The Fearless Vampire Killers: Vampires 101 (1967)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Michael Mindlin Jr.

Writer:

Michael Mindlin Jr. (writer)

Release Date:

1967 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Comedy | Horror

Plot:

From the study of his rundown English manor, an old British Professor instructs the audience as to the dangers associated with vampires...

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Jewish Vampire | Digit In Title | Promotional | Number In Title

Cast

Max Wall

...

Professor Cecil Havelock-Montague, Ph.D., LL.D., B.A.T.

Runtime:

USA:10 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

USA:GP

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

This promotional short is featured on the DVD for _Fearless Vampire Killers, The (1967)_.

Movie Connections:

Features Dance of the Vampires (1967)

The Fearless Vampire Killers -- A Review

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Roman Polanski's "The Fearless Vampire Killers" (1967) was obviously meant as a comedy. The vampire killers are presented as fearless, but in truth they could not be more scared. The scientist (Jack McGowran)and his mentor (Roman Polanski) are presented in the voice-over narrative in the beginning as intelligent, if not highly gifted, but they are really clumsy fools who are in way over their heads. Yet for all of the irony, "The Fearless Vampire Killers" does not come across as a funny movie. There could be two reasons for this. The first is that it is difficult (unless one is Polish) to understand Polanski's brand of humor. The second possibility, which I believe to be the more likely, is that the jokes simply do not work. In one early scene, for example, the scientist was in the cold for so long that he becomes like a block of ice and has to be defrosted. This scene was probably meant to be funny, but (for whatever reason) I could not laugh once. Similarly, when a bearded servant falls to the ground because he is weighed down by the large suitcases he is carrying, I did not find that funny either. Ultimately the jokes are so basic that the film is humorless throughout.

However, there are a few saving graces. The technicolor look (which reminds me of some films from the 1940s and 1950s) makes this film visually beautiful. The love story involving Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate (which paralleled their real love story off-screen) keeps the viewer sufficiently interested to see the film to the end and discover whether the bubbling mentor and scientist can rescue the beautiful Tate. Finally, one could not ask for a better vampire than Ferdy Mayne whose performance as Count von Krolock is, by far, the best thing in this film.