"30 Days of Night", directed David Slade

Movie, 2007

Edgy vampire horror set in Arctic Alaska, in which a Neil Tennant lookalike leads a gang of vampires against a small town's dogs, its police station and then anything else living. There are some decent concepts within this set up, but the film never fully makes the leap from a series of set pieces in which evil usually triumphs over good and various characters crack under pressure. While the vampire characters are pretty menacing, they're not fully convincing and speak in a funny, made-up language. Entertaining if you can stand the gore.

"What We Do in the Shadows", directed Jermaine Clement, Taika Waititi

Film, 2014

Mockumentary about four flat-sharing vampires and their interactions with two newcomers, one of whom is turned into a vampire and one - the hilariously popular Stu - who isn't. This preposterous set up sits on top of some occasionally almost understated humour and some amusing scenes, most notably in the face-off between the vampires and a werewolf gang. There's plenty of gore giving a contemporary feel, and although this is very neat, controlled and full of genre jokes, this is a blood and guts gentle comedy which is full of laughs.