1. The Addiction (1995)

Happy Thanksgiving! What are you all thankful for? Well I, for one, am thankful for the strangest and most interesting vampire movie I've seen yet: The Addiction.

Do I have a hickey?

If you come across the old VHS box of The Addiction, you'll probably assume it's a bad and typical mid-90s thriller. The harsh white box, the cheesy look of a woman's head tilted back, her mouth showing the hint of fangs - it is all strangely familiar in the world of mediocre and not-too-serious vampire films. But if you're expecting normalcy and cheese from this vampire flick, you are in for a shock.

Hauntingly "artsy" in black and white, the movie begins in a graduate school ethics class where students are watching slides and videos of horrible massacres. The fact that the whole movie is in black and white makes the old news photos and footage look identical to the current "reality" of the story. It is a haunting start (though a little strange given the very 90's sounding music from the opening credits).

In the class are two philosophy  PhD students: Annabel and Jean (played by the wonderful Lili Taylor and Edie Falco, a.k.a. Showtime's Nurse Jackie, respectively). After the class, Annabel and Jean wander and talk about the nature of evil in a way that only characters in a 1990's indie film can. The scene reminded me of a more serious Slacker or Clerks... which was odd given that was supposedly a vampire film.

However, it doesn't take long to get to the supernatural: five minutes into the film, Annabel is cornered in a dark alley by an elegant woman and bitten.

The movie from then on follows what may seem like the "traditional" vampire movie formula: bitten girl starts to turn, tries to figure out what she is, and struggles with the moral implications of biting people and drinking their blood. Except Annabel isn't a normal vampire movie protagonist: she's working on her PhD in ethics. Which means that this is officially the only vampire movie where you can hear the line: "What, you want an apology for ethical relativism?"

Annabel revels in her new state, using her vampirism as a way to analyze the nature of evil. Parallels are drawn between Annabel's desire to hurt others and the type of view and perspective it would take to cause the horrors and massacres that she studies in her class. The result is a fascinating examination of humanity's capability for evil that goes far beyond a normal vampire film.

That would have been enough for this movie to set itself apart from the herd, but then a moment of beautiful insanity occurs: Annabel is found by another vampire who tries not to harm humans and who has some advice for her. That vampire is played by Christopher Walken. The result is a jaw droppingly bizarre scene where the young-ish Walken saunters around asking Annabel: "Have you read Naked Lunch?"

The climax and closure of The Addiction is surreal and somewhat confusing, but in a way that is far more satisfying than The Hunger. If the film as a whole is about the nature of evil, the not-quite-in-reality ending is about Annabel's chance for redemption, a chance not to be a vampire who harms others anymore.

This film is strange and beautiful, and the perfect way to elevate vampire to metaphor. If you're willing to see a vampire movie in a whole new light (and you like 1990's independent film aesthetic), The Addiction is a film you will definitely want to watch. It is officially the best vampire movie on my Vampire Countdown!

Rating: 5 of 5 bites