10. Dracula’s Daughter (1936)

This is the direct sequel to Universal’s classic Dracula and follows up immediately where its predecessor left off. We see a dodgy Lugosi lookalike in a coffin and Van Helsing being arrested for his murder. The focus in this production is on Dracula’s eponymous daughter, Hungarian Countess Maja Zaleska, played by stunningly melancholic Gloria Holden. How it came about that she could claim that title above all other vampire girls he sired is left unanswered, but she gets to repeat the classic “I don’t drink. Wine.”

Though she is ultimately after psychiatrist Dr Jeffrey Garth (Otto Kruger), she also approaches two possible female victims. That lesbian angle, not unsurprising for the time this was filmed in, is only ever so subtle, but clear enough to warrant an inclusion in this list. Dracula’s Daughter may be the first Lesbian Vampire on film, but she is also more importantly the first Neurotic Vampire as she seeks a psychological cure for what she considers a compulsive obsession for human blood.

Watch Dracula’s Daughter on Amazon.

9. Blood and Roses (1960)

If Dracula’s Daughter was the first cinematic lesbian vampire, Blood and Roses deserves the accolade for being the first truly sexual vampire movie. This is also the first time that Sheridan Le Fanu’s novel Carmilla was transferred to the silver screen, though in a modernised adaptation. From then on the name Carmilla Karnstein (or any of its variations such Mircalla or Marcilla) should soon become synonymous with female vampires in the same way that Dracula is still the prototype for all male blood suckers.

Directed by Roger Vadim, who always had to marry his leading ladies, Blood and Roses stars his then-wife Annette Vadim as Carmilla. Drenched in absolutely stunning, beautiful colors and imagery, and with a delightful musical score, this is a feast for the eyes and also features some haunting black and white dream sequences with splashes of red a la The Tingler.