Dracula

The grand-daddy of all vampires is none other than Count Dracula himself. First introduced by author Bram Stoker in 1897, Drac’s tenure in the public consciousness easily exceeds all others. While the original novel is required reading for all fans, the titular vampire has been reduced to film too many times to count. Among them is the spectacularly stylized Bram Stocker’s Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola. However, Coppola pays homage to the classic Hammer films, as much, if not more than he lays groundwork. Unfortunately, I can’t credit the 1992 film as the most influential Dracula picture. No shots fired, I promise. No vampire fan’s filmography is complete without at least one viewing.

However, the single most essential Dracula adaptation has to be 1922’s Nosferatu. Don’t worry. The irony of leading off a “Modern Horrors” top five list with a German expressionist picture from the silent film-era movie is not lost on me. But stay with me. First, it’s a modern-day miracle that you’re able to see this movie at all. The estate of Bram Stoker successfully sued the production company behind the film, and all copies of the film were ordered to be destroyed.

Miraculously, one copy managed to stow away to the New World, where Stoker’s copyright had already expired. Importantly, the critical success of Nosferatu prompted the Stoker estate to get its shit together and finally authorize an official Dracula adaptation, kickstarting Hammer Horror itself. Believe me, we could write entire stories on the importance and influence of Hammer to the genre. For our purposes here, it suffices to say there one does not simply overstate how drastically different modern horror would be if Hammer never existed.

Miraculously, one copy managed to stow away to the New World, where Stoker’s copyright had already expired.

But perhaps as importantly, Nosferatu also influenced the vampire zeitgeist. In their unsuccessful bid to duck a copyright claim, the writers made a number of key story changes. First, while Dracula’s bite automatically “infected” his victims, a bite from Count Orlock simply rendered the victim dead. This laid the groundwork for future stories that focused on a vampire’s choice to sire new vampires, or not, and the consequences of this decision. Second, while Stoker’s Dracula walked in the light of day, sunlight was (spoiler alert) fatal to Count Orlock. This feature of vampire lore persists, more often than not, to this day.

And all of this is to say nothing of the fact that Nosferatu is a beautiful cinematic experience. The music and colors carry the emotional intensity of the story since the filmmakers obviously couldn’t rely on dialogue. Like studying cave paintings, to watch a silent film is to experience an extinct art form. If you have Shudder, I highly recommend setting aside the 94 minutes and firing it up before moving on to our next film.