BY: Amanda Jane Stern

What comes to mind when you think of vampires? Or, more specifically, who comes to mind? Is it Dracula? The character, created by Bram Stoker in his 1897 Gothic horror novel, is undoubtedly the most famous vampire ever created. But what about favorite female vampires? There is a lady of the night whose creation actually predates Dracula, the lesbian Vampire Carmilla from Sheridan Le Fanu’s 1872 Gothic novella. Of course, vampires have come a long way from their late-19th century beginnings, but Carmilla has had a vast influence over female vampires even to this day. Below we have rounded up ten sexy ladies of the night, and while not all of these are direct or indirect Carmilla adaptations, quite a few of them are.

 

The Blood Spattered Bride

For the first film on our list, we have a Carmilla story. This 1972 Spanish horror film follows young newlyweds Susan (Maribel Martín) and her spouse, Husband (Simón Andreu). After moving back to his family’s estate, Susan finds herself obsessed with a woman in her dreams. When that woman shows up in person, claiming to be named Mircalla, an anagram for Carmilla (Alexandra Bastedo), Susan finds herself in awe of the mysterious woman. What makes this film so interesting is that Mircalla/Carmilla, despite being a vampire, is not the villain of the film, but instead Susan’s husband who finds himself threatened by the women’s relationship is the real monster.

 

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Unlike the other women of the night on this list, Lucy (Sadie Frost) isn’t the lead of this film or even a huge supporting player. But, her transformation from society woman into bloodsucking creature does act as a catalyst of sorts. She is the infamous Count Dracula’s (Gary Oldman) first victim in the film before he attempts to move on to Mina (Winona Ryder). It must be said though, that while Lucy in her human form is undeniably alluring, her extreme pallor after she’s turned is more haunting.

 

Daughters of Darkness

This 1971 movie is not an adaptation of the Carmilla story but a vampiric interpretation of the real Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who is alleged to have murdered young virgins and bathed in their blood to maintain her youth. The movie follows newlyweds Stefan (John Karlen) and Valerie (Danielle Ouimet). While staying at an almost deserted hotel, they cross paths with the resort’s only other guests, the alluring Countess Bathory (Delphine Seyrig) and her secretary Ilona (Andrea Rau). Soon, the Countess finds herself drawn to the young couple, leading to disastrous results.

 

From Dusk Till Dawn

Now we are veering entirely away from the Carmilla stories and vampirism as a euphemism for homosexuality. In the Robert Rodriguez movie (from a script written by Quentin Tarantino), a pair of bank-robbing brothers (George Clooney and Tarantino), along with their hostage, Pastor Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel), find themselves in a strip club on the Mexican border. The club happens to be run by vampires. The leader of the vamps is the sexy Santanico Pandemonium (Salma Hayek).

 

The Hunger

Yes, this title has popped up on several lists we have published, but there’s no way we couldn’t include it on this list about sexy lady vampires. Catherine Deneuve stars as vampire Miriam Blaylock. She lives with her lover John (David Bowie), a cellist from 18th century France whom she has kept alive through vampirism. Suddenly, John’s youth begins to fade, and he starts aging rapidly. He seeks out the help of gerontologist Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon). When Miriam meets Sarah, however, she sees her as a potential new lover.

 

Innocent Blood

In this John Landis film, Marie (Anne Parillaud) is a French vampire living in Pittsburgh. She lives by a code, only feeding on society’s criminal element, making sure to shoot her victims after feeding to ensure they do not return as vampires. However, when she is interrupted mid-meal, she accidentally turns a mob boss into a creature of the night, and he begins to wreak even more havoc than he previously did.

 

Near Dark

This movie is an allegory for falling in with the wrong crowd. Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar) is a young man who meets a sexy woman named Mae (Jenny Wright) one night at a bar. It turns out Mae is a vampire, and she bites Caleb and whisks him away to join her group of roving vamps. When these amoral vampires threaten Caleb’s younger sister and father, he resolves to escape them, even if it means leaving Mae.

 

The Vampire Lovers

And now we return to another Carmilla adaptation with Roy Ward Baker’s The Vampire Lovers, the first film in his Karnstein Trilogy. The movie follows Vampire Mircalla (Ingrid Pitt) as she travels from home to home, seducing young women. When the first woman she tries to seduce dies, she moves on to Emma (Madeline Smith). In each home she visits, she alternates between using her real name, Mircalla, or her pseudonym Carmilla.

 

Vampyros Lesbos

From the title of this movie, it’s pretty clear that the film is about lesbian vampires, but it’s not a direct adaptation of the Carmilla story. Countess Nadine Carody (Soledad Miranda) is a seductive vampire who runs a nightclub on a remote island. She sets her sights on Linda (Ewa Strömberg). Linda finds her dreams haunted by the vampire and follows her call to the island, where the women begin a relationship.

 

The Velvet Vampire

Young married couple Lee (Michael Blodgett) and Susan Ritter (Sherry Miles) accept an invitation from the mysterious and alluring Diane LeFanu (Celeste Yarnall) to visit her private estate. Unbeknownst to the couple, Diane is a centuries-old vampire. Things become complicated when Lee and Susan realize that Diane intends to seduce both of them. And yes, Diane’s last name is a clear homage to the writer of the Carmilla story.

 

Underworld

Set during a generations-long war between vampires and werewolves, Kate Beckinsale stars as the vampire Selene. After discovering that her kind may have been betrayed by another vampire, and that a dangerous werewolf, long presumed dead, is actually still alive, she resolves to bring an end to the war. But not everything is at it seems, and sometimes those you trust are the ones who hurt you most.