Is it wrong to expect a little subtlety?

Your "cheesy acting" could be explained by the elaborate dances, maneuvers, and actions that go on in the animal kingdom. Posturing, or acting like you're THE MAN occurs in a variety of animals, not excluding humans. When human males figuratively butt heads, isn't that reminiscent of rams slamming their horns into the other's?

The vampires' howls are one of the reasons that I saw them as not exactly 'humans-plus-powers.' They are fueled by a deep thirst, a hunger for blood. When the female vamp growled to the male vamp in the living room of the husband who had recently been stapled to the wall by a firepoke, the male vamp growled back, seemingly giving her permission to rip into her human meal. Maybe it wasn't that, maybe she was claiming excitement, and he was saying that he felt the same...but either way, it was a bunch of noise that seemed to carry a meaning.

Just like the intimidating movements of a wild animal fighting for a mate might be seen as elaborate, or too much, but these vamps aren't humans, and their behavior does not have to be readily understood by Man.

It's not "I'm a monster," it's "Fear me."

Don't get upset at their depictions of a ravenous species. Might as well get pissed that Hartnett and his chick were almost found out because of the Fat-Neck's nose, but F-N decided to check out the yell instead of the smell.

It's a horror movie. Expect a similar acting style.

Take me where I cannot stand.

yep i agree
every turn of the head of a vampire was accompanied by a 'eoowwww' or 'eeeeeeaaargh' or something similar
how annoying
and the grunting to each other doesnt really make that much sense because they have their own language and could be talking with that
they were just being vampiry for the sake of being vampiry

Allow me to pussy-up this thread by noting that the grunting and roaring actually scared me far more than silence would have. It reminded me of a primitive animal on the prowl for it's food and harked me back to the eons ago when our ancestors were (most likely) the bottom of the food chain with no ability to defend themselves (prior to making weaponized implements). The fear of being the prey gripped me once more . And this film captured that essence.

Besides, I'm tired of movies portraying vamps as yuppie slicksters. I could do with less of that; it's just not scary. The only thing that was out-of-place was the pristine condition of the clothes the vamps were wearing. They looked like they just stepped off the set of a high-end sunglasses commercial (at least in the beginning). However homeless hobo-dressed vamps look as though you can outsmart them and I guess you have to make the monsters appear as intelligent as possible to heighten the fear factor. So Pet Shop Boys it is.

I've really grown sick of the constant vampire hissing, it's such a cliche. But they do it in every vampire movie, you can't get away from it. I suppose they think they're being animalistic even in the movies where the vamps aren't really being portrayed that way. They always have to bare their fangs and hiss. I know animals do this sometimes but not nearly as much as vampires do in the movies. Animals do it with purpose, vamps do it just to do it, as often as possible usually. Their behavior is more patterened off what people expect to see from previous vampire movies rather than based on any real-life animal behavior. Like if the vampires' purpose is to suck someone's blood for nourisment, why rip their throat and then throw them down and let them bleed out all over the ground? Rather than their attacks being for the purpose of feeding or even the purpose of defending their territory, their main purpose seems to be to put on a gore show for any spectators (i.e. us audience members). Same is true of zombie movies, don't get me started, zombie behavior makes no sense in most of the movies.

Depends on the character. In this case there is nothing subtle about this type of vampire. Stoker's Dracula, it's the opposite.

In recent horror films, apparently so. This film screams for attention when a whisper would have been so much more effective. The actors in supporting roles are much more competent than the leads, who seem underused here. 4/10 for me.