Vampyr (1932)
Starring: Julian West, Henriette Gerald, Jan Hieronimko
Director: Carl Dreyer
Synopsis: One of the earliest psycological horror films... a dreamlike, almost surreal experience. An art-house classic
Reviewed by: Ali Khan

 

Carl Theodor Dreyer's classic vampire tale is based upon a series of stories by Sheridan Le Fanu, one of the most influential writers in vampire literature.

The story follows Allan Gray, a solitary traveller whose wanderings bring him to a lonely house deep within a forest. There he encounters two sisters, one of whom appears to be slowly wasting away from a mysterious illness. As he becomes increasingly familiar with his strange surroundings, Gray begins to suspect that the household has fallen under the influence of a vampire.

While this forms the narrative backbone of the film, Dreyer uses it merely as a foundation upon which to construct something far richer and more evocative. Every image appears painstakingly composed. The unusual camera angles, ethereal lighting and expressive use of shadow combine to create an atmosphere unlike almost anything else in cinema.

Large sections of the film, particularly those surrounding the central narrative, possess an almost dreamlike incoherence. Shadows detach themselves from their owners and take on lives of their own. A recurring image of a man endlessly digging a grave, together with the unforgettable sequence in which the central character experiences his own burial from inside a coffin, gives Vampyr its haunting, surreal quality.

The film also attempts to portray vampirism as something more tragic than simply evil. We learn of the origins of vampires, their insatiable thirst for blood, the compulsion to increase their numbers, and the terrible curse they bear: condemned to wander forever between life and death, sustained only by the blood of the living.

Unlike Nosferatu, Dreyer reveals very little of the vampire itself, and when it finally appears it lacks the overwhelming visual impact of Murnau's creation. Instead, Vampyr relies almost entirely upon atmosphere, suggestion and an ever-present feeling of unease rather than overt menace.

Dreyer's film is nothing less than a masterpiece—hauntingly photographed, hypnotically dreamlike and one of the most richly atmospheric horror films ever made.