Welcome to the Critic’s Sanctum’s 6th Annual 31-Day Horror Marathon!

With Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu on the horizon this Christmas, a remake of one of the most (if not the outright the most) famous vampire films to grace the big screen, I thought it fitting to explore the vampire sub-genre through history and the manner in which the creature has both been mythologized and deployed.

The initial entries present unique visions of the vampire from the earlier ages of the cinematic medium. These films form the template that a large host of the sub-genre has lifted from since.

After this introduction, the entries focus on re-articulations of these classic tales. These films are attempts at either differently representing the origin stories or hyper focusing on certain aspects to exaggerate a feeling or set of themes.

With the figure of the vampire more clearly defined, we will move to an exploration of the monster and the manner in which it’s deployed in more traditional narratives that are less focused on articulating an origin story. Some of these entries are art-house leaning while others are more conventional in order to thoroughly examine the narrative potential the vampire opens up.

Finally, the marathon concludes with experimental explorations of the vampire. These films may or may not include “real” vampires as we’ve been accustomed to up to the point, but they do explore the vampire as a conceptual metaphor or conceit.

The List