The Mount Rushmore of Vampire Movies

Vampire films have been part of cinema since the dawn of the horror genre, and picking just four to represent the subgenre is a difficult task. That constraint means leaving out notable titles such as The Lost Boys, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Interview With a Vampire, and the Christopher Lee Hammer films.

"Nosferatu" (1922) stands as the earliest vampire movie, F.W. Murnau's unofficial take on Bram Stoker's tale. Max Schreck's Count Orlok crosses the sea to Germany, bringing a plague and focusing the film on stark visuals; as a silent picture it relies on German Expressionist lighting and twisted shapes, with iconic shots of Orlok's visage and his long hand reaching out.

Schreck's performance proved so singular it inspired the biopic Shadow of a Vampire, and subsequent reboots have not matched what the original achieved with so little. "Dracula" (1931) introduced the character to sound, with Bela Lugosi's suave Count and Edward Van Sloan's Van Helsing shaping popular perceptions of the story.

Germany

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