Movieline's Halloween 25 Takes on Vampires: Robert Pattinson, Eat Your Heart Out
· Fright Night (1985)
A teenager enlists a washed-up TV-horror personality to help him do battle with his neighbors, who he is sure are vampires. For those who want to skip the philosophical and existential questions and get to the bloodletting, this one's for you. Writer-director Tom Holland has got it all: clever nods to the genre, witty dialogue, horrifying makeup, quality scares and stake-wielding action. As with most great horror movies from the '70s and '80s, a remake is in the works.
· The Addiction (1994)
Quiz time: What filmmaker has the audacity to put erotically-charged female-on-female bloodletting, discussions about Nietzsche, Holocaust footage (!) and meditations on spirituality and addiction all in the same vampire movie? Why, yes, the same one who previously showed a completely naked Harvey Keitel begging a vision of Jesus Christ for forgiveness in Bad Lieutenant. Abel Ferrara's stylish take on the genre is, thankfully, like no other. And as a bonus, Christopher Walken's performance as an intellectual vampire is one of the best of his career.
· Nadja (1995)
The last word in hip, post-modern vampire films, Michael Almereyda's Nadja begins with the death of Dracula, then journeys to Brooklyn to examine how his family members cope. In case the David Lynch cameo in the trailer below didn't tip you off, this one is bizarre, playful, funny, stylish and probably cooler than you are. At the same time, it's so inventive and reverent to the genre that it avoids becoming the shallow, hipper-than-thou feature-length music video that it might have been. Highly recommended.
PREVIOUSLY IN MOVIELINE'S HALLOWEEN 25
Monday: Vintage/B&W
Tuesday: Terrible Children
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Comments
What? No _Innocent Blood_?? I kid.
Looove _Fright Night_, and I'm actually sort of interested to see what they'll do with that remake. I like that Marti Noxon wrote the screenplay.
Ahhh _The Addiction_. Haven't seen that one in a long while.
NO "BUFFY - THE VAMPIRE SLAYER"??????? I mena, please, Buffy changed a hole genaration!!!
Kudos on Nadja!
And way to go by showing love to Vampire in Brooklyn yesterday, so I don't have to invoke its name here.
Glad that Fright Night is on here. It's one of the most under-rated films of all time, and easily one of the top five horror films from the eighties! Also, thank you for keeping LOST BOYS off this list! I HATE that film! That movie is an over-rated piece of dung! Seriously, two junior vamprie hunters named Edgar and Allan? OOOO, how clever!
To the very first person who commented, they did make a new Fright Night. Only with werewolves rather than vampires. It's called Never Cry Werewolf. And I'm stunned that they don't have Dracula. That was amazing.
3 words
THE
NIGHT
FLYER
Great list, even without it.
Are you talking about the Coppola Dracula? I was very close to including that, it's totally nuts and fantastic
Thanks!
Refresh my memory on Night Flier - I love the idea of a vampire who flies a plane, but I remember the movie being kind of dull. It's been years though - worth a rewatch?
Ohhh, great call on Innocent Blood. Some of these lists make me wish I had listed ten.
Alright, sold. Well played.