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James Wan has more than earned his inclusion in the pantheon of horror maestros. Over a 20-year career that started in 2004 with “Saw,” Wan has mostly stayed true to the genre, making films about monsters human, ghostly and adorably parasitic (who doesn’t love that ghastly cutie Gabriel from “Malignant”?). His films are fun, funny, and almost always terrifying in surprising ways (i.e. when he’s not making superhero or action movies). Wan works an audience like a showman who’s carefully studied the tricks of his predecessors, so when he makes a list of his favorite movies, you’d do well to add those titles to your viewing queue — especially if you’re an aspiring director yourself.
As a horror aficionado, Wan is also worth listening to when he breaks down his favorites by subgenre. Even if he’s never knocked out a zombie flick or a werewolf movie, learning his preferences can only help lead you to worthwhile films you might’ve missed/never seen, while also giving you a deeper understanding of his work overall.
So when Wan takes time to make a list of his 15 top vampire movies, you should pay close attention because A) 15 means he loves the subgenre too much to stay within the conventional parameters of a top 10, B) if he does get around to making a vampire movie, you’ll have a head start on what he might reference, and C) personal lists are always more interesting than polls.
And just what are Wan’s all-time bloodsucker films?
Wan’s vampire list is an eclectic mix of bloodsucking classics
Columbia Pictures
Would it surprise you to learn that Wan’s list of favorite vampire movies is kinda all over the place? The titles, which he compiled to help promote the Max release of the new adaptation of Stephen King’s novel “‘Salem’s Lot” he produced, are as follows:
- “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”
- “The Night Stalker” (1972)
- “Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter”
- “Vampire Circus”
- “Vampire Lovers”
- “Horror of Dracula”
- “Salem’s Lot” (1979)
- “Dracula” (1931)
- “Nosferatu” (1922)
- “Interview with the Vampire”
- “Near Dark”
- “Fright Night”
- “Blade”
- “Subspecies II”
- “Planet of the Vampires”
Where to begin? Overall, Wan’s ability to do brutally sadistic horror (“Saw”), shriek-inducing haunted house yarns (“Insidious” and “The Conjuring”), quasi-campy creature features (“Malignant”), and even those aforementioned superhero/action films is clearly informed by this list. But there are also movies here that have no direct influence on his work … yet.
The Rube Goldberg torture horror of the “Saw” series doesn’t have any clear antecedents here, though the gleeful gore of “Near Dark,” “Horror of Dracula,” “Vampire Circus,” and “Subspecies II” has some aesthetic linkage. The love for jump scares evident in just about all of his movies can be found in the ghoulish good times that are “Fright Night” and “Salem’s Lot.” And if you’re looking for camp, you need look no further than Mario Bava’s stylish horror/sci-fi flick “Planet of the Vampires.”
When it comes to blending horror and action, Wan could do a lot worse than study Steven Norrington’s “Blade.”
Looking forward, one element that hasn’t been present in any of Wan’s films is eroticism, something that classics like “Vampire Lovers,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” and “Interview with the Vampire” possess in spades. I don’t think Wan’s really made anything remotely sexy outside of “Furious 7” (which he inherited), so I’d love to see him flex those muscles with something that blends Hammer sensuality with the sophisticated gothic horror of Anne Rice.
There’s your peek into the neck-biting brain of James Wan. Personally, I endorse every single of these selections, and I’m thrilled he didn’t go with the botch job of the “Fright Night” remake from 2011!
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