Please give a super warm welcome to
Author Annika James
Today she shares with us her ...
Top 10 Vampires in the Movies
First of all, thank you so much
for having me today!
I love Top 10 lists, I love
vampires, and I love movies - so let’s combine all three into one post… I will
probably miss some great vampires, but that’s where you, the reader, comes in.
Feel free to comment after the post with your favorite movie vamps. I had to do
a little bit of research to complete this one. But watching vampire movies as
research sounds good to me. It was hard
to rank these, so they are not particularly in order.
9. Jerry from “Fright Night” -
probably one of the first vampire movies I remember watching, “Fright Night”
was creepy and cool all at the same time. Jerry was tall, dark, and handsome.
He had charm until the fangs came out. I’m referring to the original “Fright
Night” as I haven’t seen the remake yet. Let me know if it’s as good as the
original.
9. Dracula from “Bram Stoker’s
Dracula” - The ultimate vampire, Gary Oldman’s Dracula was spot-on and creepy
as all get out. As gross as he was, there was still the hint of romance as he
searched for love. He had all the stereotypical vampire powers combined in one.
8. Victoria from “Twilight” - yes,
I picked Victoria. She is beautiful and deadly, and I like that combination. In
“Eclipse,” she hunts Bella, and she was lethally intelligent in the way she
went about it, it’s pretty admirable. She is smart, sexy, and scary. She might
sparkle in the sunlight, but she’s no broody vamp.
7. Lothos from “Buffy the Vampire
Slayer” - He was kind of sexy in an older man way, deadly because even Buffy
fell under his spell, and funny with the one liners. I can’t help it, maybe I
just love Joss Whedon, and I definitely love Buffy, I still like this movie,
and the vampires in it make me chuckle.
6. The vampires in “30 Days of
Night” - talk about scary. This was probably the first vampire movie I watched
that freaked me out. I can handle gore, but there was something just heart
dropping about this movie. There was little hope for survival, and the vampires
were ruthless. No romantic vampires here - these were stone-cold killers who
got uglier as they vamped. These are the nightmare vampires.
5. Blade - Ok, technically, he’s
only half-vampire - but I think he still counts. He is so bad-ass, it’s
ridiculous. I just remember him being practically silent for the better part of
the first movie, every now and then throwing out a sassy one-liner. He hunts
and kills his own kind, and he’s cooler than they are because he can walk in
the sunlight. Imagine - all the strength of a vampire, with none of the
weakness. Can you blame all the vampires for wanting him dead?
4. David from “The Lost Boys” -
another movie from my childhood. David was the ultimate bad boy. Bleach blonde
hair, leather trenchcoat, motorcycle - those all added up to one hot guy. He
only came out at night and dang, did he look good. When he vamped out, he was
also deliciously scary. Kiefer Sutherland played this part to a T, and started
my obsession with bad-boy vamps. I can’t mention this movie without mentioning
Corey Haim and how much I loved him in this movie. If you haven’t seen this
one, watch it - there are some classic lines here!!
3. Selene from “Underworld” - I
like a sexy vamp who can kick butt, and Selene is definitely that. Her wardrobe
is amazing and I wish I could get away with head to toe leather. She’s a
vampire with deadly fangs, but uses guns and other weapons to fight the Lycans.
Kate Beckinsale does an awesome job with this role and Selene is one of my
favorite vamps of all time. Not to mention the cool blue her eyes turn when
she’s vamping out.
2. Lestat from “Interview with a
Vampire” - he had it all - Lestat was beautiful and charming, yet deadly. He
had little conscience and killed without remorse, yet did it in such a way, you
would almost willingly submit to him. Tom Cruise played him brilliantly. I
picked Lestat over Louis because I like my vampires a little less broody and a
little more “I’m immortal, let’s live it up.” and that is Lestat - he took
advantage of all that being a vampire had to offer.
That’s all I could come up with.
Sad, I know… I also love Parker Posey’s vampire in “Blade Trinity” and although
he doesn't go full-on vamp - Jim Carrey is hilarious in “Once Bitten.” So, who
are your favorite vamps? Who did I miss? What are some movies I need to check
out to help fill my list?
Annika, the pleasure was truly all ours ! I love Vampires and definitely have a few favorites in the list you gave. Now let's hear a little about your latest release.
Wanted
Annika James
“When you’re a powerful witch, every guy in school wants
to bite you.”
Blurb:
“Attacked as a young witch and left for dead,
Ashlinn is deathly afraid of being bitten again. Having survived until she’s
almost eighteen without donating blood to any of her vamp friends, Ashlinn
figures she’ll continue to live bite-free. After her crush reveals how powerful
she is, however, the Vampire Council declares she be claimed as a familiar,
which requires biting. Ashlinn doesn’t want to be owned, even by hot vamp,
Conor. Luckily, her best friend, Matt, volunteers for the job. She is given one
week to choose her protector, and the list of willing biters keeps growing.
Will she go with best friend Matt, hot vamp Conor, or someone else to protect
her? Will she be able to get her power under control by then? Will she overcome
her phobia of being bitten? And who says she needs to be protected, anyhow?”
Excerpt:
I could tell he was still looking down at me. His
hand rested on the shelf next
to my head and his other hand came up on the
other side, trapping me between his arms. I looked up shyly. How many times had
I pictured being alone with Conor? It was like a dream, and I was frozen,
unsure of what to do, unsure of what he wanted from me. What was he playing at?
He leaned toward me, holding my gaze with his. I
forgot how to breathe, how
to think. Then his lips touched mine, electricity
exploding up and down my body.
Soft and gentle, they probed, tasting, testing. I
didn’t move to touch him, just
remained frozen. There was only the kiss. His
mouth moved to my jaw, kissing his
way down to my neck. His teeth grazed my skin.
I unfroze and found my voice. “No!” I felt a
surge of power push through me.
Conor flew backward across the room. He crashed
into a bookcase, sending an
avalanche of books over him as he fell to the
floor. He slumped there, holding his head, dazed. He looked up in confusion,
mouth opened ready to speak. At that moment, my muscles remembered how to move
and I ran for the door. It opened in front of me, not of my power, and Matt
appeared. He’d probably felt my surge of power. I hadn’t meant to throw Conor.
Panic had overtaken me and I had lost control for an instant.
I flew into Matt’s arms and he embraced me. Matt
was my rock. His presence
calmed me, it always did. He was like a
protective big brother. I knew he
understood the whole scene in the seconds before
I’d found his arms. I buried my
face in the T-shirt pulled tight across his
strong chest, and breathed in his scent, a
mix of fabric softener and cologne. It was
familiarity, it was home, and it helped to center me. I peeked out at Conor. He
stepped out of the pile of books and
straightened his clothing.
Tourwide Giveaway
Win one of
three copies of Wanted by Annika James
Author’s
Bio:
Annika James lives in small-town Wisconsin with
her husband and two beautiful kiddos. She spends her days working to pay the
bills and her nights dreaming of more fun ways to do so. Her passions include
writing, reading, music and traveling with her family. She dreams of a world
where vampires and powerful witches really exist, because life would be so much
more interesting.
