Vampyr (1932)

A traveler obsessed with the supernatural visits an old inn and finds evidence of vampires.

Director:

Carl Theodor Dreyer

Writers:

Sheridan Le Fanu (based on a book by), Christen Jul (screenplay),

Stars:

Julian West, Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Julian West	...	Allan Grey
Maurice Schutz	...	Der Schlossherr (The Lord of the Manor)
Rena Mandel	...	Gisèle
Sybille Schmitz	...	Léone
Jan Hieronimko	...	Der Dorfartz (The Village Doctor)
Henriette Gérard	...	Die alte Frau von Friedhof (The Old Woman from the Cemetery) (as Henriette Gérard)
Albert Bras	...	Der alte Diener (The Old Servant)
N. Babanini	...	Seine Frau (His Wife)
Jane Mora	...	Die Krankenschwester (The Nurse)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Georges Boidin	...	Limping Man

Storyline

Young traveller Allan Grey arrives in a remote castle and starts seeing weird, inexplicable sights (a man whose shadow has a life of its own, a mysterious scythe-bearing figure tolling a bell, a terrifying dream of his own burial). Things come to a head when one of the daughters of the lord of the castle succumbs to anaemia - or is it something more sinister?

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Plot Keywords:

castle | vampire | dream | traveler | shadow | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

6 May 1932 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Castle of Doom

Filming Locations:

Abbaye de Braye, Braye, Aisne, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tobis Filmkunst

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min 70 min (DVD edition)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.19 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was dubbed into English, French, and German versions for different markets. Its actors came from varied national and linguistic backgrounds, and so in certain versions it appears that some of them are speaking their lines phonetically. Additionally, the film was shot fairly cheaply using an experimental sound process, and the technical quality of the soundtrack leaves much to be desired. Most versions in distribution through the late 1990s (including those on video) are composites of the German and French versions, which differ for cuts made by the censors in each of those countries. As of 2004, no prints of the English version are known to circulate.

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Goofs

At exactly 16 minutes (in the Criterion DVD) as the camera pans right, there is a reflection in a glass window of the camera operator cranking the camera.

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Connections

Featured in 100 Years of Horror: Girl Ghouls (1996)

User Reviews

Surrender to Vampyr's eerie, dreamlike world....

With its fragmented plot, eerie imagery, and air of undefined menace this film more nearly realises the dream state than any other film I've seen.

The story, which follows a young man's discovery of vampiric doings while on a trip to the country, is secondary to the fascinatingly uncanny mood generated by the cinematography and effective use of sound and silence.

Yes, yes, it's old and unconventional, and requires either some extra concentration or complete surrender to its unique world, but the effort is worth it.

Vampyr should especially appeal to fans of cinefantastique, cinema history and maybe even the arthouse crowd.