Alternative Vampire Movie Picks for New Moon Weekend

Vampire Movies I Love

No, this is not an official list of movies you must see. It's just the DVDs I grabbed out of my closet to watch this weekend.

I have a 12 year old daughter who will be at New Moon this weekend. I used to openly mock Twilight, but I will say a couple of things about that: my daughter is a veracious reader and she consumed all of the Twilight books in the same way I suck down a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts. Also, I also recommend this blog article about Twilight haters for a slightly different perspective: Twilight Bashers. Sara McClung makes a point about starter books to get kids into reading. While my daughter has no problems reading, she loaned the Twilight books out to friends and got them into reading and they all discuss and read different books as a result.

With that said, I do not like my vampires shiny or regularly attend high school. What kind of idiot wants to repeat that awkward hot mess? So I dove into my closet for my favorite vamp flicks I'll watch over the weekend.

The Blade Series

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Sure, Wesley Snipes ended up being kind of a dick to his fellow actors and the whole tax thing was shameful. But I cannot deny he is Blade. I even liked, nay loved, the third movie. However, nothing will ever top how blown away I was when I saw Blade II at the theater. The opening sequence of Blade taking out an entire building of vamps hasn't been topped in any other action movie.

Dracula 2000

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Before 300, Gerard Butler took on the role of Dracula and I wanted more (but not from the silly "sequels" to that film). The movie is campy, dark, scary, funny, and bloody. It's set in New Orleans, but unlike Interview with a Vampire, Tom Cruise* appears nowhere in this film. Also the vamps in this film aren't broody and conflicted; they want blood and sex. I highly recommend Dracula 2000 and the soundtrack is a great metal mix.

Image via Wikipedia

Vampire Hunter D

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Yes, it's anime but it's gruesome, beautiful, and compelling. The first time I watched Vampire Hunter D, I immediately started it over again. Even if you don't like Japanese anime but you are a vampire genre nut, you'll love this film. There is also a whole franchise of sequels and spin-offs, many of which are nothing less than brilliant.

Near Dark

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Okay, it's a total 80s movie. There are poofy hair-dos, shoulder pads, and John Parr's "Naughty Naughty" playing on a jukebox at one point. However Bill Paxton as a vampire is enough to push that movie into the land of awesome. While not a scary movie, it's built on tension and humorous character interaction. Highly recommended. While I'm here, I'll also mention you  should see Lost Boys. I don't own that movie but I'm sure it's available at Walmart for $5 if I dare go there.

Queen of the Damned

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This is just a cool movie. Sex, blood, and rock and roll. The well-picked songs for the soundtrack make this move rock. It's moody and strange. I love the idea of of a vampire rock star that nobody recognizes as an actual vampire. I'll take this movie any day over Interview with a Vampire, again no Tom Cruise.

Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter

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In 1974, before there was Buffy, there was Captain Kronos. This movie is by far the campiest vampire movie I've seen but I love it. I don't even know why other than maybe it's like watching the original Star Trek or really anything from the late 1960s and early 1970s. You know there will be buxom ladies in distress, blood that is too pink to be real, and a script that was probably written during an overnight bender. Not once does this movie take itself seriously and that's why it's so good.

John Carpenter's Vampires

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Two words: James Woods. (NSFW)

And this isn't even the best part. He later pulls the priest out of the truck and beats the crap out of him to prove a point. I love this movie and it's all James Woods.

Underworld

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Okay, everybody knows this is a kick ass movie. I shouldn't have to remind you that, like The Matrix, kicks sand in the faces of their sequels. Underworld was influenced by The Matrix (obviously) but it is also another level of vampire movie. It's not about broody vampires. It's about vamps who are trying to survive a war with werewolves in modern day while keeping the secret of their existence. It's both complex and visually stunning.

Image by superconnected via Flickr

Let the Right One In

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This is a Swedish film and it's set in winter. There's your bleak atmosphere right there. It's about a young boy named Oskar who befriends a vampire living in his building, but don't let that fool you. This is not a kids movie. First of all, the vampire cannot go out during the day and sparkle (thank god). Second, she doesn't go to school. Third, the plot builds and builds and gets weirder and weirder and increasingly more violent. I love this movie and have put the book on which it's based in my reading queue.

30 Days of Night

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Now we're talking. 30 Days of Night is probably my favorite vampire movie ever. It's based on a series of graphic novels I haven't read yet. It is the antithesis of the entire Twilight take on vampires. It is bleak, the vampires are outright evil, and it's probably the most graphically brutal vampire movie I've ever seen. I still am shocked at the scene where they take care of he little girl vampire. Holy crap.

*Tom Cruise has retroactively ruined all of his movies by turning out to be insane beyond any professional help. Well, maybe not Minority Report, but the rest of them, ruined.

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