Dark, misunderstood, and tragic. The modern vampire, particularly in the character made popular by Bram Stoker in his novel Dracula and then re-envisioned by Anne Rice in her Interview with a Vampire, is a quintessential movie anti-hero, blending sex, romance, horror and danger into one dangerously charismatic package. Indeed, vampires have never gone out of style. Over a century after Stoker’s novel was published, scarily alluring vampires are still at the heart of some of today’s most popular books and movies (Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight novels and their film adaptations) as well as TV shows (Alan Ball’s True Blood).

But as the vampire has raged and seduced his way throughout history, his Victorian-themed frocks, chiseled cheekbones and overall air of self-importance have proved ripe for parody too. From as early as the ‘40s, the vampire has been ridiculed and sent up, made the butt of screenwriters’ jokes and gone slumming in such disreputable genres as the straight-to-video B-movie and porn. With Anne Billson pointing you towards some of the best vampire films, we now take note of what are not the worst but are undeniably the funniest or perhaps just nuttiest additions to the genre.