Rating: 
Summary: KINO VHS PRINT SOURCE/IMAGE DVD PRINT SOURCE - THE SAME
Review: I find it odd that almost all the reviews on this page for Kino's VHS of VAMPYR are reviews of Image's DVD of VAMPYR. Can no one out there read?????
The identical source print is used by both Kino for their VHS release (they have no plans to release a DVD version in the near future) and Image for their DVD release. And the print is a very poor one indeed.
Aside from the intended softness of some of the images, the print is many generations removed from an original 35 nitrate source - Kino misleads on its cover and says it is a 35 mm archive print source. If this is a true statement, and I doubt it, it's the worst 35 mm source material I've ever seen. There are scratches, sprocket hole jumps, great fuzziness.
Face the fact though - it's all we have. Criterion was unable to find a print good enough to even attempt to restore, thus its promise in 2000 to release a DVD of the title had to be reneged upon. Criterion, and up until this instance, Kino, does not settle for less than pristine, crystal clear prints for its releases. This is the first time KINO has disappointed me in quality.
All the quality quibbling aside, buy either of these to view the film - just know what you're buying. I think it's shameful that both Kino and Image charge the amount of money they do for this poor transfer. If it were a $5.98 special with warnings, it would be justified.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor Quality
Review: I have never seen this film, although always curious. I can't comment on the film itself as the quality of the print is so bad I could not assertain what the narrative was. Don't buy this DVD. Criterion - help!
Rating: 
Summary: Sickness unto death.
Review: I suppose if this is the only way we can see Vampyr, it is better than nothing. But just barely. First of all, there are no DVD menu of features at all, just chapter selections. So you can't choose to see the silent version but are stuck with dubbed German (unless you want to turn the sound on your t.v. off) and English subtitles. And the subtitles have been atrociously done. They appear with a black background behind them, which often blocks out a third of the image or more, and they are written in large Gothic script. How stupid! Moreover, the subtitles are not even done consistently. If you turn the sound on your t.v. off, you miss a lot of the dialogue. And unless you know German, you will not be able to understand it. Additionally, when we cut to the main character reading to see what he is reading, instead of putting the subtitles on top of the original image from the film, the original film image is cut out completely and replaced with newly added footage of Gothic script alone. The effect is totally hideous, as far as I am concerned. Clearly, a moron was in charge of DVD production here.As far as the DVD image quality goes, the film print used here has not been restored, so there are frequent white blotches and scratches. Vampyr completely deserves the full restoration, menu of options, and extras films like The Third Man have justly received. It is an absolute shame such a great film has been so shoddily released on DVD. (I assume the VHS is no better.)
I hope that we see better soon.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie--butchered DVD version
Review: I suppose if this is the only way we can see Vampyr, it is better than nothing. But just barely. First of all, there are no DVD menu of features at all, just chapter selections. So you can't choose to see the silent version but are stuck with dubbed German (unless you want to turn the sound on your t.v. off) and English subtitles. And the subtitles have been atrociously done. They appear with a black background behind them, which often blocks out a third of the image or more, and they are written in large Gothic script. How stupid! Moreover, the subtitles are not even done consistently. If you turn the sound on your t.v. off, you miss a lot of the dialogue. And unless you know German, you will not be able to understand it. Additionally, when we cut to the main character reading to see what he is reading, instead of putting the subtitles on top of the original image from the film, the original film image is cut out completely and replaced with newly added footage of Gothic script alone. The effect is totally hideous, as far as I am concerned. Clearly, a moron was in charge of DVD production here. As far as the DVD image quality goes, the film print used here has not been restored, so there are frequent white blotches and scratches. Vampyr completely deserves the full restoration, menu of options, and extras films like The Third Man have justly received. It is an absolute shame such a great film has been so shoddily released on DVD. (I assume the VHS is no better.)
I hope that we see better soon.
Rating:
Summary: Morbidly beautiful
Review: Impossibly, hauntingly lovely horror film. A movie of images, not story. For example: the shadows of people waltzing on the wall; the hero lying in a coffin with a glass window, watching helplessly as he is buried alive; the wicked doctor, assistant to the vampire, being killed slowly in an avalanche of flour in an old mill. I was foolish enough to try to describe this film, and have failed miserably! Still, I hope that any lover of cinema will give this old, almost-forgotten near-silent movie a chance. The time spent won't be regretted as lost.
Rating: 
Summary: Haunting Tale of Life and Death & Incredible Early Animation
Review: In a small French town, a man named Allen Gray (Julian West) takes a room at an inn. His sleep is interrupted when a strange man (Maurice Shutz) comes into his room speaking incoherently about death. The man leaves a small package with instructions that it should be opened upon his death and departs. Allen gets out of bed and prowls around the inn in search of an explanation, eventually wandering onto a nearby estate where he finds the mysterious man who was in his room living with his two daughters. One of his daughters has been bitten by a vampire, and the house is shrouded in death. "Vampyr" was written by director Carl Theodor Dreyer, who was inspired by the Victorian supernatural tales "In a Glass Darkly" by Seridan Le Fanu. The film has a semi-coherent narrative, but it is primarily an abstract meditation on Death. Dialogue is sparse, in German, sometimes muffled, and not consistently subtitled. The story is also told with text that is displayed between scenes. But it is the film's cinematography and score that do the most to communicate "Vampyr"'s sense of mystery, foreboding, and helplessness. Rudolph Maté's cinematography is truly astounding. I was most struck by the way that the camera just kind of lurks, mimicking Allen's activity as he explores the inn. And Maté created some truly effective visual effects in spite of 1932's primitive technology. Wolfgang Zeller's score provides most of the film's audio track and reveals more about the characters' feelings than the spare dialogue does. "Vampyr" won't appeal to those who prefer a strong narrative. It is often abstract. "Vampyr" concerns what goes on in the hearts and minds of characters facing circumstances beyond their control and understanding -facing death itself, and these things are not explicitly communicated. Carl Dreyer's direction and Rudolph Maté's cinematography are terrifically creative. Recommended if you like abstract tales of death or admire extraordinary early cinematography. Also included on this DVD is an animated short film from 1934 entitled "The Mascot". This is a fantastic example of early stop-motion animation by director Wladyslaw Starewicz. "The Mascot" was created using puppets or dolls that were photographed one frame at a time in order to animate them. It was certainly the inspiration for Pixar's "Toy Story" and Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas", and a considerable influence on many other modern animated films. "The Mascot" is about a toy dog who is trying to bring an orange back to the little girl who loves him. And you wouldn't believe the obstacles that he encounters. The animation is extraordinary; the dog is adorable beyond words; the story is sweet and sinister all at once. I have never seen such facial expressions in an animated film before. I have rarely seen such creativity. "The Mascot" is, in fact, the best animated film I've ever seen. It is absolutely enchanting! Fans of animation will want this DVD just for "The Mascot". The film is French, and the few lines of dialogue are dubbed in English. "The Mascot" gets five stars. I can't recommend it highly enough. The DVD (Image Entertainment): "Vampyr" starts playing as soon as you insert the disc. And there is no Menu, only Scene Selections. The disc does not pause between "Vampyr" and "The Mascot"; it just keeps going. If you want to see "The Mascot" without watching "Vampyr", go to the last scene selection. The print of "Vampyr " isn't very good, especially in the first act. But it's not so bad that it detracts from enjoyment of the film. The print for "The Mascot" is fine. "Vampyr" is subtitled in English only. And, if ever a film would benefit from an audio commentary, "Vampyr" would. But it doesn't have one. So this DVD isn't very well constructed. But it contains two important and fascinating examples of 1930s European cinema, both of which are very much worth owning.
Rating:
Summary: BORING
Review: In a word - BORING. A total waste of money, viewing time and celluloid. By far the worst vampire movie I've seen. Totally uninteresting, devoid of interest and barely watchable - the acting is such that ham sandwiches could be made from it. The previous review summed up my view re: transfer to DVD. Go elsewhere if you want to experience the genre
Rating:
Summary: A Visual Nightmare!! Wonderful To Look At!
Review: It has a dreamy, surreal structure. It seems as if there is no structure at all to this story. Very, very loosely-based on "Carmilla," this free-form adaptation contains countless memorable images, including the dancing shadows, Julian West's character watching his own funeral, and a skull that "watches" people. Play this one at the next Halloween party. Very creepy.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting despite snap, crackle, pop
Review: Slow pans, suffused lighting, sparse dialogue, and indelible imagery, elevate this vampire movie, a complete opposite to the vividly bloody neck-biters of Hammer Films Inc. It's not a movie for everyone. Too slow for some, too actionless for others, Vampyr does carry the stamp of a master, Carl Dreyer. The overall effect is to unnerve rather than frighten. Images collect rather than jolt, passing through to the subconscious where the film lingers long after a last flickering frame. Not a ghost movie, the effect is nevertheless ghostly and dreamlike, with daylight apparitions gliding through some nightless nether nether world. A counterpart perhaps closest in effect is 1962's Carnival of Lost Souls, minus adagio pacing.
My videocassette purchase is obviously a copy of the unrestored original. Titles remain in Danish, with the surreal bits of dialogue untranslated into English, (only pages from text appearing on screen are translated). The sound track crackles and pops with age, all of which might scare off the Sensurround viewer. But for me, the effect was heigtened by these infirmirties of age, rather like finding an old arcane manuscript in original form. Despite the film's vintage, Dreyer's remains a sure hand at the helm, with a rare and delicate sensibility that coheres. All in all, Vampyr may well be a work of genius, and a discovery for modern viewers. But unless you have a taste for the unrestored, stay away from videocassette.
Rating: 
Summary: Perfect horror, but horrible on Image DVD
Review: Such an amazing-nightmare of a film. But this "Image" DVD is very aggrivating.
Considering the aesthetics of subtle horror, this movie makes Nosferatu seem tame in comparison. This movie is too important to deserve the treatment it receives from Image.
No menu.
No restoration.
No extras.
The subtitles(though few) take up nearly the ENTIRE screen!
ughhhh.
WHY HASN'T CRITERION PUT THIS OUT ??!!
They'll release "Carnival of Souls" but not THIS??!!
I would pay a fortune for a fully restored version of this horror masterpiece.
However, despite what I say, you should own this film, whatever the format. If you are a fan of creepy, nightmarish, "less is more", black and white imagry; this is your PERFECT film.
And the short (The Mascot) is amazing; unbelievable for its time. Great for fans of "The Brothers Quay."
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