On Vampyres and Other Symptoms (2011)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This here is a 73-minute documentary on the film career of director Jose Ramon Larraz, which features interviews with the man himself as well as clips from his movies. Obviously VAMPYRES and SYMPTOMS are the main focus as clips from both of them are shown throughout the picture.
I'm not going to lie and say I loved this because I really didn't. The documentary mixes the interview footage with footage like a comic book where we hear about various passages of Larraz's life. I thought the most interesting moments of the film come towards the end when we actually get to hear from the director himself as he discusses his movies, why he doesn't watch them and why he was so unhappy at Cannes. These moments where it's actually a one-on-one with the director were the moments I found the most entertaining. Some of the stuff dealing with the comic and the voice-over narration were the least interesting moments.
Fans of the director might be disappointed that more of his filmography isn't discussed but I think director Celia Novis was wanting to do something more than just your casual look at the filmmaker and his films.
