Chris Sarandon’s villainous vampire neighbour is no cardboard villain. A suave, macho presence (who’s also bloody scary in places), his is the regal kind of fanger who likes to think before he bites. Sarandon also proved pivotal in fleshing out his flesh-chomping fiend.

“Chris wanted to deepen the character,” director Holland reveals. “Chris did not want just a black and white, 'the vampire is bad’. It was Chris’s idea, I know he was asking for shades in the character.

“I put [in] the portrait, Amy’s portrait – that was Chris’ idea. And once you had that Amy looked like a lover from the past - perhaps a lover from the past - then you’re doing the Bram Stoker Mina.”

Unlike other actors who are embarrassed by their dabblings with the world of cheesy horror, Sarandon still looks back fondly.

“I remember very vividly,” he says of first receiving the script. “I was living in New York and I got the script.

"My agent said that someone was interested in the possibility of my doing the movie, and I said to myself, ‘There’s no way I can do a horror movie. I can’t do a vampire movie. I can’t do a movie with a first time director.’

“Not a first time screen-writer, but first time director. And I sat down and read the script, and I remember very vividly sitting at my desk, looked over at my then wife and said, ‘This is amazing. I don’t know. I have to meet this guy.’” The rest is history.