This was a "real" vampire movie. I liked it when I first saw it in '79 and I like it more now. Lynch captures a vampire that is cultured, charismatic, vulnerable, and still human. He collects rare art! As the film progresses we learn this vampire is also evil, materialistic, vengeful, exploitative, selfish, and classically Evil with a capital "E". This movie thoughtfully updated elements of Stoker's conceptualization of the vampire without losing those classical elements that makes it an interesting tale. Acting is excellent and casting great. I had hoped this would be made into a series... but, oh well. A few producers of modern vampire movies could learn something by watching this. <br /><br />My video copy is coming apart - so when is this thing coming on on DVD already?