When men were men and vampires were monsters...

Salem's Lot...  Probably, in my humble opinion, the best vampire movie ever.  Hooper's adaption of King's classic novel varies somewhat from the book, but unlike a lot of King's work converted into film, Hooper manages to pull it off.  For instance, Kurt Barlow in the book came off as an average looking guy, non-menacing until you delved deeper into the story.  In the movie (the original, not the made-for-TV-remake with Rob Lowe and Rutger Hauer--which is yet another good flick) Barlow was downright monstrous as evidenced on the image above.  I still remember the sleepless nights 'The Master' caused me when I was a child.  I'm guessing Hooper was inspired by Orlock when he created his version of Kurt Barlow.

Nosferatu is the best classic flick on my list and undoubtedly the best silent picture.  Max Schreck's Count Orlock is the embodiment of what a vampire should be.  There is no humanity there, only the monster.

From Dusk Til Dawn is a movie I can watch over and over and over again.  The actual vampires are kind of campy, but still, quite monstrous.  And I must say, Selma Hayek is one of my all-time favorite vampires for reasons I will not discuss here...

I LOVED Buffy The Vampire Slayer.  Yes, the show featured a mopey, tortured vampire, but when called upon, Angelus could 'monster-up' with the best of them.  I mean seriously, on his best day, Edward Cullen couldn't frighten a puppy.  Buffy's success stems from Joss Whedon's absolute brilliant writing, I think.  No program has ever delivered as many funny and witty one liners as BTVS and the musical episode...genius.

Not many recent vampire, or horror movies for that matter, have evoked a better response than Alex McVey's 30 Days of Night.  Aside from the whole climax scene, this movie embodies everything good about the vampire genre.  30 Days of Night came along just in time to save the last of the vampire's dignity that has been ripped out and sparkled upon over the last few years.  For this, McVey is a dark saint.

I've left a bunch of great bloodsucker movies off this list (obviously), but I just wanted to point out and heap a little praise on a few of my favorites.  Please, leave a comment with your top three vampire movies.