This week I have watched not one, but two vampire movies that I was surprised how great movies they were. I am a huge vampire fan, but of course I generally despise the Twilight fanfiction crap (although I admit I watched them anyway). Vampires do not “sparkle in the sunlight”; they burn viciously! One of my favorite movies of all time is Underworld. However, the movies I am talking about today are not like either Twilight or Underworld at all. They are a new and (in a way) original take on vampires that is truly amazing and wonderful, while at the same time generally staying true to the traditional vampiric mythology.

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Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

The first I watched a few days ago, and began quite drearily against a character backdrop which made me think I was not going to like the movie. It is set in inner city chicago against a dreary cityscape and rugged, aged buildings with peeling paint. My first visual impressions in the first 15 seconds of the movie, especially the music choice, almost made me skip the movie altogether. I am so glad I did not, because “Only Lovers Left Alive” (2013) has skyrocketed to not only one of my favorite vampire movies, but also one of my favorite movies altogether.

Additionally, this movie is so wonderful that by the time I finished the movie, I started watching it over again to get a new perspective on the intro and the music in the intro, and I actually really liked it all, despite having disliked the intro the first time I saw it. The movie gave a fascinating and mind altering perspective so much that it changed what I liked with respect to the movie. I would probably like the whole movie even better the second time watching it. This movie is truly a work of art.

The movie has given me a new perspective on music, and even in a way a new perspective on vampires. After the Twilight travesty, the movie “Only Lovers Left Alive” is a movie that all vampire lovers must watch. Watch it, watch it now. The ending gives me an eerie yet pleasant chill, which returns even just thinking about it as I type this sentence. I love it! I wish I had written this article directly following watching it; perhaps I will watch it again and then write a full review of the movie.

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Midnight Son (2011)

The second I literally just finished watching. It was an apparently low-budget movie with what first appeared to be bad actors. Again, I was pleasantly surprised as the movie continued on and developed the characters, that it was a compelling storyline (at least, for those who love vampires) and a shockingly thrilling ending. “Midnight Son” (2011) is set at night in a dreary city. The filming techniques are somewhat amateur, as are the actors and even the writing, most of the time; but that doesn’t stop this movie from being wonderfully in my top 20 vampire movies and leaving me thinking “this was a great movie”.

There were two times I started to fast forward it but immediately rewound the scene because it turned out to be an awesome scene. About 2/3 of the way through I almost gave up on the movie, but then it really took a turn and got truly exciting. I think what got me is the clever romance weaved into the movie, as well as the uninhibited directing which gave vampires the truly classic feel. It allows a realistic approach, that takes you away from the traditional fantasy world and puts it right here in reality. You get the feeling that, were vampires really to exist, that it could really happen like this. “Midnight Son” is a must see for anyone who loves vampires.

Something to note with “Midnight Son” is that I watched a trailer that stopped me from watching the movie when I first downloaded it a year and a half ago, which made me think it was a horror movie (I had placed a file in the folder “might be horror” to remind me of this). I should clarify, that I do not like horror and this is NOT a horror movie. So do not worry.

Some day I may take the time to list all the vampire movies I believe are worth watching. By the way, Twilight is NOT on this list, of course!

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