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10 Bloodiest Blood Sucking Vampires
Bad Ass Vamps Who Will Suck You Dry By Kurt Anthony Krug
September 04, 2009
10 Bloodiest Blood Sucking Vampires
© Bob Trate
Before Twilight came along, there were many other vampires who were seducing virgins and drinking blood long before Edward and Bella were a glimmer in Stephanie Meyer’s eye. Here is a list of the greatest members of the undead to ever grace the popular culture landscape.
10. The Blood Countess
Like Dracula, the Blood Countess was also based on a historical figure – Countess Elizabeth Báthory of Hungary. She bathed in the blood of young virgin girls (up to 800), which led to the myth that she did it to gain eternal youth. Unlike Dracula, she has been more under the radar in terms of being portrayed in pop culture (that’s not to see she didn’t leave her mark). She will be portrayed by Julie Delpy in the upcoming The Countess, which Delpy also directs.
9. David
Before Joel Schumacher bastardized the Batman film franchise in the mid-1990s, he did good with 1987’s The Lost Boys, starring a pre-24 Kiefer Sutherland as David. The punk rock trend was huge in the 1980s, so what better way to keep the creative juices flowing than making vampires punk rockers that refused to die, partied all night, and slept all day? David, like Spike later on, was a creature of pure id.
8. Julian Luna and Lillie Langtry
Before Buffy the Vampire Slayer debuted in 1997, the short-lived Kindred: The Embraced aired in 1996. The concept was The Godfather meets the undead as five vampire clans jockeyed for territory in California. Julian (the late Mark Frankel) and Lillie (Stacy Haiduk) brought plenty of gravitas to their respective roles. Julian could be kind one minute, but brutal the next. Lillie, who was once his lover, was cold and calculating and manipulative, not to mention extremely jealous of his relationship with the human Caitlin Byrne (Kelly Rutherford). “She was stealing my man!” joked Haiduk, who said Lillie was one of her favorite roles as an actress – if not her favorite.
7. Drusilla
If Spike’s around, can dear ol’ Dru be far behind (that depends on if there’s a Slayer involved)? Juliet Landau portrayed this insane vampire whose incessant prattle always had a germ of truth and sanity to it. Scary, deadly, unpredictable, and oozing sex appeal, Dru is definitely a vampire you’d be afraid of maybe more than Angelus – and rightly so, given her instability. Spike and Dru were stronger together than apart as Landau and Marsters had a smoldering chemistry together. That’s not to say they can’t stand on their own as Dru has proven herself time and again. She’s currently getting the spotlight in IDW’s Angel monthly series, which is co-written by Landau herself.
6. Spike
James Marsters was originally supposed to portray Spike with a southern accent instead of the cockney Manchester brogue when he first debuted on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and later was a regular on Angel, not to mention he’s getting his monthly title from IDW Publishing). The English accent made sense as Spike and girlfriend Drusilla were supposed to be the Sid and Nancy of the vampire scene. Spike’s look inspired Billy Idol and Kiefer Sutherland’s David in The Lost Boys and not the other way around (where do these rumors get started that it was vice-versa?). If Spike ever met Edward from Twilight, he’d rip his head off by his ears and shit down his neck. He ain’t called the Big Bad for nuthin,’ mate!
5. Angel
David Boreanaz was “sort of like a vamp Fonzie; effortlessly cool, with meticulously coiffed hair and a fondness for black leather,” according to Entertainment Weekly. Boreanaz also took brooding to a whole new level as Angel was tormented by the heinous crimes he committed when he had no soul. His character proved so popular on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, he starred in the spin-off Angel for five seasons. Boreanaz also got to demonstrate his acting prowess when Angel became the soulless Angelus, who was such a vicious bastard that other vampires were afraid of him.
4. Barnabas Collins.
Portrayed by Jonathan Frid on the vampire soap opera Dark Shadows from 1967-‘71 (and Ben Cross in the early 1990s revival), Barnabas gave the series a boost in ratings. What gave this character his appeal was the lies he told himself, according to Frid in various interviews; Barnabas would blame his evil ways on becoming a vampire, but many other characters have stated he was a mean S.O.B. before he even become a vampire. That definitely sounds like…
3. Count Orlok
The main character of 1922’s Nosferatu – the pinnacle of German Expressionism and portrayed by Max Schreck – was a loose adaptation of Dracula. Nonetheless, the look of this particular blood-sucker (the clawed hands, bald head, rodent-like features – not really sexy compared to Dracula and Lestat, among others) inspired the appearance of Klaus Kinski’s Dracula in Nosferatu the Vampyre, the lead vampire in Salem’s Lot, Daedalus from Kindred: The Embraced, the Master from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as the Nosferatu vampire clan in the World of Darkness RPG.
2. Lestat
Lestat de Lioncourt (alias the “Brat Prince”) was the protagonist of Anne Rice’s 1976 seminal novel Interview with the Vampire (made into a 1994 movie of the same name with Tom Cruise of all people, as Lestat), which played up the romantic mystique of being a vampire, as well as the drawbacks of being immortal (Lestat was a pretty lonely dude). Rice gave the undead humanity, elevating them from the B-movie horror film schlock that the vampire genre had been mired in for a long time. If it wasn’t for Rice, who gave vampires a much-needed blood transfusion, there wouldn’t be Twilight, Kindred: The Embraced, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Jean-Claude from Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Black series of novels, the list goes.
1. Dracula
Based on an actual historical figure – Vlad the Impaler –Bram Stoker’s classic novel has been adapted many times for big and small screens, the stage and comics, to say nothing of being spun-off and ripped off ad infinitum. Bela Lugosi, Frank Langella, Gary Oldman and Christopher Lee have all done their take on Dracula. Everyone from Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wolf-Man, Blade, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Spike, Solomon Kane, Billy the Kid, Batman, Dr. Strange, the X-Men – even Spider-Man – have fought Dracula at one point or another. Hands down, there would be no vampire genre without Dracula. Nuff said!
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Kate Beckinsale and Wesley Snipes would tear this list up and ask for seconds. Also I think by the end of True Bloods run Eric might have a shot to get on here, time will tell.