Halloween Movie Night

[HMS Invincible]

For halloween, we are doing a movie night. Last year, and the year before that, we did zombie themed movies. This year, the theme is vampires, but this is where I have a problem. The plan is to watch 30 days of night, but I rather not. =| What is a good vampire movie?

[Nameless]

Well, most vampire films are ether cheesy or Romantic. But Lost Boys is always a fun one. Interview with the Vampire is my personal favourite and you could try finding a good Dracula film.

[Perenelle]

Not Twilight. Please! Anything but that! noooooo!
*runs away* :smalltongue:
(joking, I dont want to offend any twilight fans out there:smallwink:)

How 'bout Dracula? I havent seen very many Vampire movies but thats the first thing I think of.

[Nameless]

OMG TWILIGHT IS DE GREATST FILM EEVVEERRAZZZZ!!!!!!!!11ONEONELEVENTY

:smalltongue:

[Perenelle]

OMG TWILIGHT IS DE GREATST FILM EEVVEERRAZZZZ!!!!!!!!11ONEONELEVENTY

:smalltongue:

Oh no!! Nameless come back to the light!!! Dont fall for the sparkly Vampire's traps!!! :smalltongue:

By the way, should this thread be in the Media one?

[Strawman]

Nosferatu. If you can get in the mood, and really get the room pitch black, that oldie is worth a few screams.

[Nameless]

Oh no!! Nameless come back to the light!!! Dont fall for the sparkly Vampire's traps!!! :smalltongue:

By the way, should this thread be in the Media one?

Pfft! They don't sparkle... They twinkle. DUHZ!!!!!!!11

:smallwink:

[FoE]

The Lost Boys is concentrated awesome.

If you're into a more "hillbilly vampire" film, I might recommend Near Dark.

Although other people dislike it, I myself enjoy the cheesy fun of Fright Night. Not the sequel, though, which is teh suck.

[Perenelle]

Pfft! They don't sparkle... They twinkle. DUHZ!!!!!!!11

:smallwink:

twinkle twinkle little star... ♪
wait....vampires arent stars. never mind.

[Nameless]

twinkle twinkle little star... ♪
wait....vampires arent stars. never mind.

YEAH THEY STARS COS ROBERT IS HAWWWTTT!!1! <3

... Okay, I'll stop now. :smalltongue:

[Perenelle]

YEAH THEY STARS COS ROBERT IS HAWWWTTT!!1! <3


Icckkkyyy.....

[Nameless]

Icckkkyyy.....

Yes, I don't intend on actually ever watching that film. :smalltongue:
... Maybe I will with some friends though, just for laughs.

[Tyrant]

I'll second the call for The Lost Boys (the first one). Interview with the Vampire is also good.

If you are into anime, the two Vampire Hunter D movies are decent. The second (Bloodlust) has considerably better animation.

Lifeforce has space vampires in England, and a lot of people end up as basically zombies by the end. If it's a concern, there is a noticeable level of nudity in this one.

If you want more of the action side of things, there's the Blade Trilogy. I would probably stick with part 1.

Bram Stoker's Dracula is pretty good if you want a Dracula movie. It has an all star cast.

Not so much a vampire movie as a movie with a vampire is Monster Squad. Young kids fighting Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, The Mummy, and the Creature From the Black Lagoon.

There's always the Underworld movies but there heavier on action and the characters could have been any number of other things (instead of Vampires and Werewolves) without skipping a beat in the story.

John Carpenter's Vampires is great if you want to see James Woods hunting down vampires in the employ of the church while working his way across the Southwest US.

I guess it would help to know if you have any other criteria. Do you want action, "serious", animated, etc? Is nudity an issue? Etc.

Ones I would probably avoid:
Ultraviolet, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (unless you want comedy and something that is nothing like the show), Van Helsing, Queen of the Damned (terrible adaptation and not a great movie), Lost Boys 2 (I hear pretty bad things about it), Vampires 2 (not a great sequel, but if you want to see Bon Jovi fighting vampires, this is your movie)

[Perenelle]

Yes, I don't intend on actually ever watching that film. :smalltongue:
... Maybe I will with some friends though, just for laughs.

yeah, I just watched it to laugh at it.

[Nameless]

Oh oh oh! Speaking of Anime, try out Vampire Night, that's always nice to watch.
Or, if you want to laugh at a bad film, you can always watch the Buffy the Vampire Slayer film. It's so bad, it makes you cry. :smalltongue:

[Strawman]

Oh, Dusk till Dawn. It is very important that you only watch the first one. The sequel is... :yuk:

[FoE]

Lifeforce has space vampires in England, and a lot of people end up as basically zombies by the end. If it's a concern, there is a noticeable level of nudity in this one.

Blech. I disliked Lifeforce. Then again, it's probably the best movie that will ever be made about a space vampire apocalypse.


[If you want more of the action side of things, there's the Blade Trilogy. I would probably stick with part 1.

I like Blade and I love Blade II, but I'm the only person I know who does. Avoid Blade III like the plague.


Bram Stoker's Dracula is pretty good if you want a Dracula movie. It has an all star cast.

Gary Oldman is great as Dracula and Anthony Hopkins is a delightful Van Helsing. Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder ... are not so good. A bit slow, as well, if you're in the mood for action.


Not so much a vampire movie as a movie with a vampire is Monster Squad. Young kids fighting Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, The Mummy, and the Creature From the Black Lagoon.

Great movie, but ... not strictly a vampire movie.


There's always the Underworld movies but there heavier on action and the characters could have been any number of other things (instead of Vampires and Werewolves) without skipping a beat in the story.

Kind of mediocre.


John Carpenter's Vampires is great if you want to see James Woods hunting down vampires in the employ of the church while working his way across the Southwest US.

Also mediocre, but it's got some good vampire action.


Oh, Dusk till Dawn. It is very important that you only watch the first one. The sequel is... :yuk:

Hey! Blood Money wasn't that bad. And if you thought the second Dusk 'Til Dawn was bad, try watching the third one.

... OK, it was bad, but the first Dusk 'til Dawn wasn't that great either.

If you're going for an "arty" vampire movie, may I suggest "Shadow of the Vampire"? It's about the filming of the original Nosferatu with a real vampire cast in the lead. Wilhelm Dafoe is just terrific in it.

If you're looking for a comedy, one could do a lot worse than "The Fearless Vampire Killers."

[FlyingWhale]

If you don't mind anything animated, I might suggest Vampire: the Last Blood, Vampire Hunter D was fun... I see a lot of hype with [B]Vampire Knight[B].... Monster Squad :smallbiggrin: hehe My name, is Horace!

Awesome idea for Halloween! I wish my friends would get together like that. Florida sucks :smallfurious:

[Icewalker]

My wider company of friends is doing a bardic circle! Assorted performances, mostly of music. I still need to learn sitar...

@V:
It didn't, particularly. Sorry for that. Was kind of out of it yesterday.

I can say I'm a fan of the Blade movies, although I'm not terribly well-versed with vampire movies overall. I won't make the Twilight joke again.

[FoE]

My wider company of friends is doing a bardic circle! Assorted performances, mostly of music. I still need to learn sitar...

How ... how does that relate to the current conversation?

[V'icternus]

Do not watch Dracula 3000!!!

I'v seen it, it's rubbish. Terrible acting, terrible story, terrible rip-off of Dracula and Aliens, but less cool than either of them.

You'd think that "Dracula 3000", set in the year 3000, would have some kind of robotic or futiristic vampires, but no, they just have a guy in a fake-looking cape with huge teeth from the "Planet of Vampires". Horrible. (I mean, if the Planet is all Vampires, what did they eat?)

[Tyrant]

Blech. I disliked Lifeforce. Then again, it's probably the best movie that will ever be made about a space vampire apocalypse.

I like Blade and I love Blade II, but I'm the only person I know who does. Avoid Blade III like the plague.

Gary Oldman is great as Dracula and Anthony Hopkins is a delightful Van Helsing. Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder ... are not so good. A bit slow, as well, if you're in the mood for action.

Great movie, but ... not strictly a vampire movie.

Kind of mediocre.

Also mediocre, but it's got some good vampire action.

Without knowing more specifics about what the OP is after, which I mentioned, commentary doesn't really serve much purpose. I never claimed any of the movies were great since he was seemingly only asking for options. If you're wanting to expand the discussion to actually talking about and commentating on vampire movies, by all means (though I would think that would belong in media) do so because I like vampire movies and I am always looking for more.

As for Monster Squad, I kind of figured the mentioning of the other Universal Monsters gave away that it wasn't strictly a vampire movie but maybe I was mistaken. And Underworld being mediocre is pretty easy to get from how I described it. Again, since I don't know the actual guidelines beyond "movies with vampires", there's no harm in covering all the bases. I gave options covering everything from space vampires to vampires and other monsters. Without knowing his taste, it's kind of hard to give decent recommendations. If I knew his taste were like mine, I would throw in Near Dark. If he wanted something specific like movies taking place in England there is Razor Blade Smile (which could have been better) alongside Lifeforce (and probably numerous others I have no knowledge of).

Edit to add:
Now that I looked up the name, Modern Vampires is also one to avoid.

I agree that Dracula 3000 is one to avoid. However, Dracula 2000 isn't terrible (it's not great, but it's watchable). As far as I know, that are unrelated. If you want a little older, there are the Salem's Lot movies. Again, they aren't great but I remember them at least being watchable (though it's been a while since I saw them).

Also, Face of Evil, I'm not trying to sound like a jerk or anything. I'm just not sure where you're going with the commentary.

[Gullara]

I have to say Blade and Blade 2 were pretty good although I haven't seen them in a long time. I've never seen Blade 3 though... I think... curse my goldfish memory!!!!:smallfurious:

[FoE]

I'm just not sure where you're going with the commentary.

I was just throwing out my opinion on said films. Indeed, the OP has given us so little info on what he wants it's hard to give a good recommendation. It wasn't intended as a personal slight; I just like talking about vampire movies. (Also, zombie movies, werewolf movies, etc.) :smallbiggrin:

[Bhu]

Let the Right One In

and if you're in a hallucinogenic frame of mind maybe Marebito

[HMS Invincible]

Some more info: No series or anime, it has to be a movie unless the series or animated is a classic/really good. This is for our D&D club and the reason I'm asking is because I have no knowledge of what good vampire movies there are. I do know some bad ones, and the ones I've already seen before. I've seen 30 days of night, blade, and underworld.

Ideally, just tell me the title, a short synopsis and why you think this movie is awesome/should be watched. We only have 4-5 hours to watch so we'll cram in a couple movies, maybe 3 if they are short.

Some things we watched last year: The mist, evil dead 2, Gamers

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Go for the classics: Bela Lugosi's Dracula makes a great costume, if you do it exactly.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

If you can find it and are looking for a good laugh instead of something really scary, you can't go wrong with Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter!

[UncleWolf]

I like Captain Kronus: Vampire Hunter myself.

[Bhu]

Some more info: No series or anime, it has to be a movie unless the series or animated is a classic/really good. This is for our D&D club and the reason I'm asking is because I have no knowledge of what good vampire movies there are. I do know some bad ones, and the ones I've already seen before. I've seen 30 days of night, blade, and underworld.

Ideally, just tell me the title, a short synopsis and why you think this movie is awesome/should be watched. We only have 4-5 hours to watch so we'll cram in a couple movies, maybe 3 if they are short.

Some things we watched last year: The mist, evil dead 2, Gamers

Let The Right One In

Oskar is a 12 year old boy bullied and tormented through school who meets Anna, a young girl ho may not be what she appears to be:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZJUgsZ56vQ trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHc_xf20baI&feature=PlayList&p=BFF37420D319D6D9&index=0&playnext=1 part 1 if you want sneak peek
It's most definitely not a traditional vampire film

Marebito

A reporter develops an obsession with a young woman he finds naked chained to a wall in an underground world. She may be a vampire. Or he may be a lunatic who has kidnapped his own daughter. Or he may be a lunatic who thinks hes kidnapped his own daughter, but brought home something else. The film presents evidence for and against all 3 options. It also mentions the Derro, and it was by watching this film that I found out their literary origin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CSV46TWF80 review (spoilers)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3yq_BxdYFI trailer

Mr. Vampire I or II

Chinese Hopping vampire comedy known in the US as Kung Fu Vampire Busters. The dubbing is pretty funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x062XmBvbc 1 if you want sneak peek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiLvULfCG5g II if you want sneak peek


http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/top-70-vampire-movies-of-all-time/
list that may be helpful

http://www.oddfilms.com/vampire.htm
list of unusual vampire movies

[Tyrant]

Some more info: No series or anime, it has to be a movie unless the series or animated is a classic/really good. This is for our D&D club and the reason I'm asking is because I have no knowledge of what good vampire movies there are. I do know some bad ones, and the ones I've already seen before. I've seen 30 days of night, blade, and underworld.

Ideally, just tell me the title, a short synopsis and why you think this movie is awesome/should be watched. We only have 4-5 hours to watch so we'll cram in a couple movies, maybe 3 if they are short.

Some things we watched last year: The mist, evil dead 2, Gamers
Okay, with this new information I will try to revise my suggestions.
The Lost Boys (the first one). This is basically about a family that moves to a new town and one of the brothers falls for a girl who hangs out with a group of local kids who happen to be vampires. Even though it was probably aiming for the teen girl audience, it's actually a decent vampire movie. Decent soundtrack, more or less decent acting throughout (Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, the Corey's, the half of Bill and Ted that didn't go on to do the Matrix, and a few others you should at least recognise). It is a nice mix of serious and humor with humor never really overtaking everything else. As a bonus, it might give you a reason to not hate Joel Schumacher. It's 97 minutes, so it could help you to be able to squeeze in 3 movies.

Interview with the Vampire This is treated fairly seriously. The story spans centuries and follows the life of a man who is transformed into a vampire as he deals with his new associate and the humans and vampires they encounter as well as how they deal with the passage of time. If you're looking for serious but not "vampires attempting world domination" this is what I would go with. If it's an issue, there is one scene of full frontal female nudity about 2/3 of the way into the movie. Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirstin Dunst, Christian Slater, and Antonio Banderas are the main stars you will likely know. Potential downside, it's 123 minutes long.

Vampire Hunter D 1 &2 They are anime, but they are very good (in my opinion). Both take place in the distant future where some kind of apocalyptic event has occured (no idea what happened though). The people dress in older clothing styles yet they have advanced weaponry. The primary character is D, who is a Dhampir (human mother, vampire father). He used his gifts to slay vampires (for money) as a hunter. I know it sounds like Blade, but there are very noticeable differences (like the vampires not being complete morons and actually being a genuine threat). The first is a straightforward vampire story where the local vampire count wants a local girl and they call in D to fight him and his assorted monsters. It's from the 80's so while the animation is solid it does look a little dated. The second (Bloodlust) has considerably better animation. The second views at least one of the vampires as an actual character that is capable of doing something other than brood and be evil. It features a variety of other monsters as well as human hunters in competition with D. I honestly think it's amongst the better vampire movies around. The first is 80 minutes long and the second is 103 minutes so both are probably short enough for you to try to squeeze in 3 movies.

Bram Stoker's Dracula It's pretty good if you want a Dracula movie. It definately goes down the sensual seduction path with the story, so if that's a problem you might want to skip this one. Beyond that, it is basically the Dracula story (I'm sure there are differences) in the form of a more modern movie. The case includes Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing, Gary Oldman as Dracula, Winona Ryder as Mina Harker, and Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker. Potential downside, it's 128 minutes.

John Carpenter's Vampires This movie is great if you want to see James Woods hunting down vampires in the employ of the church while working his way across the Southwest US. It is very bloody. It has it's own "vampire origin" story that it follows. The vampires more or less follow the rules. It's basically an action movie with Woods cursing his way through while killing every undead creature he comes across. John Carpenter has said more than once that he wants to make a Western and this is basically a modern Western with vampires as the bad guys. And again, there is nudity if that's an issue. It's 108 minutes, so it also may work if your goal is to squeeze in 3 movies.

Near Dark It's a more original take on vampires than a lot of movies. These are not suave aristocrats nor do they look like they would be on magazine covers. They kill to survive and they enjoy doing it. It takes place in the southwest US where the vampires are basically like psychotic drifters. It takes a far less "mystical" approach to vampires. For instance, you never see fangs or crazy eyes on any of them. They don't spend much time on backstory (one or two very short conversations). It's the "gritty" approach to 80's vampirism. Lance Henrickson, Bill Paxton, and Adrian Pasdar head up the cast.

My only other advice would be to consider trying to watch these (and any other choices) ahead of time because you know your group better than we do.

[Jack Squat]

John Carpenter's Vampires This movie is great if you want to see James Woods hunting down vampires in the employ of the church while working his way across the Southwest US. It is very bloody. It has it's own "vampire origin" story that it follows. The vampires more or less follow the rules. It's basically an action movie with Woods cursing his way through while killing every undead creature he comes across. John Carpenter has said more than once that he wants to make a Western and this is basically a modern Western with vampires as the bad guys. And again, there is nudity if that's an issue. It's 108 minutes, so it also may work if your goal is to squeeze in 3 movies.

I liked Vampires: Los Muertos better. Admittedly it's pretty much the same movie, but I liked Jon Bon Jovi better than James Woods.


EDIT: Dracula: Dead and Loving it. It's a Mel Brooks film staring Leslie Nielson that's about vampires. Do I need to give a more descriptive analysis? 88 minutes.

[Tyrant]

I liked Vampires: Los Muertos better. Admittedly it's pretty much the same movie, but I liked Jon Bon Jovi better than James Woods.
Really? I thought it was watchable but I really liked the first one more than the second. I admit Bon Jovi was better than I thought he would be and seeing Arly Jover as a vampire again (she was also in Blade) was nice. I only watched it once but if I am recalling it correctly her character didn't get much development in this movie either. Though I suppose when both characters are basically the "Rargh, scary" vampire types there won't be any depth to them. The one character "coping" was interesting. It's probably better than I remember it, but I just love seeing James Woods in action (on a mission in this case). Well, that and what happens in the first 15 minutes of the movie.