That bites! Ranking the best & worst vampire movies

Beyond the world of ‘New Moon,’ see our list of the essential blockbuster bloodsucker movies — and those that just sucked.

Best: Interview with the Vampire
Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt — need we say more about the 1994 film based on the best-selling Anne Rice novel?

Even though Oprah Winfrey reportedly left the premiere due to the gore, we love that a vampire film can be heart-wrenching, hypnotic, scary and sexy. And off screen, it was touching that Christian Slater, who was cast in River Phoenix’s role as a reporter after his untimely death, donated his salary to Phoenix’s favorite charities.

Best: The Lost Boys
Kiefer Sutherland is at his brooding best as an edgy vampire in this 1987 classic, which also starred Corey Haim and Corey Feldman in their pre-reality show heyday — back when they were actually considered teen hunks. The Lost Boys was both campy and creepy and had a great soundtrack, making it an ’80s staple.

Worst: 30 Days of Night
The 2007 movie made us wish someone would have drained the blood out of us in the theater. The premise is good — Alaska has 30 days of no sun, making it a prime feeding ground for vampires — but the writing is terrible, and the acting is just as bad (sorry, Josh Hartnett). Worst of all, the characters still haven’t learned that going your separate way in a horror movie is never a good idea!

Best: Nosferatu
The grandparent of all vampire movies, Nosferatu dates back to 1922, which means people find the silent, black-and-white film either extremely creepy or extremely campy.

After its release, Bram Stoker’s widow sued Nosferatu‘s director, saying it was a rip-off of her husband’s Dracula novel. Mrs. Stoker won, and every copy of the film was supposed to have been destroyed. Of course, movie fans never let that happen, and pirated copies were distributed around the globe, helping it gain its cult-like status. Were she alive today, we think Mrs. Stoker should ask her lawyer for her money back.

Worst: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
We love Buffy the Vampire Slayer… the TV show, that is. The original movie? Not so much. The 1992 film — which starred Kristy Swanson, 90210 heartthrob Luke Perry, Donald Sutherland, Hilary Swank, David Arquette and Paul Reubens (yes, Pee-wee Herman) — introduced us to Buffy Summers, but we can’t help but giggle at it. Between Buffy’s awkward Valley Girl ways (“I’m going to be a buyer… I don’t know, it’s just a job I heard of, sounded pretty cool”) and the laughable vampire makeup, we’d rather watch the TV series on DVD any day.

Worst: Queen of the Damned
Along with Interview, this one’s another Anne Rice adaptation, but Queen of the Damned fails to compare. Even Rice herself dismissed the film. The only truly memorable fact about the 2002 film is that its star, the R&B singer Aaliyah, died shortly before its release, and the movie is dedicated to her memory.

Best: Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Like Nosferatu, this movie is based on Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula. This 1992 box-office hit brought Dracula back to modern audiences, and established Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight) as a multilayered villain to be reckoned with. And the love triangle between Oldman, Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder is equally juicy.

Worst: Dracula: Dead and Loving It
Before there was Scary Movie, there was Mel Brooks’s 1995 spoof, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, starring Leslie Nielsen. The comedy parodies numerous Dracula movies, though its plot and characters most closely follow Bela Lugosi’s classic Dracula. Unfortunately, that’s the problem. The movie mimics Dracula so much, there’s little time left for it to do what it should: make the audience laugh.

Best: Blade
Who doesn’t love a vampire who takes the side of humans? Here, we have Wesley Snipes who plays Blade, a half-vampire who devotes his life to killing vampires. With the help of Whistler, a vampire-hunter, they fight Frost, a vamp who wants to take over the world. Sounds cheesy, but Blade is actually an awesome action movie with some great vampire scenes in between.

Best: Dracula
Dracula is based on the stage play by the same name, which in turn is based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel. Bela Lugosi, Broadway’s Dracula at the time, fought hard to make the studio see that he would make the best on-screen vamp. All you Dracula portrayers out there have the Hungarian-born Lugosi to thank, as it was his German accent and speech pattern that led to the signature Dracula voice we all know and love.

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