The mixture of their bestial id combined with a seductive outward appearance have made vampires some of the most fascinating creatures in horror. Originating in the ancient folklore of cultures around the globe, filling countless books, television series, and movies, vampires have proven alluring to the human imagination for hundreds of years. They possess powers beyond comprehension, such as shape-shifting, hypnosis, and defy the very laws of nature with their immortality.
Beginning in 1922 with F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu, the appearance of the first vampire on film (Count Orlok), was so realistic that some audiences were convinced they were seeing a real supernatural creature. Then came Bela Lugosi’s elegant Count Dracula in 1931, Christopher Lee’s commanding version in 1958, and then in the 80s and 90s the feral gangs in The Lost Boys, the melancholy introverts in Interview with a Vampire, and the calculating killers in the Underworld franchise appeared. Below you’ll find the 10 most powerful vampires in horror movies, ranked.
DAVID
One of the things that they leave off on all the tourism literature for Santa Carla - all the damn vampires! In The Lost Boys, Sam and his family move to the seaside town, where he’s not exactly looking forward to making a whole new set of friends. A run-in on the boardwalk with a cute girl soon becomes his entry into a gang of teens that live life on the edge.
Their leader is David (Keiffer Sutherland), a charismatic, soft-spoken surfer type with blonde hair and a leather jacket. But make no mistake, he is anything but chill. Sam soon discovers that David is the leader of the local vampires, and is the strongest of them all. Featured here for his ferocity, but compared to legendary vampires, he’s a baby bat.
MARLOW
A merciless killing machine, Marlow Roderick (Danny Huston) was the leader of the vampire brood that claimed Barrow, Alaska as their feeding grounds in 30 Days of Night. The film’s title comes from the fact that in December, there are 30 days where the sun virtually disappears, leaving the town to darkness, and the perfect hunting ground for vampires.
Marlow is merciless, and will kill his own kind if he feels that they’re weak, injured, or of no further use to the brood. He’s also not above sacrificing his own to prevent his own demise. Marlow is an old vampire, and his willingness to survive keeps him alive until the bitter end of the film.
BARNABAS COLLINS
A debonair and stylish vampire that first appeared in Dark Shadows the soap opera on ABC, and then decades later, in Tim Burton’s film Dark Shadows, Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) proves that a vampire is just as malicious wrapped up in silk as a biker jacket.
Barnabas awakens in the modern-day, which in the case of the film is the 70s, and returns to his ancestral home to rebuild his family’s trade empire. Barnabas runs afoul of a witch and has to do battle with her to protect his home, his family, and his unlife. Through the power of flight, super speed, and supernatural strength, he is victorious.
LESTAT DE LIONCOURT
Many of Anne Rice’s novels involving a thriving vampire dynasty focus on Lestat de Lioncourt, “The Brat Prince”. He was famously portrayed by Tom Cruise in Interview with a Vampire, and brought a ferocious elegance to the part. He preferred to stalk his prey in the finery of an 18th-century nobleman, but don’t let his lacy sleeves fool you, he is all bark and all bite.
He was killed by the very vampire he sired, Louis (Brad Pritt), but being one of the most powerful vampires on Earth, he was resurrected, and lived to feast again. Not even Akasha, a vampire elder from the film’s sequel Queen of the Damned outlived Lestat.
SELENE
In the mythology created by the Underworld franchise, Selene occupies the position of Death Dealer, a powerful soldier in the hierarchy of vampires that hunt Lycans (werewolves). In the secret war that’s been brewing between them for thousands of years, she’s earned a reputation as being one of the most ruthless of her kind.
Through the Underworld series of films, Selene time and time again goes up against Lycans, Hybrids, and even her own kind. She has faced down countless foes purportedly stronger than her, and still bested them with a combination of super speed, strength, ingenuity, and skill with melee weapons.
LOTHOS
Lothos (Rutger Hauer) was the main antagonist in the film Buffy the Vampire Slayer, about a teenage girl who is chosen to fight against the forces of darkness and protect humanity (it later became a hit television show). A master vampire, he was eight centuries old, and had killed “dozens of slayers” by the time he met Buffy Summers.
Because of his long unlife, he had strength and abilities far beyond a vampire who had been recently turned. He possessed the power of flight, as well as hypnosis, which unfortunately was no match for the slayer. He perished when she used a burning cross and her hairspray as a flame thrower.
NOMAK
Long before the MCU began its first phase of superhero movies, Blade was arguably one of the first entries into its canon. It centered on a half-vampire, half-human who hunted vampires to protect humankind. His Dhampir status gave him all the strengths of the vampires but none of their weaknesses.
In Blade II he met his match in Jared Nomak, the first of a race of vampires called Reapers who are super powerful. The son of an elder vampire named Eli Damaskinos, he had all the abilities of his father, but other benefits of the reaper strain, such as a heart encased in bone to prevent him from being staked.
COUNT ORLOK
Count Orlok ranks high on our list due to his formidable presence as the first vampire to appear on screen. He made his first appearance in Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror in 1922, and though his story was based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula (from his 1897 novel), he didn’t resemble the aristocratic Count.
Orlok resembled the vampires of folklore, with pointed ears, jagged teeth, and long fingers, considered to be walking corpses inhabited by demonic possession. Rats, the carriers of pestilence followed him wherever he walked, and he had an aversion to sunlight. He was centuries old and seemed a being that really could rise from the maggot-infested earth.
VIKTOR
Another vampire that can trace his inspiration back to the infamous Dracula, Viktor from the Underworld franchise was one of the oldest vampires in existence. He wasn’t the very oldest, but he was the most politically ambitious, and through the centuries successfully made generations of loyal vampires believe he was.
Viktor had a great deal of power, both political and physical. He was once a Hungarian general in the 5th century, and more concerned with living forever than all the riches of his lands. After he was turned by the first vampire, his undead armies became the first Death Dealers, of which Selene was the most famous. It was he who started the Vampire Lycan War.
COUNT DRACULA
At the top of our list is the most famous vampire of all time, and for good reason. Not only did Bram Stoker’s truly immortal character Count Dracula create one of the most legendary horror icons of all time, he also created the template from which all cinematic vampires take inspiration from.
Count Dracula is both a carnivorous beast and a seductive aristocrat. He’s both a complete barbarian and a perfect gentleman. He can turn into smoke, transform into a bat, and he has died and been brought back to life in more unique ways than any other vampire on screen. He truly is the grandbatty of them all.
