Thanks to box office hits like the Twilight series, vampire movies are back in vogue, though in truth, they have never really been out of fashion. The first film that featured vampires can date back as old as cinema itself, and over the past century there have literally been thousands of films based on their theme.

The most famous bloodsucker before Edward came along, was most definitely the Transylvanian Count, Dracula. There have been so many resurrections of the tale, many based on the tales by Bram Stoker, but there has also been as many that have just used the character in vampire movies, but not stuck to the original story.

Gary Oldman starred as the Count in the 1992 film, Bram Stoker\’s Dracula, with Anthony Hopkins also starring as Van Helsing. Also starring Keanu Reeves and Wynona Ryder and directed by The Godfather director, Francis Ford Coppola, the movie stays loyal to Bram Stoker\’s classic novel.

Dracula, or Nosferatu, has been a popular character in vampire movies for as long as you can remember, and the character has appeared in over two hundred and fifty films. German Max Schreck was the first to play the role, way back in 1922 and hundreds of actors have followed in his footsteps. Another German actor, Thomas Kretschmann will play the role in Dracula 3D in 2012, ninety years later, bringing the character full circle

The two most famous actors for playing Dracula may be Bela Lugosi, who starred in the iconic 1931 version, and British actor Christopher Lee who appeared in no less than 12 films that featured the Transylvanian Count. Christopher Lee has played a number of iconic characters in his 90 years, including roles in The Lord of the Rings and the new Star Wars movie, and co-incidentally, was born in 1922, the first year Nosferatu appeared in a movie.

There have also been a number of films that have been comedies, and the two genres have mixed extremely well. Actors like George Hamilton in Love at First Bite, Leslie Nielsen in Dracula – Dead and Loving It, and in 2012 Adam Sandler will take on the Count in Hotel Transylvania.

Many other vampire movies have come from book adaptations, like the Twilight series, which is of course based on the novels by Stephanie Meyer. Meyer was the biggest selling author in the world in the past few years, selling way over one hundred million copies, and the books have been translated into almost fifty languages.

Of course she is not the only woman who has had popular vampire movies made from her books. Anne Rice has also seen almost one hundred million copies of her books sold globally. Two of her books from The Vampire Chronicles have been made into successful films, The Queen of The Damned, and the hit film starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderas, Interview with the Vampire.

If vampires are your thing, you are definitely in luck when it comes to movies. You can watch romantic films, horrors, action or comedies with your favorite characters in them.

Author Bio: Need to catch up on vampire movies starring your favourite actors? Fright Flicks has a variety of free films to choose from with new arrivals coming in daily. From zombie movies to thrillers, you will find films perfect for you.

Category: Entertainment
Keywords: movies,entertainment,film, vampires, culture, society, hobbies, recreation, leisure, cinema