I fucking love The Vampire Diaries. I wish the writers for The Walking Dead had the balls that the writers on TVD do.

Yup, that's a good show. CW does vampires right. Buffy, Angel, and now TVD.

I only saw one episode on Vampire Diaries when I was over at somebody's house. I didn't think it was all that great. Seemed kind of meh.

An isolated episode may not seem that good, but the show as a whole is great. You honestly don't know which characters will make it out alive at the end of each episode.

There is no shortage of either one. Tons of vampire movies get pumped out year after year.

In 2012 alone we've had:

Byzantium
Vamps
Lincoln Vampire Hunter
Underworld awakening
Dracula 3D
Dark Shadows
Twilight Breaking Dawn

And those are just the ones that got major studio backing.

And Hotel Transylvania.

Yeah, zombies may seem like the hot shit right now, but vampires are far more played out.

The two monsters are usually their own subgenres of horror.

Zombie movies are usually an apocalypse scenario where either every recently dead person in the world rises, or they kill so many people that they spread and it ends up being an epidemic that cannot be defeated. So those end up being more about surviving the aftermath.

Vampire movies tend to be more romantic, about a few odd rogues who feed at night to survive themselves.

I'd always found it odd that they rarely went into a vampire apocalypse scenario. I mean vampires are generally more intelligent and are stronger than zombies, and they turn all of their victims into more vampires, so you'd think they'd reproduce exponentially and you'd think they'd eventually overpower humanity. It's been done a couple of times but never quite effectively: Daybreakers (where humans were becoming so rare there was a blood shortage) and Stakeland. Also the Buffy episode The Wish showed a "what-if" scenario if she hadn't defeated the season 1 baddie. 30 Days of Night was basically an isolated apocalypse of one town. These tend to act more like zombie movies.

You're missing out.

I always tell people that The Vampire Diaries will do on a random March episode what any other show would save for a season (or even series) finale. And then they'll top it the next week.

There is no show with as crazy of a "last 3 minutes" as TVD. They just do not care who they kill or what they set up that they'll have to deal with next.

Excellent statement.

I always got a Twilight vibe from The Vampire Diaries. That's why I've skipped it until now. Must've been due to the marketing, I don't know. I might have to check it out now.

Zombies.

I've always liked zombies more than any other movie monsters. The boom of the 2000s has been great for polished new films and video games, but a bit cringe-inducing for pop culture in general (retarded hipster zombie walks, contant overuse of the term "zombie apocalypse").

I almost liked it better in the 90s when all we had were some aging classic movies and a few pixely Resident Evil games.

I like both but prefer zombies. Having said that, I find myself yelling at the TV screen more often than not while watching a zombie movie: HEY DUMBASS, EVERYBODY KNOWS YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SHOOT 'EM IN THE FUCKING HEAD!!!!... -kd5-

Also all the film versions of Matheson's "I Am Legend". "Salem's Lot" is another "one town apocalypse". If "The Strain" trilogy and "The Passage" get made into a movie (which seems inevitable at some point), there will be a couple more.

I think the problem with vampire apocalypses stems from the nature of the monster. Unlike zombies, vampires are smart ... and generally egocentric. You don't live for hundreds (or even thousands) of years by turning all your victims into vampires. What's the benefit of killing all humans? That's your food! Even in scenarios where vampires "take over", the upside is limited. More vampires competing for limited resources. The better life for a vampire would be to pass yourself off as human, amass a fortune (pretty easy when you're immortal), and live the high life.

I guess I'd have to say that vampires have the potential to be more interesting (save for sparkly ones).

I've always thought that zombies catered more towards the "gore-hounds" and I've never really found gory movies to be appealing.

Zombies by far. Other than Martin and Near Dark I can't think of any Vampire flicks that have done much for me.

Only two for me is John Carpenter's Vampires and the first Underworld. I also really enjoyed the new Fright Night but I need to give it a second viewing for a final verdict though.

To this day, my all-time favorite series AND all-time favorite character in any media, film, TV or otherwise.
For that, vampires get my vote.

I gotta give the edge to Spike, personally. He fought for his soul!

I always liked his "you're not friends" speech to Angel and Buffy.

I'm a huge fan of apocalyptic cinema, so I'm more a fan of zombie movies. It's tough to do original stuff with vampires these days. Especially with all the romanticism.

30 Days of Night had a vampire apocalypse type of scenario, and there's also my favorite episode of "Monsters" entitled "The Waiting Game."

I think Spike only works in small doses. I could never see him with an entire series of his own like Angel had. Aside from that, Angel is a character I have a much stronger connection to, and he's a character I've always believed in. Just resonates with me far more than Spike or any other vampire (or character in general) has.

Some good vampire flicks

The Fearless Vampire Killers
Cronos
Dracula
Interview With the Vampire
Nosferatu
Martin
Near Dark
Salem's Lot
The Hunger
The Reflecting Skin
The Last Man on Earth
Scars of Dracula
The Addiction
Let The Right One In
Fright Night
Ganga & Hess
The Blood-Spattered Bride
Shiver of the Vampires
Thirst
Shadow of the Vampire
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
Horror of Dracula
Daughters of Darkness
Blade
Lips of Blood
Habit
Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural