Allan Gray, a young man fascinated by the supernatural, goes to a small village where he feels a sinister force descending upon him. There, Allan meets an old man who asks him to protect his two daughters, for one of them has been bitten by a vampire.
| Tagline | The strange adventure of Allan Gray. |
| Release Date: | May 06, 1932 |
| Genres: | Horror, Fantasy, Mystery |
| Production Company: | Tobis Filmkunst |
| Production Countries: | France, Germany |
| Casts: | Nicolas de Gunzburg, Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz, Jan Hieronimko, Henriette Gérard, Albert Bras, N. Babanini, Jane Mora, Georges Boidin |
| Status: | Released |
| Budget: | $0 |
| Revenue: | 19 |
This is the ultimate slow burn, but boy is it worth it... Julian West (aka Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg) is "Allan Gray" - a wandering soul who arrives at a secluded inn in a tiny hamlet. When an old man enters him room muttering about a woman's impending death and leaves him a book, our hero goes exploring and finds himself at an eerie old house where he discovers all sorts of creepy - vampiric - goings on; and the race is on the identify and destroy the creature before it's curse wreaks havoc. It is by no means akin the modern day representation of the vampire; the story is depicted using hues and shadows - light (or lack of it) is enormously important to this; the "shadow" effects are also magnificently sinister and ghostly. The narrative itself is not the greatest, the story jerks about a bit, but that doesn't really matter - it's an adapted take on a well hewn story and Theyer's focus on developing a sense of menace and tension more than compensates. Jan Hieronimko stands out at the poison-dispensing local quack as does Sybille Schmitz as "Léone" (interestingly, neither professional actors) in what is a beautifully evocative, scary telling of Le Fanu's book beautifully augmented by a sophisticated Wolfang Zeller piano accompaniment.
I'm been trying to add more awarded/famous movies to my nightly watching! I searched Google for famous Horror movies and "Vampyr" showed up on many of the lists. There is very little dialog and may almost be considered a silent movie. Mostly takes place in an old Danish inn. No spoilers here, but if you are a fan of Horror Classics this movie should be on your list!! David N.
