The medium of film is home to plenty of vampires who aren’t particularly scary, sure. You’re unlikely to get any nightmares from the main characters ofWhat We Do in the Shadows, for example (though the oldest vampire there does look kind of ghastly), and other vampire-related movies – like those inThe Twilight Saga– don’t have much of a focus on being horror-centric. For that series, at least, theemphasis is on romance and wonderfully cheesy melodrama.
But a good many vampire movies are works of horror, and the inherent humanity of many vampire characters, compared to other monsters, can succeed in making them creepier.Vampires will often charm and thereby disarm potential victims, and some of the most monstrous act like genuine predators and/or sadistic people in real life might(though in reality, such individuals don’t have any undead traits… that we can prove, at least). So, in celebration of some truly unsettling vampires, here are the most disturbing and memorable that can be found from cinema’s long history of vampire movies.
‘Interview with the Vampire’ (1994)
Just before he startedcollaborating frequently withRobert Rodriguez(a director who made one notable vampire movie, but more on that in a bit),Antonio Banderasplayed a vampire in the unsurprisingly vampire-heavyInterview with the Vampire.Brad Pitt’s character, Louis de Pointe du Lac, is the one being interviewed, whileTom Cruise’s Lestat de Lioncourt often dominates the narrative/screen, but it’s Banderas' Armand who’s probably the most evil.
He shows himself capable of doing some pretty heinous things, even by vampire standards, though it should also be noted thatInterview with the Vampiredoesn’t feature many characters who could be called entirely heroic in the traditional sense. Also,there’s a level of intentional camp here that mitigates some of the more disturbing elements of the story, but it has its dark moments nonetheless, and is potentially definable, at least in part, as a horror movie.
Interview with the Vampire
9Count Dracula
‘Dracula’ (1931)
Well, okay, if you’re watching 1931’sDraculanowadays, close to a century on from its release, the titular Count Dracula isn’t particularly scary by modern standards.Bela Lugosidoes give a great performance here; undeniably iconic, but also heightened and perhaps even a bit hammy. That affects how scary he can be, but this was from a different time, and filmmakers could only push things so far, when it came to showing disturbing/violent things on screen.
So, with the age of the film taken into account, it’sworth highlighting Lugosi as Draculaas one of the more twisted and iconic vampires from cinema history, even if he’s no longer truly terrifying.What does hold up is his odd charisma, which clashes with his actual violent nature and lust for blood; that central concept – so important for various vampire characters – does continue to shine through here, all these decades later.
‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ (1996)
Antonio Banderas shows up in plenty of Robert Rodriguez movies, but notFrom Dusk Till Dawn. Instead, the cast of this oneincludes the likes ofHarvey Keitel,George Clooney,Quentin Tarantino(who also wrote the movie),Juliette Lewis, and a host of great character actors, too,Fred Williamsonincluded. He’s one of many people who turns into a vampire inthe film’s wild – and potentially unexpected – second half, and his appearance is much more frightening than everyone else’s.
That’s saying a lot, considering the vampires inFrom Dusk Till Dawnare all pretty grotesque, but Williamson’s Frost stands out. It’s mostly the mouth, really, coupled with Williamson’s imposing physical presence. At almost 6′ 3″, and with a muscular frame from his days as a professional footballer,Williamson’s vampire here is probably one of the last ones you’d ever want to run into.
From Dusk Till Dawn
7Count Dracula
‘Dracula’ (1958)
Updating the character of Dracula in a way that felt a little creepier than he was in 1931, 1958’sDraculasawChristopher Leeputting his legendary spin on the infamous count. 1958 was still a while ago, and so it’s hard to call thisDraculafilm entirely timeless, but both the film overall and the titular character do end up having more bite (sorry).
Lee arguably made this take on Dracula even scarier with the sequels, playing the character again and making him even more feral and animalistic, depending on the tone each follow-up movie was going for.And some were campier than others, and there’s every chance modern viewers will ultimately find the HammerDraculafilms a little hokey overall, but Lee’s charisma and menace still shine through, in many ways.
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‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ (1992)
The last official Dracula worth mentioning isGary Oldman’s take on the character, as found in 1992’sBram Stoker’s Dracula. This is one ofthe bestFrancis Ford Coppolamoviesthat wasn’t made in the 1970s, being quite dazzling from a technical perspective while also upping the visceral nature of the horror inherent to this vampire story, at least compared to the olderDraculafilms from earlier decades.
Oldman, like he often does, goes big here, but his flashy and scenery-chewing depiction of Dracula works quite well,especially becauseCoppola – never shy to take big creative risks– makes the entire film operatic, spectacle-heavy, and exceedingly bloody. That sense of going over the top can make certain parts ofBram Stoker’s Draculadebatably less scary, but there’s still a ferocity and nastiness to the movie/character that stands out.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
‘The Lost Boys’ (1987)
Before he saved the world about a billion timesacross multiple seasons of24,Kiefer Sutherlandwas probably best known for playing some supremely menacing villains, especially when he was young. The worst of them is probably his antagonistic turn inStand by Me, but that film – despite being based on aStephen Kingstory – lacked supernatural/vampire elements, so bringing it up here would be silly (whoops, too late).
But, to get back on track, one year on fromStand by Me, Sutherland played another despicable bully inThe Lost Boys, withhis character, David, happy to ramp up his usual cruel tendencies with some misused vampiric powers.The Lost Boysworks wonders as a vampire-themedspin on the coming-of-age genre, and Kiefer Sutherland is a key part in making it function as well as it does.
The Lost Boys
‘Let the Right One In’ (2008)
Thoughit’s been remade and reimagined, 2008’sLet the Right One Inremains close to unbeatable, as far as vampire movies go. Describing the plot in detail – or even calling it a vampire movie – might be considered too spoilery, but, yes, it does revolve around a young boy befriending someone he believes is a young girl, but her true nature as a vampire (plus something else) does complicate things.
The implication of someone being turned so young and being capable of acts of cruelty does make the mysterious young girl, Eli, extra terrifying, or more so disturbing to think about as far as implications go.She is not as outright villainous as many other terrifying movie vampires, but her backstory and struggles with life are disturbing, not to mention feel real and raw enough to get under the skin.
Let the Right One In
‘Near Dark’ (1987)
Though best known for hercrime/action movies and historical thrillers,Kathryn Bigelowalso made a pretty awesome vampire movie early in her career, withNear Dark. It combines some well-worn ideas surrounding vampires with a fresh spin on things stylistically and tonally, playing out a little like a Western of sorts, with vampires who like to drive around long before Spike made that cool/iconic inBuffy the Vampire Slayer.
The vampire characters inNear Darkare all pretty rough around the edges and capable of alarming acts of violence, butBill Paxton’s Severen stands out as the nastiest of the bunch (not too surprising, considering how evil his name sounds). Still, Paxton is also perhaps the most entertaining character in the movie. He can be villainous in a fun sort of way but, at his core, he is still genuinely disturbing.
2Count Dracula
‘Nosferatu the Vampyre’ (1979)
Werner Herzogis an all-time great auteur filmmaker, directing a wide variety of movies that all carry a certain quality that makes them identifiable as Herzog films. He hasn’t tackled the horror genre very often, but he did so in 1979 withNosferatu the Vampyre, marking one of several times he worked with the legendary – and often terrifying – Klaus Kinski, who plays a unique spin on Dracula here.
ThisNosferatuwas a re-imagining of a 1922 classic, which was made to capitalize onDraculawithout being an official adaptation. The vampires in both films prove more ghastly and grotesque than Dracula usually is, which makes him arguably more terrifying in these movies.Kinski as a super creepy – yet somewhat tragic – vampire is brilliant casting, feeling like the role he might’ve been born to play. And, outside that central performance,Nosferatu the Vampyrealso impresses thanks to its haunting atmosphere and the performances of Kinski’s two main co-stars:Isabelle AdjaniandBruno Ganz.
Nosferatu The Vampyre
1Count Orlok
‘Nosferatu’ (1922)
With the Dracula movies, the older ones were arguably less creepy, but with the threeNosferatumovies to date (Robert Eggers’s take being the latest), the most unsettling vampire is arguably the oldest of the bunch. 1922’sNosferatustill has the ability to scare, despite being more than a century old. In fact, the way it feels so ancient just adds to the sense of the main vampire here, dubbed Count Orlok, being all the more frightening.
Thatmight sound like hyperbole or a cop-out of sorts, but there is a power toNosferatuthat ensures it’s still unsettling. It’s a historically important film about a pitiful, withered, and ghastly-looking vampire; a film with a certain eternal ability to scare while also being about a character grappling with living for a lonely eternity. It still works, it still haunts, and, in part thanks to re-imaginings in 1979 and now 2024,Nosferatucontinues to live on.
