Vampyr

Rating:
Summary: I want to make a movie called Kino Video.
Review: . . . I'd film it on 16mm, project it on a napkin, and film *that* on 35.

This is a work by Carl Dreyer, that brilliant Dutchman who brought us The Passion of Joan of Arc: a film he made for the French. This one seems to have been made for Germany's UFA like his film Mikael. It's in German, with (as you've read) the worst subtitles imaginable (the version I saw even has a scene with what appear to be Swedish subtitles, from a previous print). So odd that Kino used a gothic font, as Germany itself abandoned it for its unreadability.

In Joan of Arc Dreyer is obsessed with the close-up and held shots, attempting to convey by showing everything. In Vampyr, Dreyer has produced a film caught up in the preverse knowledge of the camera eye's ability to exclude: in many ways quite the opposite of his previous, better known work. And yet there are things about it that show Dreyer's heritage.

The weak image of women as "prey" to the vampiric male archetype reminds us of Dreyer's own mother, who died in a failed abortion. It is also a reversal of Goethe's "frau an sich."

The use of intertitles instead of dialogue and the lack of dialogue in general show his past in silent films. He understands what a privilege sound is, and that he should only use it as necessary, not simply because it is technologically now available. I don't know if the intertitles of the History of Vampyr book are original, but they're certainly functional - if the timing on them is a bit off.

Showing the UFA (that is, Lang's) influence on Dreyer is the consistent use of the Death's head. Often in Lang this image is superimposed or dissolved to, suggesting the cogs of fate turning, or what Tom Gunning calls "the destiny machine." This is especially prominent in Der Muede Tod. In Vampyr, Dreyer uses the same image, but acheives an overall, nearly nihilistic, pervasion of death by cutting, instead of dissolving. The two films also share similar endings.

Of Vampyr, Dreyer said:
"I wanted to create the daydream on film and wanted to show that horror is not a part of the things around us, but of our own subconscious mind."

Bergman will later explore this idea in his Hour of the Wolf, with similar results and techniques. Much later, David Lynch will burst onto the scene with Eraserhead, a film which I think owes a good bit to this work. Watching Vampyr, I think you'll agree that its influence - Dreyer's influence - is quite broad, and that it deserves a better job than this.

Rating:
Summary: Great Transfer - Annoying Subtitles
Review: Another release from the same folks who produced "Nosferatu" (Film Preservation Assosiates/Blackhawk Films). Excellent print transfer to DVD (and VHS)! I have seen several versions of VAMPYR and this DVD (and VHS version) are by far the best available. Much of VAMPYRS' "poor production" IS intentional, so consider this fact when reading other comments regarding print quality. This is about as good as it's gonna get! BUT I'd like to know who in the F.P.A. is responsible for allowing the atrocious subtitles (same is true for NOSFERATU)????!!! They should be taken out and covered in flour or fully exposed to the sun on a hot summer day! The gothic fonts are not easy to read and Dryer is Danish NOT German! The original (and very cool) opening titles have been replaced with a psuedo aged effect that is not necessary and in some scenes, the subtitles are really huge and also not necessary. What were they thinking??? Obviously, not much! Hey guys, leave the cutesy stuff for another day and just give up the facts! So for you, dear reader: if you can forgive them for annoying subtitles, then this version is well worth the investment!

Rating:
Summary: Great Transfer - Annoying Subtitles
Review: Another release from the same folks who produced "Nosferatu" (Film Preservation Assosiates/Blackhawk Films). Excellent print transfer to DVD (and VHS)! I have seen several versions of VAMPYR and this DVD (and VHS version) are by far the best available. Much of VAMPYRS' "poor production" IS intentional, so consider this fact when reading other comments regarding print quality. This is about as good as it's gonna get! BUT I'd like to know who in the F.P.A. is responsible for allowing the atrocious subtitles (same is true for NOSFERATU)????!!! They should be taken out and covered in flour or fully exposed to the sun on a hot summer day! The gothic fonts are not easy to read and Dryer is Danish NOT German! The original (and very cool) opening titles have been replaced with a psuedo aged effect that is not necessary and in some scenes, the subtitles are really huge and also not necessary. What were they thinking??? Obviously, not much! Hey guys, leave the cutesy stuff for another day and just give up the facts! So for you, dear reader: if you can forgive them for annoying subtitles, then this version is well worth the investment!

Rating:
Summary: Classic film, lousy DVD
Review: Carl Dreyer's classic horror film _Vampyr_ is desecrated on a substandard DVD. The image transfer is nearly unwatchable (as is true of the VHS cassette), with extensive grain and artifacts. The sound is muffled and garbled, with persistent loud hissing; most of the underscoring and some of the dialogue are lost under the noise. The English subtitles -- which cannot be turned off -- are large and intrusive.
The only bonus feature on the disc is _The Mascot_, an unrelated short subject by the stop-motion master Starewicz. (Imagine what would happen if the Brothers Quay were dropped into the 1930s, and you'll have a good idea of Starewicz.) It's a great short. Unfortunately, its DVD transfer is even worse than the main feature's.
Dreyer and Starewicz deserve better. Criterion, where are you?

Rating:
Summary: Carl Dreyer's creepy vampire mystery
Review: Carl Dreyer, one of Scandinavia's finest directors, brought this film to the screen in 1932. It is image driven, with not a lot of dialog. Dreyer creates a number of scenes, with the atmosphere raised to the peak, with scary music playing throughout the film. We see Allan, an occult researcher staying at a house. He sees some very scary, werid things there. It seems vampires are controlling the people there, and it is up to him to save them, destroy the vampire, and escape. We follow him investigating the gothic home, with images of death in every room. In one scene he dreams of his own burial! We don't see much of the vampire though, mostly the haunting effects it has on the residents. This film is really creepy, and atmospheric. I'd recommend it highly to those who enjoy the old style, slow, spooky, gothic horror films. 4 stars.

Rating:
Summary: One of the great horror films
Review: Directed in France by the legendary Danish director Carl Dreyer,Vampyr is not only one of the best horror films but also probably one of the greatest films ever made. Unlike the American horror pictures like Frankenstein that were being made at the same time, Vampyr has relatively little action but a sustained atmosphere of strangeness like that of few other movies. The action takes place during one night and the entire film has a slow, trance-like quality. The picture quality of the DVD is vastly superior to that of the older videotapes--the film was photographed by the great Rudolph Mate--but the sound recording is shaky at the best, and the dialogue is hard to follow even for someone who understands German. The music comes across more effectively but is boomy in some passages--it's a good idea to reduce the bass before viewing. The DVD like an earlier video has quite large subtitles in Gothic type--designed I think to eliminate Danish subtitles--which unfortunately mask a third or so of the picture in some shots.

Rating:
Summary: Buy this; buy this now..
Review: Dreyer, not known for horror films, brings us such a chilling tale with Vampyr. Made in '32 it truly brings the old German Expressionistic qualities to a very frightening horror novel.

This movie shares the same cinematography style of such other well known directors as Fritz Lang and F.W. Murnau.

There are some uses of shadows and other very, very eclectic uses of the lens that are truly eye-opening seventy years after its release. It is image orinated from its opening sequence throughout the end. The whole film, although shot just a year or two into the big arrival of the talkies, hardly uses any dialogue or sound. This effectively helps it remain in this dreamstate. The whole film has an eerie atmosphere about it that sort of swallows you into its heavy dreamlike presence. The use of shadows and imagery are incredible. It is an irrestible film not to be missed by avid horror and old-school cinema buffs.

There is a short film with this (The Mascot) which I thought was just as eye-spliting as Vampyr. It is a stop-animation feature that ..I just could not believe what I saw for it being filmed as early as it was. It was certainly used as a staple by the director of Nightmare Before Christmas, Henry Selick, and its producer and author, Tim Burton.

Oddly enough, there is a band playing in Hell (in the Mascot) that looks like Jack's band in Nightmare.

Rating:
Summary: 100% Disappointment
Review: First, I must state that I think this is one of the greatest films of the 20th century. Nearly every scene is a perfectly composed evocation of nightmare. Shame on Blackhawk Films for having the nerve to release this truly awful version on DVD. I was hoping for at least a better quality, if not restored (a la Dreyer's 'Joan of Arc' or Weine's 'Cabinet of Dr. Caligari')film. Instead I found an extremely scratchy, jumpy print loaded with as many film defects as I've ever seen. Even old VHS copies of 'Vampyr' look better than this DVD. It's a good thing there is little dialogue, because the white gothic script on solid black background subtitles take up from one quarter to one half of the screen! The perpetrators of this release also try to give it a faux-widescreen look, with black borders on top and bottom, but the additional borders on the left and right sides give them away (not to mention the numerous cases of the tops of characters' heads being cut off). Blackhawk Films has committed a crime against cinematic history here (sadly, they haven't been the first, nor will they be the last company to do so)! They must have dug up the first crummy print they could find and dumped it onto disc. There should be a truly restored version, perhaps with commentary by a knowledgeable film historian. In the meantime, don't waste your money and support this company; look for another version, even if it's on VHS.

Rating:
Summary: Be Careful Before Deploring the Print Quality Here
Review: I can't improve on the fine reviews of the movie itself, but there are two major factors connected with the making of the film that may have been overlooked.

If by "poor quality," the reference is to the washed out, somewhat spotty look of the print, please be aware that this was deliberate. Cinematographer Matté had accidently opened a can of exposed film, and when Dreyer saw the result, he was delighted. It was just the effect he had been looking for.

This film was originally shot as a silent. It was only later half-dubbed with voice-overs. Again, however, like the fortuitous "damage" to the print, the sparse and somewhat vague, even incoherent, dialogue contributes to the sense of dislocation which, I believe, is one of the great virtues of this genre masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: Five stars for the film, 0 for the Image DVD
Review: I echo others in saying "Shame on Image" for taking an important, brilliant masterpiece and presenting it so shabbily. The print itself is mediocre; I have actually seen worse. But the "subtitles" are large white gothic letters inside black rectangles that take up half the screen, jarring and ruining the carefully prepared mood of this atmospheric film. Horribly, there is no option for turning off these "subtitles." Fortunately, there aren't too many, but they are abominations. When I wrote to Image, I was told that they have no intention of correcting this monstrosity. In addition, the inter-title cards are only given in translation--again gothic letters on a black screen, even though the original Danish inter-titles--ordinary type on a white background--must originally have been there instead. If Image had used normal subtitles, these original inter-titles could also have been presented properly instead of simply being deleted. A mess! As Criterion has already issued Dreyer's "Passion of Joan of Arc," hopefully they will get to this great work as well in not too long.