The 10 Best Vampire Movies And TV Shows Of All Time

It’s not often that, before a movie has even opened, thousands and thousands of people have already bought their tickets. But MovieTickets.com says that “New Moon” has broken all their records—it’s earned the number one spot on the company’s list of the top 10 advance ticket sellers of all time, shooting the record held by “Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith” for five out of the water. Ditto for Fandango. They say that almost half of advance ticket buyers are under the age of 24, and that 87 percent of them are women. [EW]

In honor of the release of “New Moon,” here’s a look at the 10 best vampire movies and TV shows of all time, which you should see immediately. You know, since “New Moon” is sold out, for the next few days anyway.

”Buffy The Vampire Slayer”
I remember laughing when my sister told me that this show was good—the title is just so ridiculous, and the movie it was based on was laughable. But I found myself completely sucked in ... for the following seven years. The show tells the story of Buffy, the “chosen one” born with the super strength and wits to protect humans from vampires. Buffy falls in love with Angel, a once-ruthless vampire whom a gypsy cursed by giving him back his soul. The show is actually similar to “Twilight” except for one big difference—while Bella is helpless, Buffy can kick some serious Vampire butt all on her own. And the show was hilarious, while “Twilight” is extremely earnest.


”Nosferatu”
This silent film from 1921 is a classic for a reason. Directed by film pioneer F. W. Murnau, the studio couldn’t get the rights to Bram Stoker’s Dracula so cleverly decided to tell the exact same story, but change all the names. (Hence, why it’s a “nosferatu” rather than a “vampire.”) The basics: a real estate agent goes to sell a castle to a creepy count, who tries to drink his blood and, when he resists, locks him up. The count heads back to the agent’s hometown, bringing death wherever he goes, on a mission to drink the blood of the agent’s wife. But even more notable than the plot—the dark, shadowy, ultra-stylized visuals of the film.


”Interview with the Vampire”
It’s the film that brought you Kirsten Dunst, and the bromantic-bordering-on-sexual relationship between Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. What’s not to like? The basic premise is that a reporter is interviewing (get the title?) vampire Louis (Pitt), asking him to narrate his life story. He tells him of being turned into a vampire after losing his wife, being besties with the vamp who turned on him (Lestat, played by Cruise), and eventually trying to kill him along with a young vamp the two sired together (Dunst). If you didn’t see it when it came out in 1994, this is what Netflix was made for.


”True Blood”
Alan Ball of “Six Feet Under”  fame created this hot, bloody, and sweaty HBO series, based on the books by Charlaine Harris. The show follows Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) a mind-reader who falls for the mysterious vampire who appears at the diner where she works. In this world, vampires don’t have to kill humans—they can drink bottled animal blood, even though it tastes nast—and there are clubs where humans can go to pick up a vampire to bone. And no, we can’t wait for the start of season three.




”Blacula”
No round-up of vampire movies should ignore the 1972 blaxploitation flick “Blacula,” starring William Crain. It defines bad good. In 1780, an African prince calls on Dracula to end the slave trade. Instead, Dracula turns him into a vampire and locks him and his wife in coffins. He lives, feeling centuries worth of hunger, while she dies. Fast forward to the ‘70s when the prince’s coffin is found and he goes on a killing spree trying to quench his thirst. Until he finds a lookalike for his dead wife, and tries to make her fall in love with him. The movie didn’t get critical acclaim (wonder why?), but was popular enough to warrant a sequel, “Scream Blacula Scream,” a year later.


”Dark Shadows”
From 1966 to 1971, this cheesetastic soap opera ran on ABC. Originally, the show about the Collins family didn’t do too well. Until one episode a year in, when one of the family members opened a coffin in the basement and found vampire Barnabas Collins inside. After that, anything went on the show—werewolves, witches, ghosts zombies, parallel worlds. Rumor has it that Tim Burton will soon be reimagining this show, with Johnny Depp in the lead role.






”Blade”
Remember when comic book movies felt fresh, new, and visually exciting? In 1998, Wesley Snipes brought the half-human, half-vampire hero Blade to the big screen, in his last role before refusing to pay his taxes and getting in big trouble. I still remember the first and second scene in this flick vividly—first, his mom was bitten by a vamp as she goes into labor and dies right after giving birth, and second, vampires party it up in a club where blood pours from the sprinkler system. And that says something, cause my memory is terrible.



”Being Human”
This show, which started airing in the U.K. last year and can now be seen on BBC America, is kind of like “The Odd Couple” for supernatural creatures. In it, a vampire, a ghost, and a werewolf are 20-something, hottie roommates. Do I really need to tell you anymore to sell you on this one?










”Angel”
When Buffy and Angel’s romance was donezo, Joss Whedon decided that it was time to give the brooding good vampire and his leather trench coat his own series. And he brought a few other “Buffy” regulars with him, like mean girl Cordelia and vampire slayer handler, Wesley. In the show, Angel and crew set up a detective agency, where they solved other wordly crimes and lived in a haunted hotel. Things got good when the series began to focus on a demonic law firm, Wolfram & Hart, as the main foe.




”Bram Stoker’s Dracula”
In 1992, Francis Ford Coppola went vampiric with his take on the classic novel, starring Gary Oldman as Count Dracula and Winona Ryder as the woman whose blood he dreams of tasting because she is the reincarnation of the wife who committed suicide in 1462 after falsely hearing of his death. Billed as a horror-romance-thriller, this flick does not disappoint.