Salem's Lot (Directed by Tobe Hooper) 1979

This TV mini-series (released as one film) is based on the 1975 Stephen King book and remains one of the greatest horror films ever made. Despite its many flaws, it is a chilling vampire adaptation starring David Soul and features one of the best head vampires ever put to screen - alongside a frightful bunch of other pale-skinned bloodsuckers. The movie - whilst not as detailed or as graphic as King's book - still makes for a spook-fest in the sense that is combines a good old fashioned vampire idea with haunted house drama as we follow writer Ben Mears (Soul) returning to his home town only to find the place infested with creatures of the night, all too willing to contaminate others too.

'Salem's Lot' not only builds slowly but has all the suspense and drama of one of those 1970s Dan Curtis productions - and presents to us the Marston House, which looks like every other creaky haunted house - but what are the strange crates being delivered and who is the mysterious Richard Straker (James Mason) who is living there? Well, it just so happens that master vampire Kurt Barlow (Reggie Nalder) has returned and when townsfolk start disappearing and then reappearing as vampires, it's down to Mears and old friend Jason Burke to prevent the spread of evil. 'Salem's Lot' I one of those must-see movies that showcases a number of scares - including the young vampire tapping at the window of his brother - which have stayed with me for a long, long time. 'Salem's Lot' was the movie which provoked me to make a wooden crucifix for my bedroom window, so that says it all really. It's certainly one of the scariest films I saw in my youth, and despite lacking violence or gory lashings, it easily slips into my top 10 horrors, let alone top 100. Just watch it.