Movie Reviews
Film and television reviewed the way I’d want to read them — with a rating that means something, an honest accounting of what works and what doesn’t, and craft notes for writers who want to understand how the machinery operates.
Each review includes a craft notes section for writers — specific observations about structure, character, world-building, and what the film does that you can actually use. Not theory. Technique you can steal.
Vampire (43)
Jun 6, 202630 Days of Night (2007)
Vampires descend on an Alaskan town facing a month without sunrise. A lean, brutal 7/10 with one of horror's best premises, reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
Ana Lily Amirpour's black-and-white Iranian vampire Western is the genre's most striking recent debut. A stylish 7.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Abigail (2024)
Kidnappers grab a twelve-year-old ballerina who turns out to be a centuries-old vampire. A gleefully gory, fun 7/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Black Sunday (1960)
Mario Bava's debut is one of the most visually ravishing horror films ever made and launched Italian gothic. A stunning 8/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Blacula (1972)
William Marshall plays a tragic vampire prince with Shakespearean dignity in this landmark Black-led horror film. A surprising 6.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Blood for Dracula (1974)
Paul Morrissey reimagines Dracula as a dying aristocrat starving for virgin blood in a changed world. A strange, poignant 6.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Byzantium (2012)
Neil Jordan returns to vampires with a feminist story of a mother and daughter surviving two centuries. A thoughtful 7.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Count Yorga, Vampire (1970)
Count Yorga dropped an old-world vampire into 1970 Los Angeles and got there before the rest of the genre. An influential 6.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Cronos (1993)
Guillermo del Toro reroutes the vampire myth through a clockwork device in his startling 1993 debut. A tender, melancholy 8/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Daybreakers (2009)
The Spierig brothers imagine a world where vampires won and the blood is running out. A smart, uneven 7/10 dystopian vampire film reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Dracula (1958)
Hammer's 1958 Dracula made the vampire physical, sexual, and bloody. Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in a landmark 8/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)
Christopher Lee returns as Dracula without a single line of dialogue, and the resurrection scene is among Hammer's best. A solid 7/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
May 19, 2026Fright Night (1985)
A teenager discovers his new neighbor is a vampire and seeks help from a washed-up TV horror host.
Jun 6, 2026From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's crime film detonates into a vampire splatter comedy at the halfway mark. A fun, shallow 7/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Innocent Blood (1992)
John Landis fuses the vampire film with the mob movie in a fun, tonally chaotic horror comedy. A messy, entertaining 6/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Let Me In (2010)
Matt Reeves remakes Let the Right One In with care and conviction. A haunting 8/10 about two lonely children, reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Martin (1977)
George Romero's Martin asks whether vampires exist at all. A grim, intelligent 8/10 set in dying steel-country Pennsylvania, reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Nadja (1994)
Michael Almereyda's black-and-white art-house vampire film filters Dracula through nineties indie cool. A singular, niche 6.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Near Dark (1987)
Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark strips every vampire cliche and builds a Western instead. A feral, frightening 8.5/10 reviewed in depth at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Nosferatu (1922)
F.W. Murnau's 1922 Nosferatu invented vampire cinema and still frightens a century later. A 9/10 landmark reviewed in depth at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Nosferatu (2024)
Robert Eggers brings obsessive period craft to the third great Nosferatu, with a ferocious Lily-Rose Depp at its center. A demanding 8/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
Werner Herzog remakes Murnau as a tragedy, and Klaus Kinski's Dracula is the genre's saddest monster. A haunting 8.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
Jim Jarmusch asks what eternity feels like after centuries of it. A gorgeous, melancholy 8/10 vampire mood piece reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Renfield (2023)
Nicolas Cage's gloriously unhinged Dracula anchors a comedy about escaping a toxic boss, undercut by an overstuffed plot. A flawed, fun 6/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Salem’s Lot (1979)
Tobe Hooper made one of the finest TV horror productions ever, with a silent Nosferatu-style vampire and unforgettable scares. A 7.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
What if the actor in Nosferatu was a real vampire? Willem Dafoe is extraordinary in this clever 7.5/10 horror film reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Sinners (2025)
Ryan Coogler's Jim Crow-era vampire film uses the genre to explore Black art and cultural memory. The most ambitious vampire film in a generation, a 9/10 at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Stake Land (2010)
Jim Mickle's Stake Land uses vampires as backdrop for a melancholy survival drama. A sincere, atmospheric 7/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026The Brides of Dracula (1960)
Hammer built a gorgeous sequel without Christopher Lee, and it may be better than the original. A beautiful 7.5/10 gothic reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)
Roman Polanski's affectionate Hammer parody is more gorgeous gothic fairy tale than laugh-out-loud comedy. A charming, uneven 6.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026The Hunger (1983)
Tony Scott's The Hunger is one of the most beautiful and emptiest vampire films ever made. Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie in a stylish 6.5/10.
Jun 6, 2026The Invitation (2022)
A promising gothic premise about a sinister aristocratic family hiding a Dracula secret, sanded smooth for mass appeal. A forgettable 5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023)
A few haunting pages of Dracula become a contained creature feature aboard a doomed ship. A handsome, uneven 6.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
May 19, 2026The Lost Boys (1987)
Joel Schumacher directs the story of teenage brothers moving to a California coastal town where the local cool kids are vampires.
Jun 6, 2026The Transfiguration (2016)
Michael O'Shea's grounded debut uses vampirism as a lens for trauma and isolation. A quiet, sad 7/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026The Vampire Lovers (1970)
Ingrid Pitt elevates Hammer's adaptation of Carmilla into a melancholy gothic. A flawed but atmospheric 6.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Thirst (2009)
Park Chan-wook turns a devout priest into a vampire in this bold, lurid, morally serious 8/10. Religious tragedy meets erotic horror, reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Underworld Series (2003-2016)
The Underworld films turned the vampire into a leather-clad action hero across five entries. A slick, shallow, entertaining 6.5/10 saga reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Vamp (1986)
Grace Jones dominates a slight neon-soaked eighties horror comedy in a wordless, mesmerizing turn. A stylish cult 5.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Vampire’s Kiss (1988)
Nicolas Cage delivers one of the most committed and bizarre performances ever as a yuppie who thinks he's turning into a vampire. An essential 6.5/10 at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026Vampires (1998)
John Carpenter turns vampire hunting into blue-collar work, with James Woods carrying the whole film on attitude.
Jun 6, 2026Vampyr (1932)
Carl Theodor Dreyer's Vampyr abandons plot for pure dream logic and remains the eeriest vampire film ever made. A singular 8/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
Jun 6, 2026What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement turn four vampire flatmates into one of the best horror comedies ever. A very funny 8.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.