Looking for something to watch for Halloween? I spend a lot of time watching movies, so if your taste runs to the blood-sucking undead, here are my picks for the best vampire horror films on dvd.

These undead creatures of the night are terrifying to some and enticing to others. Stake them, slice off their head, douse them in holy water or expose them to sunlight -- just don't get bit.

• From Dusk Till Dawn -- Robert Rodriguez directed this masterpiece that combines serial killers, a minister's family, biker gangs and a horde of Mexican vampires into a rowdy horror film. George Clooney, Quentin Tarentino, Juliette Lewis, Harvey Keitel and Salma Hayek are among the stars of this movie.
• Queen of the Damned -- A far better version of Anne Rice's vampire lore than the earlier Interview With the Vampire. This is based on her book of the same name, which follows Lestat (Stuart Townsend) as he turns rockstar. Queen vamp Akasha (Aaliyah) takes a shine to him and wants to make him her king, leading to the climactic showdown between members of the ancient vamp coven.
• Vampires -- John Carpenter directed and James Woods stars in this film about vampire hunters in the southwest U.S. who must find an ancient artifact before the master vamp does. As the film progresses, the hunters become the hunted and lots of blood is spilled.
• The Lost Boys -- A young lad moves with his mom and older brother to the sunny seaside town of Santa Clarita and discovers his eccentric grandfather is the least of his problems. Though by today's standards, it's not particularly gory or overly scary, it's still one of my faves. This 80s film also made quite a few of its cast into stars, including Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Jami Gertz and Kiefer Sutherland.
• Near Dark -- In this film, a midwestern farm boy reluctantly becomes a member of the undead when a girl he meets turns out to be part of a band of southern vampires who roam the highways in stolen cars. The word "vampire" is never actually used, but it's obvious as to what these creatures resemble. Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton star.
• Blade: Trinity -- I'm probably going to get emails on this one, but take out Wesley Snipe's performance as Blade, and this is actually a pretty good vamp film. Ryan Reynolds and Parker Posey add the right level of camp and sass to their roles and Jessica Biel makes a great badass vamp hunter. Worth viewing just for the vampire pomeranian dog.
• Fright Night -- When a teenager learns that his next door neighbour is a vampire, no one will believe him. The vampire finds out he knows and starts to toy with him. It's a bit schlocky, but this 80s film is still fun. This film stars Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse, Roddy McDowall and Stephen Geoffreys.
• Horror of Dracula -- One of the all-time classics starring Christopher Lee as the Count and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. This is the first film to really mine the erotic appeal of vampires as Dracula seduces Mina and Lucy--more suggestive than explicit, but still very daring for 1958.
• Bram Stoker's Dracula -- This version of Dracula is closely based on Bram Stoker's classic novel of the same name. A young lawyer named Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) is assigned to a gloomy village in the mists of eastern Europe. He is captured and imprisoned by the undead vampire Dracula (Gary Oldman), who travels to London, inspired by a photograph of Harker's betrothed, Mina Murray (Winona Ryder).

Got a fave vampire film I left off the list? Post it on the message boards.

*All titles are linked to the dvd's page at Amazon.com, in case you want to buy it or get more information on the movie. Most of these titles should be available at your local dvd rental store, as well.

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