Vampire movies are my favorite types of movies. For a long time, the bloodsuckers were everywhere, draining the life out of every movie-goer. However, much like the beloved, and maligned, zombie, they seem to have gone through a period of dormancy. That means you might be jonesing for your next vampire movie fix while waiting for the next big bat movie not about the Caped Crusader. So I’m here to dig deep into my DVD shelves to find some of the more obscure vampire movies you might have missed to tide you over.
- Dracula 1972
I’m going to cheat a little with this first one, since it’s the most likely one you may have heard of. Starring Tall, Dark, and Gruesome himself, the great Christopher Lee, this incarnation of Dracula finds himself reawakened in London at the tail-end of the Swingin’ Sixties. If you’re looking for something with gravitas, you won’t find it here. It’s campy, overwrought, and downright corny sometimes, but if you need a movie to watch with some buddies and some beer, you can’t do much better than this one, if only for the bombastic and over the top Black Mass scene that brings back our beloved Dracula.
- To Die For (also known as Dracula: The Love Story)
If you’re looking for a more romantic vampire story, then this is a good place to start. Soaked in pure 80s cheese and glam, here you’ll find a heroine who wants something more out of life and a Dracula looking for a new start. Again, this is so 80s you’ll get high off the Aquanet fumes, but there is a powerful love story at the heart of this movie if that’s the kind of vampire story you’re looking for. It’s surprisingly gory in places, which is a delightful surprise if you like your love-stories to come with a bit of squirm.
- Daughter of Darkness
Even though Daughter of Darkness is directed by Stuart Gordon, of Reanimator fame, it’s is a Made for TV movie (are those even still a thing?), so there’s nothing too explicit here. Starring Norman Bates himself, Anthony Perkins as a vampire trying to reconnect with his half-human daughter, who had no idea of her father’s identity until after the death of her mother. Filmed in 1990, in Budapest standing in for Bucharest, the film itself is an interesting time capsule, but it is a bit of a slog in places. The characters are interesting and the story unique for its time, and the vampires here as depicted as having barbed tongues instead of fangs. It’s worth a watch for the local scenery and actors.
- Central Park Drifter (or Graveyard Shift)
Again, a movie with two names, Central Park Drifter, or Graveyard Shift, is the story of a New York taxi driver who chauffeurs people to their final destinations. This is a Canadian film, but it follows Italian Giallo standards. If you’re looking for blood, gore, 80s style nudity, and a plot that’s hinged more together by atmosphere than actual logic, this is the movie for you. There is, again, a love story at the heart of this movie, but it leans more toward erotic fantasy than sweet romance.
- Tale of a Vampire
Starring Julian Sands as sensitive yet savage vampire Alex, Tale of a Vampire follows Alex as he drifts through eternity searching for his lost love. He believes he finds her, reincarnated in a meek librarian living with the tragedy of losing her own beloved. This is an unconventional love story, relentlessly bleak as it focuses on how incompatible these two beings are, even with their similarities. There’s more to the story, of course, as things aren’t always what they seem. A low budget film that feels it at times, it’s still worth a watch for the ethereal atmosphere and dreamlike-mood the film creates.
So, there are my five obscure vampires movies you can fill the time with until Dracula makes his inevitable return to the big screen. It’s been a few years, but you can’t keep a good vampire in the grave for long. Our dark lover will always arise, searching for love, vengeance, or maybe just a good drink.