Vampyr (1932)

A drifter obsessed with the supernatural stumbles upon an inn where a severely ill adolescent girl is slowly becoming a vampire.

Director:

Carl Theodor Dreyer (as Carl Th. Dreyer)

Writers:

Sheridan Le Fanu (based on a book by) (as J. Sheridan Le Fanu), 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

Allan Gray arrives late in the evening to a secluded riverside inn in the hamlet of Courtempierre. An old man enters his room, puts a sealed parcel on the table, blurts out that some woman mustn't die, and disappears. Gray senses in this a call for help. He puts the parcel in his pocket, and goes out. Eerie shadows lead him into an old house, where he encounters a weird village doctor. The doctor receives a bottle of poison from a strange, old woman. Through the window of an old castle Gray recognizes the old man from the inn. A shadow shoots the man, who drops dead. Inside the house Gray finds his two daughters, Gisèle and Léone, and some servants. He opens the parcel, and finds an old book about vampires. Léone is seriously ill after being bitten by a vampire. Instead of helping her, the village doctor places the bottle of poison at her bedside table, and then abducts her sister Gisèle. An old servant starts reading the old book, and finds out that the vampire in Courtempierre is a ...

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Plot Keywords:

vampire | gothic horror | doctor | book | servant | 

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Germany France

Language:

German

Release Date:

14 August 1934 (USA)

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 (original) 70 min (DVD) 73 min (restored)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.19 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

For much of the cast, this was there only film appearance since they were not professional actors. Henriette Gérard who played the vampire was a French widow, Jan Hieronimko who played the village doctor was a Polish journalist, Rena Mandel who played Gisèle was an artist's model. Even Julian West (real name: Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg) who played Allan Grey, was French-born member of Russian nobility who agreed to finance the film in exchange for the leading part. (He later emigrated to America where he became a powerful fashion journalist and mentor to designers like Calvin Klein.)

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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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Quotes

Gisèle: Why does the doctor always come at night?

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Connections

Featured in Rua Cuba (2016)

User Reviews

An outstanding borderline surrealist nightmare.

It is understandable that many take issue with Vampyr due to an absence of conventional moviemaking factors that make an average film watchable. However, I believe that this is more a problem of the viewer than one with the filmmaker, and it all begins with whether or not one watches expecting to be frightened in a generic horror flick manner. This is not a scary movie; it is one that fundamentally blurs the lines between dreams and reality. It is not a silent film or a talkie, but something in between, and that fits in perfectly with the idea of it being an experience much like a bad dream. There are few professional actors (two, in fact, and neither would be considered the leading actors), and long takes that would drive a Hollywood film editor to distraction. They are selected more for their appearance and natural manner than for any exceptional gift as an actor/actress, and it is my belief that that adds more than detracts from the experience. The reactions of the characters are far more visceral and simple than in most films of this depth, and it helps create the mesmerizing, hypnotic effect few movies can create. It is designed, I believe, to be seen in a dark room, preferably alone and late at night, just prior to going to bed. If the viewer is a little sleepy, so much the better: for the true power of the film will only be revealed as you dwell on it afterwards while you struggle to go to sleep. Then,and only then, will the full might of Carl Theodore Dreyer's vision be revealed.