Horror Director James Wan Shares His Favorite Vampire Movies

It’s always fun to ask horror bigwigs about their own favorite movies in the genre; as we recently learned, Mike Flanagan’s a big Lake Mungo fan, and Damien Leone shrieks for Black Christmas. James Wan—who has many cinematic credits, but for the sake of scares we’ll ID him as a creator of The Conjuring, Saw, and Insidious franchises—has cut right to the chase with this vampire-specific watchlist he just shared to social media. It’s got some blockbuster titles, and even more intriguingly, offbeat cult picks too.

Here’s the full list:

Quite obviously, the purpose here is to signal-boost 2024’s Salem’s Lot, which Wan produced; it was also scripted and directed by his Conjuring Universe cohort Gary Dauberman. (We love that Wan also recommended the 1979 made for TV miniseries, directed by Tobe Hooper.)

But there are some solid classics represented here, namely the original Dracula with Bela Lugosi and the silent Nosferatu—and fun cult picks Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Interview With the Vampire, Near Dark, and Fright Night (we’re going to assume he meant the 1985 original, since it’s not specified). The 1958 Christopher Lee-Peter Cushing face-off Horror of Dracula is essential viewing, too.

Also: we must applaud the nod for Blade, a movie you can always go back and watch even if Marvel never gets around to making that new version.

However, the main thrill here comes from seeing Wan’s more obscure selections: The Night Stalker (1972), Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, Vampire Circus, Vampire Lovers, Subspecies 2, and Planet of the Vampires.

The Night Stalker is the TV movie that introduced Darrin McGavin’s intrepid journalist Carl Kolchak, who went on to star in his own ABC series. As he chased after stories involving supernatural forces (vampires, werewolves, ancient demons), Kolchak had to endure the exasperation of his boss at the newspaper, as well as the contempt of the local police—both parties, of course, forever skeptical of Kolchak’s investigations. The Night Stalker was a big influence on The X-Files and McGavin even popped up on the show as a Kolchak-like character.

Wan also has a trio of 1970s British flicks on his list. Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter hails from legendary studio Hammer and was written and directed by Brian Clemens, who worked on 1960s secret-agent series The Avengers. Clemens’ only feature was this tale of a sword-fighting vampire hunter and his hunchbacked partner, hired to investigate a village beset by bloodsuckers; it’s become a cult classic thanks to its high-energy tone. Vampire Circus (1972) is set in a 19th century Serbian village where, some years after the townsfolk teamed up to take down the local aristocrat-turned-vampire, a traveling circus arrives (amid a plague, no less) to entertain and… get some tasty revenge. And 1970’s The Vampire Lovers is a riff on the classic Carmilla narrative, which indeed means the “lovers” in question are women—including legendary bombshell Ingrid Pitt.

Planet of the Vampires, meanwhile, signals Wan’s affection for Italian horror master Mario Bava; while 1965’s Planet is a more explicitly sci-fi outing for Bava (as the title suggests), it was released alongside some of his best-known giallos, including Blood and Black Lace and Kill, Baby, Kill.

And Subspecies 2—the actual title is Bloodstone: Subspecies II—is the second entry in Full Moon’s pleasingly unhinged, Romanian-shot 1990s series starring Anders Hove as a vampire named Radu, as well as some endearing stop-motion special effects. This is maybe the most surprising choice on Wan’s list for an array of reasons, but the fact that he singled out part two is right up there.

What do you think of James Wan’s list? Will you be queueing up any of his recommendations tonight? Let us know in the comments!

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