Runtime: 74 minutes
Directed by: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Starring: Nicolas de Gunzburg, Maurice Schultz, Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz, Jan Hieronimko
From: Tobis Filmkunst
I’m thankful to be in the camp that was a big fan of this German/French motion picture. Going in, I’ve known for years that this flick was driven by images, mood, vibes, and shadows more than dialogue and traditional narrative storytelling in presenting its plot. Some naturally won’t vibe w/ this style and might even consider the exercise “boring.”
My esoteric tastes, I was fascinated by this tale where “student of the occult” Allan stops at a French inn and becomes involved with the case of a young woman bitten by a vampire. The film takes its time and as this was the first sound picture for Carl Theodor Dreyer, this was the reason for the minimal dialogue. Pages from a book about vampires serve as the info dump for viewers. Meanwhile, the film was shot in soft focus for atmospheric reasons.
Buttressed by an excellent, moody score from Wolfgang Zeller, Vampyr was a rewarding journey that always was a visual treat. Shadows are seen often, always presented creatively-there’s also a long out-of-body sequence that was a stunning sequence of creativity. Not to reveal too much but the supernatural threat is felt more than seen, a specter that enveloped the atmosphere and loomed large over the film.
An experience like this will naturally not work as well for some film fans; Vampyr is still worth a shot… besides the sub-75 minute runtime, most at least respect the work if they don’t love the film. In hindsight, I should have checked this out in the fall, closer to Halloween. This would work well whether or not you officially participate in any Letterboxd lists for horror movies during the spookiest time of the year.
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