Vampyr (1932)

Original title

Vampyr - Der Traum des Allan Grey

Directed by

Carl Theodor Dreyer

Genre

horror film, vampire film

Country

Germany, France

Runtime

1h 15m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.3 of 10 from 594 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

An occult student arrives in a French village that is under a vampire's curse. The film is told with little dialogue and a soft focus style.

dreamlikeeerieslow-burnhauntingatmosphericunsettlingghostlyhypnotic

What happens

Vampyr (German: Vampyr – Der Traum des Allan Gray, lit. 'Vampyr: The Dream of Allan Gray') is a 1932 Gothic horror film directed by Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer. It was written by Dreyer and Christen Jul based on elements from Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 collection of supernatural stories In a Glass Darkly. The film was funded by Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, who (credited as Julian West) also played the starring role of Allan Gray, a student of the occult who wanders into the French village of Courtempierre, which is under the curse of a vampire. Most of the other members of the cast were also non-professional actors. The film presented a number of technical challenges for Dreyer, as it was his first sound film and was recorded in three languages. To simplify matters, he decided to use very little dialogue in the film, and much of the story is told with title cards, like a silent film. The film was shot entirely on location, and to enhance the atmospheric content, Dreyer opted for a washed out, soft focus photographic technique. The soundtrack was created in Berlin, where the characters' voices, the sound effects, and the score were recorded. After having its release delayed by nine months, allegedly so the American films Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931) could be released first, Vampyr was released in Germany, where it opened to a generally negative reception from both audiences and critics. Dreyer edited the film after its German premiere, and it opened to more mixed reviews in France. The film was long considered a low point in Dreyer's career, but modern critical reception has been much more favorable, with critics praising the film's disorienting visual effects and atmosphere. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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