Since the advent of film, the vampire has been a mainstay of movie monsters. The word itself hails back to 1734, but the concept of vampirism has existed in folklore across many cultures for much longer. Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula, which drew on written works like Camilla or The Vampyre, definitively changed the way vampires were perceived in pop culture, creating a highly influential take on the folkloric blood-sucker that still resonates today. Dracula is a character featured in more films than any other. But it’s far from the only iteration of the vampire to make it to the big screen, and the vampire’s evolution in film over the century is vastly different from any other movie monster.
From romantics to vicious beasts, here’s a condensed history of vampires in film.
Late 19th to early 20th Century
While 1922’s silent film Nosferatu, an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel, is widely regarded as a masterpiece and an early adaptor of the vampire on screen, it’s far from the first vampire film in existence – though it is the first widely known vampire film. Technically, that honor belongs to a 1896 short film titled The House of the Devil, or Le Manoir du Diable, a French silent film by Georges Méliès. Though, in this version, it was a vampiric Mephistopheles, which transformed from bat to devil. 1913 brought The Vampire, an American silent film based on the 1897 poem of the same by Rudyard Kipling, and featured a femme fatale vampire type named Sybil. Silent films Dracula’s Death and Drakula also beat Nosferatu to the punch in terms of adapting Bram Stoker’s work, but both are considered lost films with not much known about them save for that they perhaps didn’t share much in common with Stoker’s novel past Count Dracula.
The other notable vampire film that arrived just before the first official Dracula adaptation was Tod Browning’s London After Midnight in 1927. Starring Lon Chaney as The Man in the Beaver Hat, it follows a mysterious abandoned household post the suicide of its owner. Five years later it appears to have been taken over by ghoulish figures. London After Midnight featured striking makeup, Chaney’s character rendered iconic that’s to his top hat, bat cape, and creepy rows of pointed teeth, but a 1965 MGM vault fire meant the film as it was original seen/intended was lost. Browning remade the film in 1935, titled Mark of the Vampire, which starred Bela Lugosi as Count Mora. The vampires in this one was simply a hoax.
Then came Universal’s 1931 Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula and directed by Tod Browning. Loosely based on Stoker’s novel, it’s the first legally authorized adaptation though it borrows more from the Broadway stage play and Nosferatu. Up until this point, vampires had been mostly devilish and “other.” This iteration made Dracula a Gothic figure of aristocracy and power. Lugosi’s presence and take on the character meant this was the decisive version, and the extreme popularity of the film meant many more appearances by the actor in the role in subsequent Universal horror films. Throughout, Dracula remained a snazzy dresser, retained an air of dangerous mystery, and a regal presence that made him a leader of evil.
The Hammer era
The next major wave in the evolution of vampires in film came from Hammer Horror, the first of which being 1958’s Dracula. For the most part, the Hammer era of vampires kept vampires, and Dracula, very close to the Universal blueprint. This wasn’t much of a change in form. Gothic, regal, and exudes mystery and power, the only initial notable departure was that these films were in color. It wasn’t until the ‘70s that they really started to experiment with the formula, delivering unique takes on the vampire with films like 1972’s Vampire Circus, which brought the Gothic approach to a strange carnival setting, or Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, which was a collaboration between Hammer and Hong Kong’s the Shaw Brothers that resulted in a wild Kung-fu take on Van Helsing versus Dracula mythology.
The 1970s
The horror genre itself was undergoing a massive change during the ‘70s, paving the way for modern horror as we know it. This is the decade that really started to experiment with the rules and structure behind the vampire. The turn of the decade kicked off with a slew of vampire films that took the romantic leanings of Hammer’s vampire films and went full-blown erotic. Jess Franco’s Vampyros Lesbos, Harry Kumel’s Daughters of Darkness, and Jean Rollins’ trio of sexual infused vampire films The Shiver of the Vampires, The Rape of the Vampire, and The Nude Vampire all focused on the sexuality of the vampire.
The blacksploitation subset of exploitation cinema that emerged in the early ‘70s meant new a new take on Dracula, with Blacula in 1972 followed by Scream Blacula Scream. Both excellent films that used Dracula as a launch point for their own mythologies. Then came Ganja & Hess, an experimental, arthouse horror film that created an entirely new take on the vampire altogether; an ancient ceremonial dagger wound leaves Dr. Hess Green (Night of the Living Dead’s Duane Jones) perpetually hungry for blood. Vampirism was brilliantly used as a metaphor for addiction.
David Cronenberg further tested the boundaries of what a vampire could be with 1977’s Rabid. A radical new surgery performed on Rose (Marilyn Chambers) post motorcycle accident leaves her with a mutation – a red stinger that emerges from her armpit that is used to feed on human blood. Part body horror and part zombie film, not much at all about this one resembles the classic vampire we knew, save for Rose’s insatiable need for blood as sustenance.
The following year brought George A. Romero’s Martin, a psychological horror film that followed a young man who believed himself to be a vampire. Martin has no pointy fangs, isn’t susceptible to garlic or holy water, he simply wants to slice open his victims with a razor and drink.
The decade closed out with a trio of memorable entries that returned to more familiar form: Dracula, ‘Salems Lot, and Nosferatu the Vampyre. The former of which, starring Frank Langella, opted for romance and elegance while the latter two kept its central vampire a menacing plague bringer. All three share deep roots in Bram Stoker’s original novel.
The 1980s
This decade, the golden age of practical effects, meant vampires were more about attitude, style, and a new look thanks to great special effects. The overall trademarks of the vampire were there, but this decade reflected personality based on setting and tone. Fright Night playfully poked fun at familiar vampire tropes while giving us a final battle with Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon) in suburbia. The Lost Boys injected youth and rock and roll attitude to its boardwalk vamps, boosted by bat-like design (and yes, glittery blood). And Near Dark wasn’t afraid to get ruthless and bloody with vicious Wild West style vamps. Vampires in an urban setting that use a strip club to feed? That’d be Vamp. Vampires even existed in space, thanks to Tobe Hooper’s Lifeforce.
Surprisingly, this decade was light on actual Dracula inspired vamps. The biggest, notable take on Count Dracula appeared in The Monster Squad– a lighthearted ode to Universal Classic Monsters. As was traditional, this version of Count Dracula (Duncan Regehr) wasn’t just the leader, but the most terrifying monster of the bunch.
Modern Vampires
Though the ‘90s kicked off with a stunning, period take on Dracula in Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1992, and an adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire in 1994, it quickly turned toward more action-oriented vampires that held strong throughout the early aughts. Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino brought stylish action to their extremely fun and monster-filled From Dusk Till Dawn. John Carpenter brought neo-Western flair to his action-horror Vampires. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, both the film and series, injected pop culture savvy and humor into its high energy story. Wesley Snipes brought the Marvel comics character Blade to life, which helped set the stage for future Marvel films and elicited many sequels of his own. As did Selene (Kate Beckinsale), a leather-clad warrior vamp fighting on the frontlines of a war between vampires and werewolves in the Underworld series.
The popularity of the Twilight series, a YA romance between mortal and immortal glittery vamp, marked a turning point in the modern age. The action-heavy vampire films waned, though never gone completely, and a more introspective, drama heavy take on the folklore from across the globe took center stage. Let the Right One In introduced a foreboding romantic tale between a bullied child and ancient child-like vampire. Park Chan-wook explored what it would mean for a priest to accidentally be stricken with vampirism in Thirst. Stake Land eschews a zombie apocalypse in favor of a vampiric post-apocalypse. Only Lovers Left Alive questions how immortality affects a vampire and their relationships to others. And What We Do in the Shadows humorously answered the question of what would happen if you had a bunch of different styles of vampires living together as roommates.
As the attempts to revive the Universal Classic Monsters catalog are well underway, we’ll inevitably see a new take on 1931’s Dracula. But the truth is, it’s never really gone away. Bram Stoker’s Dracula wasn’t the first written works on vampires but it became the backbone of vampire cinema. Even while auteurs, filmmakers, and writers have explored what it means to be a blood-sucker, Dracula is a permanent fixture that’s always lurking in the background, no matter the trend. Vampires have been metaphors for addiction, for loneliness, for sexuality, and everything in between. From the embodiment of evil to romantic lovers, from monstrous creatures to elegant immortals, the versatility of the vampire makes it the granddaddy of all movie monsters.
