Les vampires (1915)

Director:

Louis Feuillade

Writer:

Louis Feuillade

Release Date:

13 November 1915 (France)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

An intrepid reporter and his loyal friend battle a bizarre secret society of criminals known as The Vampires. |

Plot Keywords:

Reporter | Criminal | Secret | Confession | Little Boy

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Musidora	...	Irma Vep
Édouard Mathé	...	Philippe Guérande
Marcel Lévesque	...	Oscar Mazamette
Jean Aymé	...	Le Grand Vampire
Fernand Herrmann	...	Juan-José Moréno / Brichonnet
Stacia Napierkowska	...	Marfa Koutiloff
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Renée Carl	...	L'Andalouse
Suzanne Delvé	...	Fleur-de-Lys
Georgette Faraboni	...	Danseuse vampire
Jacques Feyder	...	(episode V: L'évasion du mort)
Fridolin
Rita Herlor	...	Mrs Simpson
Émile Keppens	...	Géo Baldwin
Louise Lagrange	...	Jeanne Guérande
Suzanne Le Bret	...	Hortense - servante d'Irma
Louis Leubas	...	Satanas / Père Silence
Maurice Luguet	...	De Villemant
Jeanne Marie-Laurent	...	Madame Brémontier
Jean-François Martial
Mademoiselle Maxa	...	Laure - servante de Moréno
Gaston Michel	...	Benjamin - valet de chambre de Mazamette
Frederik Moriss	...	Vénénos
Laurent Morléas	...	Officier de la Grande Armée
René Poyen	...	Eustache Mazamette
Delphine Renot	...	Mère de Guérande
Françoise Rosay	...	Une invitée chez Mortesaigues
Germaine Rouer	...	Augustine
Thelès	...	Juge d'instruction
Miss Édith	...	Comtesse de Kerlor

Directed by
Louis Feuillade

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Louis Feuillade

Original Music by
Robert Israel		(2000)

Cinematography by
Manichoux

Music Department
Robert Israel	....	orchestra leader

Production Companies

• Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont

Distributors

• Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont (1915) (France) (theatrical)
• Gaumont/Columbia TriStar Home Video (GCTHV) (1993) (France) (VHS)
• Water Bearer Films (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Gaumont DVD (2006) (France) (DVD) (box-set)
• Kinokuniya (2008) (Japan) (DVD) (box-set)
• Criterion Collection, The (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2012) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)

Also Known As:

"The Vampires" - USA (literal English title)

Runtime:

USA:399 min (DVD)

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

UK:12 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont

Trivia:

Musidora was an acrobat who did all her own stunts for this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: The same furniture appears in the different houses throughout the film.

Quotes:

newspaper article:[newspaper article] We annouce the arrival here of American millionaire George Baldwin. Mr. Baldwin is the protagonist of a recent news incident, and this delightful character who knows no French has nonetheless learned this phrase: "Parisian women are the most charming I've ever seen."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Top 10 Lost Horror Films (2010) (V)

Outrageous and oneiric crime-spree!

I can't say enough about this film--I've pursued and studied it for the last twenty years! I'm so happy it's finally been made available on video. The first time I saw it was at the Videoteque de Paris...everyday for a week I watched episode after episode but, to my horror, when I requested the last episode I was told it was unavailable! It seems that, just the day before, the grandson of Louis Feuillade--I believe he is Jacques Champraux--had the video pulled from public viewings while it was in litigation. I thought I was going to fall over! The singular reason I was in Paris was to see LES VAMPIRES and suddenly, I was swallowing a very bittersweet pill. Anyway, eventually I saw the last episode, "The Bloody Wedding," but not until some years later when the serial was shown in its entirety at the Art Institute of Chicago. FIN