Dreyer is, as ever, concerned with the state of the soul in Vampyr, but that's far more literal than usual as he brings the supernatural into it. A talky, but almost devoid of dialog, it looks and feels like a silent film. This early vampire tale uses a book about vamps almost as interstitials, explaining things the modern-day audiences of course knows (give or take a few details), but between the occult-obsessed lead's actual use of research and his looking quite a lot like H.P. Lovecraft, you almost expect an Elder God to show up as the Prince of Darkness. Vampyr is all mood, with wonderful bits throughout, whether it's the disembodied shadows dancing through a house or Gray's vision of his own corpse's point of view (tapping into the existential dread of the undead concept, a soul trapped whether outside, or worse, inside the body), there's some great imagery. But the characters are definitely in service of the ideas, with Gray led less by naturalistic motivation than vampiric fascination (their hypnotic power or his own obsession?), he seems to sleepwalk through the film. Dreyer draws a line between interest in the occult and an actual threat to one's soul here, a shadow of his other films about witchcraft (The Passion of Joan of Arc and Day of Wrath, principally), the horrific subservient to the philosophical.
I am checking this even though it seems there may be some additional scenes that have been lost to time. There were also original versions of the film made in three languages.
The version I watched was on the BFI Plus subscription service so I assume it's substantial enough to check in lieu of an absolute definitive version.
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Comments 1 - 13 of 13
Windill
The photography is amazing, and the movie very beautiful. But I thought it wasn't very interesting, as a whole.Groovy09
Beautiful and eerie, but other then that, I didn't really know what to think of it.pallmallandcoke
one of the best horror of its era, and a terrific movietheZeffo
awesome. for its time probably the most unsettling piece of cinema. much loveSiskoid
Dreyer is, as ever, concerned with the state of the soul in Vampyr, but that's far more literal than usual as he brings the supernatural into it. A talky, but almost devoid of dialog, it looks and feels like a silent film. This early vampire tale uses a book about vamps almost as interstitials, explaining things the modern-day audiences of course knows (give or take a few details), but between the occult-obsessed lead's actual use of research and his looking quite a lot like H.P. Lovecraft, you almost expect an Elder God to show up as the Prince of Darkness. Vampyr is all mood, with wonderful bits throughout, whether it's the disembodied shadows dancing through a house or Gray's vision of his own corpse's point of view (tapping into the existential dread of the undead concept, a soul trapped whether outside, or worse, inside the body), there's some great imagery. But the characters are definitely in service of the ideas, with Gray led less by naturalistic motivation than vampiric fascination (their hypnotic power or his own obsession?), he seems to sleepwalk through the film. Dreyer draws a line between interest in the occult and an actual threat to one's soul here, a shadow of his other films about witchcraft (The Passion of Joan of Arc and Day of Wrath, principally), the horrific subservient to the philosophical.melle224
Mein Gott, that was an amazing movie.Typically Thomas
https://youtu.be/tkSNeRa7Lc8nosex
a horror film where the subversion of conventional narrative structure is the primary ghoul. see also: peter tscherkassky's outer space (1999).Jumping Elephant
what did he say, and to whom did he say it?mbkeene
This is without a doubt the only time I have ever disagreed with Guillermo del Toro's opinion.Dan Bull
I am checking this even though it seems there may be some additional scenes that have been lost to time. There were also original versions of the film made in three languages.The version I watched was on the BFI Plus subscription service so I assume it's substantial enough to check in lieu of an absolute definitive version.
daisyaday
http://www.hulu.com/watch/228495Skyscore
http://www.afisha.ru/movie/167254/review/146388/