The vampire concept has undeniably changed, aged and developed through the medium of film. 

We connect more with vampires in the twenty-first century than ever before in history, perhaps because we recognise and celebrate certain vampire experiences and traits that we consider not so different from our own - reservedness, solitude, loneliness and the "darkness" that resides within us all in one way or another.

Film has contributed many different shades to the vampire myth over the years and that has allowed us to empathise with and understand it from a multitude of perspectives. 

Here are four highly-reviewed and diverse works of cinema in the vampire genre that cinema enthusiasts of any genre will appreciate for their aesthetic and cultural significance.

1. Nosferatu, 1922, F.W. Murnau

If you're a lover of black and white silent films, Nosferatu is a must-see. It follows a travel agent by the name of Hutter to Transylvania where he meets Count Olak. Count Olak plans to purchase a residence opposite Hutter's home. 

Leaving his wife behind, Hutter soon learns that the count is feared by locals who have no desire to help him reach Olak's castle.

To truly appreciate the development over time of the character and concept of Dracula as he is known today, Nosferatu will take horror lovers back to his foundations in film and let you spend time with him in his most primal form.  

A true classic of German expressionist cinema - this is a relic that must be preserved at all costs. Fun fact: This version was actually banned for a time in Sweden for being too scary (source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013442/trivia).

2. Nosferatu the Vampyre, 1979, Werner Herzog

Based on the original Nosferatu, this Count arrives in Wisnar as cargo, killing off the ship's crew under the guise of a deadly plague in pursuit of his travel agent's wife, whose photo arrested him upon first seeing it. 

Quiet, eery, melancholic and melodramatic - a true homage to the original - this multifaceted count, despite acting typically as a symbol of all that is base and wicked, is also visibly streaked with isolation, painful longing and desperation.

Nosferatu the Vampyre contributes a human dimension to the more brazen bloodthirsty vampire myth, challenging our understanding of the count as merely a figure of unholy terror. 

In this stunning revival, we are left wondering if his veneer of gentility is just a veneer or if something resembling humanity may lie beneath.

3. Let the Right One In, 2008, Tomas Alfredson

In the closest thing to a bloodstained winter wonderland, a baby-faced, mild-mannered schoolboy becomes acquainted with a dark-haired, kill-for-survival female vampire in Let the Right One In. An unlikely friendship blossoms between the two beyond which nothing else matters.

Beautifully crafted and booming with echoes in the quiet of young life unlived, this is above all a tale of love, loyalty and friendship that transcends Eli's bloodlust and drops the traditional vampire genre in more complex realms. 

In the snow and ice, Alfredson holds up a mirror for us mere mortals. If we look long enough, we may see our complexion turn pale and our fangs begin to grow

4. Only Lovers Left Alive, 2013, Jim Jarmusch

Only Lovers Left Alive is a glimpse into the existence of centuries-old vampire lovers in the modern world. We get to witness old-fashioned, devoted love survive effortlessly in a modern-day long-distance style relationship and the overwhelmingly technical world.

Apart much of the time but deeply and unequivocally synchronized in devotion, floating through their state of immortality safe in the knowledge that death and loss are not on the cards for them, these lovers are sure to resonate with old souls the world over.