The 30 best TV/Film Vampires

Male and female vampires on TV and Films.

30. Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon in Fright Night 1985)
Jerry is a 1000 year old vampire who tries to settle down in a small American suburb and use it's inhabitants as juice boxes. Unfortunately, he is neighbors with a nosy and pesky kid who is trying to kill him. Chris Sarandon does a superb performance as the bloodsucker, charismatic, sexy and devious enough to get what he needs. The scene in the dance club where he entices and hypnotizes poor captivated Amy is very hot.

29. Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff in Blade 1998)
He is like a vampirised hopeful from The Apprentice. After viciously biting Blade's mum while she was pregnant and keeping her as a vampirised sex-slave, he plans on becoming a vampire god. Excommunicated by the vampire elite (a bunch of old aristocrats which he killed), Frost is seen as an irritating wild card, it made me see Stephen Dorf as quite hot.

28. Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard, in True Blood)
The sheriff of Area 5 in Louisiana and owner of the bar Fangtasia.
He is hotter than any 1000 year old has any right to be. Incredibly strong, a master of business srategy, a manipulator of humans, this seasoned vampire is also a superior Viking warrior. His whirlwind force of personality never allows him to cede control or bow to anyone, although he can be a protective, attentive, passionate, and loyal lover. His magnetic sexiness pulls in everyone in his orbit, but it's his humor and curiosity that truly make him fascinating.

27. Santanico Pandemonium (Salma Hayek in From Dusk Till Dawn 1996)
A vampire queen moonlighting as an exotic dancer at the notorious Titty Twister nightclub, a favourite vampire haunt. She is played wonderfully by the very beautiful and sexy Salma Hayek.

26. Reinhardt (Ron Perlman in Blade 2 2002)

Guillermo del Toro's buddy and favourite actor (A.K.A. Hellboy) just had to make an appearance in the Mexican's director second vampire film. Reinhardt is a member of the bloodpack sent to help Blade, he has a severe bad attitude problem  and often goes head-to head with Blade. The character is great and fun in the film. 

25. Dracula  (Frank Langella in Dracula 1979)

Often called 'Disco Dracula' because of the decade's style, the bouffant hair, the bare chest and the laser light show when he seduces Mina Harker, Frank Langella was portrayed as a fairly 'sexy' Dracula. Having already played the Count on stage, Langella refused to wear fangs and other make-up effects, he preferred to use his charm and charisma as his weapons. One of the most overtly sexual interpretations of the role.

24. Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp in Dark Shadows 2012)

An 18th century vampire who awakens to the 20th century, after having been cursed by a witch. While an empathetic character aware of his sinister nature and the main protagonist, Barnabas retains a vicious streak, never forgiving and relentless in the kill. His only loyalties to his family aside, he is a well mannered man consistently trapped in the mindset of an 18th century Englishman. He was cursed by the witch Angelique who he slept with and in some way deserved it. The role is played deliciously by the amazing and ever-perfect Johnny Depp. I was literally screaming and cheering when I found out he would play a vampire, I also said 'It's about bloody time!' The guy plays so many different roles and can portray any character so well, why not a vampire? I agree that the film was not awesome, but his performance was.

23. Claudia (Kirsten Dunst in Interview with the Vampire 1994)

The ill fated vampire child turned by Lestat and doomed to remain in her immature six year old body. Kirsten Dunst played her in the film when she was only 12. This film propelled Kirsten's career. Claudia is the daughter of Lestat and Louis, whose frustration at her inability become a woman makes her a formidable killer and an enemy to Lestat her so called 'father'. 

22. Eli (Let the Right One In 2008)

In this Swedish film, Eli is an extraordinary young vampire, alternating between a little girl and a feral beast. Set in a working class community in Stockholm in the 80s, Eli befriends young bullied school boy Oskar and brings him out of his shell, though perhaps not quite in the way his almost neglecting mother would approve of. Despite being young and small she is ruthless.

21. Harmony Kendall (Mercedes McNab in Buffy and Angel)

Harmony was one of the clique of mean girls at Sunnydale High School who hung out with Cordelia before being bitten in the battle to defeat Mayor Wilkins after he turned into a giant snake. A typical dumb blonde character, spiteful and obsessed with unicorns, she became Spike's on/off lover before getting a job as Angel's secretary at the Wolfram & Hart firm. A mean girl as a human and a bitchy dumb blonde as a vampire, she's the sort of character we love to hate.

20. Miriam Blaylock (Catherine Deneuve in The Hunger 1983) 

A glacial former Egyptian queen and vampire, Miriam is a bloodsucker who has spent centuries bestowing her gift of immortality on her male lovers (the latest David Bowie). Unfortunately due to perhaps a curse, her lovers age rapidly after a couple of centuries and become dessicated living corpses. She keeps them in the attic as part of a gruesome collection. Her sexual preference changes as she falls in love with Sarah (Susan Sarandon) and turns her. Miriam is doomed to never have an everlasting love life as Sarah rejects the gift.

19. Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer in True Blood)

Bill tries to leave his murderous desires in the past, even though he's not quite entirely successful. With his romantic soul and slightly out-of-style fashion sense, Bill is about as adorable as a 174-year old vampire from the time of the Civil War could be. Gentle and mysterious, serious and possessive, a loyal Southern gentleman, but a dangerous killer too, vampire Bill is a chivalrous and sexy vampire as anyone could wish would one day walk into their bar.

The character is just wonderfully portrayed by Stephen Moyer who does such a convincing Southern accent and the way he says Sookie's name gives all the fangirls goosebumps.

18. Darla (Juile Benz in Buffy and Angel)

A prostitute dying from Syphilis, she was turned by The Master. She sired Angel in 1753, and they became lovers for the next century and a half. In the 1800s they were joined by Spike and Drusilla in their blood reign of terror. After Angel was cursed by gypsies and got his soul back, the romance was over coz he was too mopey and not the Angelus killer he once was. In the 1990s she tracked him down in Sunnydale where she was staked, then resurrected by Wolfram & Hart in Los Angeles and vampirized again. She became pregnant with Angel's son Connor and finally staking herself so that her baby could live. Her character is deadly and dresses very well, despite being dead she remained such a crucial character in Angel's existence.

17. Louis de Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt in Interview with the Vampire 1994)

The tormented widower who was turned by Lestat and became his companion. Louis was the more conflicted of the pair. While Lestat enjoyed living a vampiric life with a 'joie de mort' attitude, Louis was suffering existential angst. Louis was a rich plantation owner in New Orleans who lost his wife and child, he was attacked by Lestat (who fell in love with him) and accepted the dark gift. Lestat who sought a soul mate would be disappointed as Louis came to loathe him and their nature. Brad Pitt played the character wonderfully and added that pinch of Byronic hero that all fans love, the self loathing vampire who chose to feed on rats not humans and helped create the character of Angel and Edward. 

16. Marlow (Danny Huston in 30 Days of Night 2007)

The leader of the shark-like predator band of vampires, Marlow is a sick bastard who loves to revel in it. During their attack on the small Alaskan town of Barlow, he instructs his minions to not turn anybody but to cut off their heads. Sadistic, cunning and ruthless, he is the chief strategist in his clan. Danny Huston gives a wonderfully frightening performance as a creature who commands his minions in a strange language and though he looks human he doesn't act like one, just a loathsome beast.

15. Jesse (Lance Henriksen in Near Dark 1987) 

The very talented and skeletal haunted looking Lance Henriksen was bound to play a vampire. In Near Dark, he plays Jesse, the leader of the vampire pack in Kathryn Bigelow's horror western. His depiction of a grisly scuzzy, bad ass vampire is excellent, he is definitely the bad guy, casually killing a waitress with calm, cold efficiency and then holding a glass under her cut throat to collect the blood, he is just 'serving himself a drink'. In one scene he lets a guy shoot him, regurgitates the bullet and hands it back to the freaked out shooter. He is as bad as most vampire pack leaders go. 

14. Viktor (Bill Nighy in Underworld series)

A Hungarian aristocratic warlord who was sired by the original vampire, Marcus Corvinus back in the 12th century. Viktor is power hungry, he soon turned against Marcus and became one of the three Vampire Elders. He is as evil as they come, he started the vampire and lycan war when he executed his daughter Sonya who fell in love with Lucian, a lycan. He manipulated Selene, killing her family, turning her and making her believe that lycans had murdered her family. Selene respected him like a father. Bill Nighy is brilliant in this role with the blue piercing eyes and his interesting facial features. 

13. Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson in The Twilight series)

The choice of  Pattinson was not up to most fans expectations but he had one major weapon to win fans over: Pattinson is as beautiful as Edward is described in the books. With his chiseled cheekbones, perfectly messy hair, topaz eyes, haughty demeanor, slender muscularity and sparkling skin, Edward ignited the fantasies of millions of teenage girls, including his true love Bella Swan. With his emo soul-searching, barely checked desire, and tendency to withdraw for Bella's own good. Edward sets the standard for vampires as a stand-in for sublimated preteen sexuality. 

12. Severen (Bill Paxton in Near Dark 1987)

This guy is a nutter who looks like he came out of a Tarantino film. He not only kills, but taunts and toys with his victims beforehand, relishing every second of it. The best and horrific part of the film is when, he and his vamp family enter a middle of nowhere bar and begin a grisly massacre of the clientele. Bill Paxton is creepy and so good in this role, being so psychotic and cool at the same time. 

11. Blade (Wesley Snipes in the Blade Trilogy)

Technically Blade is a half vampire, a dhampir, born from a pregnant mother who was attacked by a vampire. Played brilliantly by Snipes, he's a vampire hunter known as The Daywalker, the kind of man who can walk down a crowded street with a sword strapped to his back without any hassle, mainly because you wouldn't want to piss him off. He has super strength, immortality and vampiric senses, but he doesn't burn in the sun or shrink from crucifixes and garlic. He doesn't shrink from anything. He kicks major vampire ass, and looks fantastic doing it, decked out in leather, black shades and a flowing coat.

10. Drusilla (Juliet Landau in Buffy and Angel)

Drusilla is often described as the Nancy Spungen to Spike's Sid Vicious, a hedonistic pair of vampires living a rock'n'roll lifestyle of blood and sex. Drusilla was an Ophelia-like character in Buffy. She was a psychic girl who was driven mad by Angelus who tortured her, killed her family and turned her when her mind was 'gone'. As a vampire her madness was enhanced in the most wicked way as she killed mercilessly and babbled nonsense like a little girl. She even acted like a little girl, collecting dolls, squealing and giggling when torturing her victims. As a human she was a good devout Catholic girl but as a vampire she had an incredible capacity for sadism. Her character was deadly, exciting and just perfectly played by Juilet Landau. 

9. Selene (Kate Beckinsale in Underworld series)

Dressed in leather, Selene is the vampire femme fatale. She is a Death Dealer, a killer of werewolves, a warrior in a vampire vs. werewolves war, she followed Viktor's orders and respected him like a father. Soon discovering that things were not right in this war when she met Michael the descendant of the Immortal Corvinus. With super strength and enough invulnerability to be very tough to damage in a fight. She is quite an intimidating vampire, no matter how gorgeous she might be. Kate Beckinsale is just great in this role, the role that pretty much sparked her film career.

8. Lestat de Lioncourt (Tom Cruise in Interview with the Vampire 1994)

Sexy, evil and quite insane, Lestat enjoys life as a vampire so much that audiences can't help but admire his passionate perversity. With his ghostly pale features, long blonde locks and blood red lips, Lestat usually throws himself into the drama of life, whether seducing poor mortals to feed off and kill or tormenting his fledging vampires Louis and Claudia. Lestat always knows how to look his best, and aggressively charm anyone around him until they're helplessly under his power.

Tom Cruise definitely conveys the star quality that's made him a reliable box office banker for over 25 years.

7. Dracula (Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker's Dracula 1992)

The film is ruined by Keau Reeves' rubbish performance, but praise goes to Gary Oldman. His Dracula is a tour de force of nature, a mesmerizing presence amongst the theatricality of Coppola's vision. This is also one of the most faithful screen versions of the Count, emphasizing his shape-shifting abilities; he turns into a bat creature and a werewolf, he is also an old man (no pun intended) who turns young. He is a proud, menacing, hypnotic figure with a bewildering range of unsettling otherworldly gestures and glances. Unfortunately Coppola's decision to emphasize Dracula as a lonely, romantic figure just desperate to find true love backfires, as Oldman has to spend a third of the movie acting the love sick puppy. But when Oldman is cut loose as a scary, spooky, blustering bloodsucker, he's magnificent, creating a big screen monster of frightening intensity and intimidating presence. 

6. David (Keifer Sutherland in The Lost Boys 1987)

David is a character who inspired many others in modern vampire mythology. The punky, bleached blonde hair, rebel without a cause attitude, the leather coat, the punk/rock sensibilities, the hedonistic lifestyle and the motorbike are all the traits that embody David and inspired the character of Spike many years later. All David's traits have become synonymous with 'bad' teen vampires. The film was and is still a cult hit, teenagers loved Kiefer's perfect performance. This thrill seeking bad boy character propelled Kiefer's film career.

5.  Angel (David Boreanaz in Buffy and Angel)

The popular image of Angel is that of the moping, love struck shadow-lurking vampire of the early days of Buffy. When looking at Angel, the Anne Rice influence is so obvious , he could also be seen as the blueprint for Edward Cullen, when looking at the whole no feeding on human part. The concept of the vampire with a soul is very unique and so entertaining, Angel was evil Angelus who got cursed by gypsies and would never feel 'true happiness', if he did then he'd lose his soul. He is the masculine, reckless, dangerous vampire who falls in love with the slayer. Cursed with a soul and striving to redeem himself for his past sins,he sets up a detective agency to help the helpless and kill monsters. Angel is sometimes sulky and emotional, sometimes hard and manly. Angel surprises with contradictions- although his incarnations are smoking hot. 

4. Dracula (Christopher Lee in the countless Dracula films)

The quintessential English gentleman, Mr. Lee became the definite screen Dracula and the most recognizable bloodsucker. Compared to Bela Lugosi's hammy performance, Lee's was sturdier. On screen, he exemplified a monster who was quite capable of seducing beautiful ladies. Lee could command so much attention while saying so little in the role.

3. Spike (James Masters in Buffy and Angel )

The best bad-boy vampire with a Sid Vicious attitude and a wonderful Cockney accent. He first appeared in season two of Buffy and made himself loved by fans and hated by the Slayer and the Scoobies. Spike is the perfect antihero, he is morally ambiguous and ready to fight pretty much anyone for fun. Although, ironically, his personality remains pretty much the same, whether he has a soul or not. He is sarcastic and witty. His backstory is so Anne Rice-like, he was sired by Drusilla, sired his sick mum and then killed her when she rejected him, this is so similar to Lestat's story. Spike even references Anne Rice in the season two episode 'School Hard', when Angel meets him and claims he has been pretending to be good in order to get close to the Slayer, Spike remarks with a laugh that ''people still fall for that Anne Rice Routine'.

2. Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley in The Vampire Diaries)

Paul Wesley as Stefan may be a good guy, but he's also a dangerously sexy vampire with a killer body. Forcing himself to avoid drinking human blood, he may be physically weaker than the vampires around him, but he makes up for it in the friendliest fellow, his natural charm make all the girls in his high school swoon. Over the seasons Stefan's character has gone through so many changes, when he was a newborn vampire he was a ruthless killer known as the 'Ripper', he then became good, fell in love with Elena but their romance didn't last long. Paul Wesley's performance is excellent as the viewers are completely mesmerized by the many changes and sufferings that Stefan goes through. He is like the 'new' Angel as it is not difficult to see the similarities and influence.

1. Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder in The Vampire Diaries)

Damon is a deadly (but sexy!) piece of work. A blood-sucking playboy, he's the rebel to his brother Stefan's saint. Witty, charming, and oh-so fine, the elder Salvatore brother is a regular people person. He does feed on humans, sometimes, but rarely kills them. Though he hides his soft side under a layer of snark and a few swills of bourbon, Damon definitely fell for Elena, but reacted to her rejection with violence or by acting out. Ian's stellar performance gives the audience the naughty brother they adore and his many funny and cute facial expressions make us swoon. His witty, sarcastic attitude is also adorable. He makes fun of Twilight and references Anne Rice: 'I miss Anne Rice, she was so on it!'