2008 – Actor Edi Gathegi took on the role of nomadic vampire Laurent in the Twilight series.
2003 – British actor Robbie Gee played the sole gun toting vamp in the Kate Beckinsale led flick Underworld.
2002 – Before her untimely death, singer Aaliyah played the lead character Queen Akasha in the movie Queen of the Damned.
2000 – In Dracula 2000, actor Omar Epps played a thief turned vampire named Marcus whose band of robbers awoke Dracula.
1995 – Comedian Eddie Murphy played a smooth talking Caribbean blood sucker in the movie Vampire in Brooklyn, which also starred actress Angela Bassett.
1990 – Actors Kadeem Hardison and Samuel L. Jackson fell prey to an evil succubus in Def by Temptation.
1986 – Costume chameleon Grace Jones played a vampire who preyed on college frat boys in the movie Vamp.
1973 – In the blaxploitation flick Ganja & Hess, archaeologist Dr. Hess developed a thirst for blood after being stabbed with a knife contaminated with ancient germs.
1972 – Blacula was the first movie to feature a black character as a vampire.
Tween vampire flick The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 hits theaters worldwide today. Less of a horror and more of a young adult fantasy flick, the movie has all the formulaic makings of vampire plot-filled predecessors before it. Its most striking resemblance is the lack of any black blood suckers. Traditionally, black actors have had little success with the vampire genre of film-making. But here are the top 10 films featuring black vampire characters.
