say, they don’t remain suspended for long. Of course, they have to be naked the whole time — except when they’re possessing the body of Patrick Stewart. Totally incoherent, totally unforgettable. Read more …

Danny Price’s Top 5/5 Best And Motherfucking Worst Picks For 2008

Well kiddos 2008 is about to go flying out the window and what a year it’s been, a majority shitty one that is! Let’s face it 08′ hasn’t been all that positive on the horror aspect of cinema, why is it that anything of value had to have been sort out? *cough* Repo! *cough*, I mean we’ve been bombarded with such crap fests as Mirrors, The Happening, and Mother of Tears, not to mention the usual serving of vomit inducing remakes; Prom Night, One Missed Call, Day of the Dead, but all was not lost because we were indeed blessed with a slew of such awesomely kickass flicks as; [REC*], Let the Right One In, and Inside (A L’interieur).

So here it is, the 5 absolute best and rock bottom worst flicks of 2008 as picked by moi, sit back and enjoy my opinions dammit! - Danny Price

THE HITS

1. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN - What the hell is this!? A vampire movie that isn’t Twilight? Shock horror! In an age of sparkling vampires and anti-climactic happenings it’s nice to see that originality and genius still exist out there…it may be hidden deep in the heart of Sweden but hey it’s better than locked up in “Michael Bays Chest of Love and JoyTM”, a place where originality hasn’t shone in many a century.

This is a movie quite literally made of pure gold (not an actual guarantee), Let the Right One In hit’s the mark in every conceivable way, the emotional aspect not least of all. Thomas Alfredson has created a finely crafted relationship between the two main characters that it puts all other vampire relationship movies (ah, I wonder which one I’m talking about here) to shame. This boys and ghouls is the best flick of 2008, guaran-damn-teed (and that is an actual one). Read more …

Top 10 Favorite Horror Movies For 2008!

10 - THE STRANGERS - It’s tough to claim a fear more deeply effective than home invasion, and this little chiller knows it. Rookie director Bryan Bertino truly understands the power behind the mystery of a masked figure as well as an apparently motiveless crime.. and extra kudos for knowing when to really let a shot linger to keep suspense going instead of trying to generate it through frenetic editing. It’s a nice touch to have a couple we’re to root for on the outs instead of deeply in love, though it’s the trio of iconic assailants that one leaves with the strongest impression of.

9 - CLOVERFIELD - I admit I didn’t think it was going to work as well as it did but there’s a good 20 minute early stretch in this film where I was truly scared, post 9/11 flashbacks aside. This clever kaiju update for the surveillance generation was paced, unsettling and way darker than I figured it would be. Wonderful to see a truly horrific and original monster once again. Read more …

Jsyns’s Top 10 Horror Movie Picks Of 2008!

1) LET THE RIGHT ONE IN - For those who have seen it, the general consensus is that it’s the clear frontrunner. Simply put, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is a sublime, dark and beautiful film. Probably the most fascinating and unique portrayal of vampirism since Larry Fessenden’s HABIT. An absolute must-see.

2) [REC] - In a very close second, another foreign offering. (REC) starts disarmingly ho-hum but winds up ending on such a truly scary note it really just blew me away. No, I didn’t see QUARANTINE and frankly, I’m not going to bother because this one is that good. Read more …

Mike C.’S TOP 5 Best Horror Of 2008

1. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
- It seems we’ve all fallen for this dreamlike Swedish flick. “Let the Right One In” is beautiful, you’ll hear that repeated from critic to critic, even on our site. I remember when Rob insisted that I watch this I really wasn’t in the mood for a quiet, deliberately paced film, but I was almost immediately captivated.

A love story between two 12 year old kids, one of whom has been 12 for a very, very long time, seems creepy in a very taboo way. However, this isn’t a film that’s challenging in a sordid way. I love the way this movie handles the subject of vampirism.

A must-see, and hands down the best film in the current vampire trend, if not the best horror movie of the year, and just one of the best movies of the year period.

2. [REC]
- While watching this Spanish film, which was remade for American audiences as “Quarantine”, was the first time in years I can remember being completely, totally creeped out.

Hair standing on the back of my neck creeped out. By now you know the premise which, yes I agree, sounds completely hackneyed in the year that brought us “Diary of the Dead” and every schmoe with a camcorder, $20 and a box of Krispy Kreme donuts shooting a zombie movie in their backyard.

Well, the hell with those, because this is the one that works, this is the one that’s scary, and in the last act when you think they couldn’t possibly turn this movie around on you again it goes out with one of the scariest final 10 minutes in recent memory.

3. INSIDE
- Let 2008 stand as the year in which the newly emerging and ignoble art of womb snatching got the “home invasion thriller” treatment. “When did the French get so Italian?” was my reaction halfway through this very bloody movie.

A movie that showcases damage to parts of the human anatomy I, as a card carrying member of the male sex, will never have and makes me react viscerally, wincing in agony for what seemed hours?

To that end I say well done, even if I’m not sure it’s exactly scary. While much of the proceedings in this movie are impossibly over the top, including the ending, I certainly will never forget it (and I will never watch it again). See more reviews about this movie here.

4. THE STRANGERS
- Despite any glaring amateurish flaws (like a knife that makes the “schnink” sound when picked up off the carpet) this was a very impressive directorial debut.

When it is in full swing it is a truly scary, jumpy, fun house horror movie. I may not have liked the characters in it (either the victims or the attackers) but it delivered. Marred only by an extremely grim ending where I was hoping for vengeance.

Extra kudos for the inclusion of Joanna Newsome on the soundtrack. Buy it now for christmas!

You can see another review by ROB G.’S in this post ROB G.’S TOP 10 PICKS of Best & Worst Horror Movies of 2008!

5. BABY BLUES
- Never heard of it? Came out on DVD in August. Find it. Writer/director Lars E. Jacobson delivered a powerfully taboo breaking horror movie about a mother on the verge of a total mental breakdown and the unfortunate young children in her way. I was shocked, appalled, unnerved. If there’s a movie I saw this year that truly horrified me, this is it. If you have kids, please, you’re probably best to avoid this one altogether, it will be tough. The title left me with the impression that I might be getting ready to watch an inappropriately campy movie on the subject of a mother murdering her children.

There’s nothing funny about that, or the incidents in recent years when it’s happened. But this is not a campy movie, it’s dead serious, and while it may seem like borderline (or from your perspective obvious) exploitation filmmaking, the subject is handled with extreme care.

MIKE C.’S HONORABLE MENTION

TRUE BLOOD
- I love this show. Absolutely love it. Obviously I can’t name it as one of my top favorite movies of the year but I need to call it out. Alan Ball has taken some very silly books and made a fine supernatural television series out of them. The show is sexy, engaging, and just raunchy enough to be made for HBO. I kind of also dig the idea that when it first aired “Twilight” fans might have tuned in out of curiosity. I love the idea that Alan Ball’s TV show about vampires maybe have introduced some 13 year old tween to the concept of erotic asphyxiation. That tickles my soul a little. “Mommy, that vampire is definitely NOT sparkling!” But seriously, it’s a damn fine show. Call me up for Team Sookie.

ROB G.’S TOP 10 PICKS of Best & Worst Horror Movies of 2008!

1 - LET THE RIGHT ONE IN - I didn’t know what to expect when I sat down to watch LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. But what I got turned out to be not only one of the most unique vampire tales I’d ever experienced, but easily one of the best movies (of any genre) that I’ve seen in the last decade. The beauty of this film lines within the relationship between Oskar & Eli, two 12 year old kids falling in love with each other, only… one happens to be a vampire. And while that sounds like the makings for a horror film, the true horror comes from the human monsters of the movie - the bullies that torment Oskar. I’ve seen this movie about 6 times already and every single time, I catch something new. I’ve heard that a lot of the backstory for all the characters is detailed in the original novel (by John Ajvide Lindqvist) but the movie is so well crafted that all the details are there for you to discover on repeat viewings. The more I see this, the more I fall in love with it. And I’m sure you will too. Seek this one out!

2 - TRICK ‘R TREAT - Everything you’ve read on-line is true. Writer/Director Michael Dougherty has crafted the best Halloween themed movie since John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN.
And while it was very difficult to decide between this and LET THE RIGHT ONE IN for my top spot this year, I can already sense that TRICK ‘R TREAT will inevitably end up being one of my all time favorite horror movies. The film takes multiple perspectives of Halloween (from child to teenager to adult to senior) and interconnects those separate perspectives into one grand Halloween tale. Think of it as a horror version of PULP FICTION.
I’d imagine that most of you like me make sure that John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN is playing on one of the TV’s somewhere in your house on October 31st. But it’s time to retire that yearly tradition, because starting next year, TRICK ‘R TREAT will most definitely be in my DVD player from every Halloween here on out!

3 - [REC] - Let’s face it. The “found footage” gimmick wore itself out almost immediately. So if you’re going to try it, it’d better be a great original premise intended to set itself apart from the countless other recent attempts at “cinema verite”. Well, all it took was seeing the teaser trailer to the Spanish flick [REC] to realize that filmmakers Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza were going to deliver something totally unique and special. I own a multi-regional player (something I strongly recommend investing in to all of you fine readers out there), got myself a copy of the import DVD and was treated to easily one of the scariest “zombie” films I’d ever seen! And quite frankly, this is one of the best movies made using the “cinema verite” approach. Forget QUARANTINE. I haven’t seen it yet but the slight tweak to the ending I’ve heard about (something I found terrifying in the original) has already turned me off to it. Plus, this version probably won’t be as effective to you if you watch the practically shot-for-shot American remake. As much as I love Dexter’s little sister, films like this work for me so much better when there’s not a bunch of familiar faces in the leads. Hence, the foreign version gets the upper hand. Seek it out. It’s worth it.

4 - CLOVERFIELD - Another one I truly didn’t know what to expect, but was blown away by. Look - your ever-loyal ICONS staff got to see this one in Times Square in Manhattan, and quite frankly, it was unsettling and scary! Especially walking out into the very streets we’d seen destroyed on the big screen moments earlier. Multiple kudos to director Matt Reeves and writer Drew Goddard for figuring out a way to let this story tell itself using the limitation of the duration of one Mini-DV tape. It’s seriously brilliant & impressive filmmaking. Plus, the creature rocked! It reminded me of the 1st time I saw the original ALIEN as a kid. Anytime you’d get a glimpse of the monster, you couldn’t help but think “What exactly am I looking at?!” I rewatched this recently on DVD just to make sure I still felt as strongly about it, and sure enough, I love it just as much as when I first saw it in January of this year. (You can find more about this movie on FullHalloween Section: Horror Movies and of course, there are more horror movies!

5 - THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN - Not a perfect film, but easily one of the best movies to bare the name Clive Barker on it in over a decade! Who wouldn’t get excited at the prospect of a BOOKS OF BLOOD adaptation?! Let alone one coming from a stylish director such as Ryuhei Kitamura. Writer Jeff Buhler did a kick-ass job expanding upon Barker’s original story, and Kitamura gave us some fantastic gore & visual set pieces.
While the last 20 minutes gets a little iffy, Bradley Cooper still delivers a great little performance, as does the ever-scary Vinnie Jones as the menacing Mahogany. Add a Ted Raimi cameo and you’ve got my bonus kudos.
And thankfully, they kept the original stories ending in tact for the movie version. This one got a raw deal from Lionsgate when it obviously deserved so much better. Thankfully, you guys can discover it on DVD in February 2009! So be waiting for this oh yeah!

6 - THE WIZARD OF GORE - As soon as I heard the first notes of the beautiful song “The Old Kind Of Summer” by The Black Heart Procession playing over the “bloody” opening of THE WIZARD OF GORE, I knew I was watching something special. Add onto that the stellar casting of Crispin Glover (whom if you’ve seen his “performance shows” makes the perfect Montag The Magnificant), as well as Kip Pardue, Bijou Phillips, Brad Dourif, a welcome appearance by Joshua Miller and the Suicide Girls (?!) and you’ve got one of the most bizarre films of the year that if anything, you should check out just for curiosity’s sake.
The ever-reliable Jeffrey Combs also gives us an unrecognizable performance in this flick.
Multiple kudos to director Jeremy Kasten for envisioning Herschell Gordon Lewis through a punk-rock, noir Los Angeles. I’ll be keeping a close eye on all of his films from here on out.

7 - STUCK - Oh Uncle Stu! Not exactly a horror film, but definitely a film loosely based on a true story that just happens to be horrifying! Stuart Gordon gives us this deliciously twisted black comedy. Poor Stephen Rea is having the worst day of his life. His job interview didn’t go well, he get’s kicked out of his apartment and can’t even comfortably sleep on the street without a cop telling him to move. Eventually his bad day comes crashing into him (literally) in the form of Mena Suvari. Rea’s character becomes embedded in Suvari’s windshield, and although her character is a nurse that cares for people on a daily basis, she (for whatever reason) leaves him stuck to the front of the car to die in her garage. What follows is a series of gasp worthy incidences that truly made you feel sorry for this poor S.O.B. Be glad your day isn’t this bad! Maybe I shouldn’t have laughed as much as I did during this movie, but I found it darkly hysterical and the ending was utterly satisfying. Way to go Uncle Stu!

8 - THE STRANGERS - Believe it or not, I actually just rented and watched this one for the first time last night! I’d heard mixed reviews all over the place. Some of my friends hated it, some liked it. My cousin and I share similar tastes in movies and assured me I would love this one. While I didn’t exactly love it (nor do I think it’s a perfect film), I did think it was a solid and genuinely scary debut effort from writer/director Bryan Bertino.
One of my biggest fears (next to drowning) is home invasion. So to have a movie really turn up the tension on that basic concept, and then add creepy, spooky masked stalkers to the mix, just really got to me.
I’m still totally bummed out by the downbeat grim ending, but hell, that’s what makes for an effective horror movie, so for me this one totally worked. I personally like a little vengeance in my horror flicks, so hopefully that is the direction they will take the planned sequel!

9 - TIMECRIMES - Another one I just watched for the first time this week. TIMECRIMES is a Spanish movie by Nacho Vigalondo. And while it’s not exactly a “horror” film, this is one that stuck with me for a long time after the credits stopped. There’s a good tension filled build up in the first 20 minutes as our main character Hector is being stalked by a mysterious man wearing bandages across his face and chasing him with a scissor, but then… the idea of time travel is introduced. To go any further into the plot would just give away all the fun. But the great thing about the movie is, once you get further and further into the time travel angle, it starts to become somewhat frustrating for the viewer, just because it’s hard to wrap your head around the continuity. BUT, rest assured that all of the details will fit by the film’s conclusion and you’ll be left with plenty of satisfying afterthoughts. Hence, it becomes obvious that Vigalondo put a lot of advance thought and effort into exactly how this story should unfold and it totally works! It’s impressive storytelling, and easily one of this year’s best!

10 - INSIDE - At one point during INSIDE’s many gory sequences, Mike C. turned to me and said, “Robg… When did the French get so Italian?” And that’s the main reason I love this movie as much as I do. Now, to be fair, it disturbed me enough that I haven’t had the nerve to watch it a 2nd time, but any horror film that effects me that deeply definitely earns itself a slot on my “best of the year” list. It’s no surprise that lead Beatrice Dalle has a tendency to physically attack meter maids and is in fact kinda crazy in real life, because she’s fantastic in the film. It has it’s over the top moments (sheesh, how much blood did they use in this flick?!), but that makes it one you definitely have to see to believe.
Oh and the ending! I’ve seen a LOT of horror films in my time, but the ending to this one is genuinely one of the most shocking you’re bound to witness.