Vampires, Les

AKA's:

Vampire, Die / Vampires, The / Vampiros, Los

Release date:

1915-16 France

Running time:

399' (cover 399') - Source: DVD (RC 1/NTSC) b/w

Rating:

US: NR

Main Crew:

Director: Louis Feuillade (Nocturne 1919; Judex 1916; Fantomas 1913-14; Tom Thumb 1912)
Producer: Gaumont
Score: silent (new score by Robert Israel)
Writer: Louis Feuillade
Director of photography: Manichoux

Cast:

Summary:

A legendary seven-hour silent crime serial in ten episodes, "Les Vampires" follows the exploits of a brazen and resourceful band of arch-criminals who rob the rich, transfix the elite of France, and almost elude the obsessive pursuit of crusading journalist Phillipe Guerande (Edouard Mathe) and his sidekick Mazamette (Marcel Levesque). A series of Grand Vampires with names such as Satanas (Louis Leubas) and Venomous (Frederik Moriss) share the irresistible Irma Vep (an anagram of Vampire) as strategist and mistress. Sometimes seductively garbed in a black body stocking and a black hood, sometimes disguised as a boy or hidden in plain view as a maid, stenographer or bourgeois spinster, feared and desired by both her cohorts and her stalkers, Irma Vep (Musidora, who achieved cinema immortality in this part) is perhaps the first liberated screen woman.

EPISODE LIST:

1. La Tête Coupée / The Severed Head (31')
Phillipe Guerande, a reporter working for "Le Mondial", and his friend Oscar Mazamette, investigate the murder of Inspector Dural, decapitated by the sinister gang known as "The Vampires". The leader of the gang, the "Great Vampire" (Jean Ayme), is unmasked, but manages to escape.

2. La Bague Qui Tue / The Ring That Kills (13')
Dancer Marfa Koutiloff (Stacia Napierkowska) tells Guerande she will reveal the secrets of the "Vampires", but the "Great Vampire" kills her with a poisoned ring.

3. Le Cryptogramme Rouge / The Red Codebook (39')
Guerande meets cabaret singer Irma Vep and attempts to decypher a mysterious notebook he stole from the "Vampires".

4. Le Spectre / The Spectre (30')
The "Vampires" fight another criminal, Moreno (Fernand Hermann), who tries to steal their loot, but Guerande engineers Moreno's arrest.

5. L'Évasion Du Mort / Dead Man's Escape (35')
Moreno fakes his death and escapes from jail. Guerande is taken prisoner by the "Vampires", but escapes as well. The "Great Vampire" organizes a deadly ball to steal his guest's valuables, but is outwitted by Moreno.

6. Les Yeux Qui Fascinent / Hypnotic Eyes (53')
The "Vampires" are after a treasure in the Forest of Fontainebleau. Moreno hypnotizes Irma Vep into killing the "Great Vampire", and takes over the gang.

7. Satanas / Satanas (42')
The heretofore unknown Lord of the "Vampires", Satanas, reveals his existence. He kills Moreno by bombarding the restaurant where he was eating. He then tries to steal the fortune of millionaire George Baldwin (Emile Keppens), but is thwarted by Guerande and Mazamette.

8. Le Maître De La Foudre / The Thunder Master (50')
Irma Vep is captured by the police, but Satanas arranges her escape; however he, too, is caught. He kills himself in his jail cell.

9. L'Homme Des Poisons / The Poisoner (48')
Enter the new Lord of the "Vampires": Venomous. He tries to poison Guerande, but his plot fails.

10. Les Noces Sanglantes / The Terrible Wedding (57')
Guerande finally marries his girl-friend (Louise Legrange). The "Vampires" plot against the couple, but are thwarted by Mazamette. The gang is killed or captured.

Note:

- Filmed on the streets and back alleys of World War I Paris, the 1915 picture was a huge commercial success, though temporarily banned by Paris's chief of police for glamorizing crime.
- Though Irma Vep is killed at the end of "Les Vampires", her gang reformed in Nice in Feuillade's 1918 sequel "Tih Minh", where it conspires to avenge her death and take over the entire world.
- In 1996, French director Olivier Assayas released "Irma Vep", an extended homage to Feuillade's anti-heroine of the same name. The film's plot involved a jinxed attempt at a remake and featured Maggie Cheung as Irma Vep.
- On the DVD the scenes have been tinted to match the originally intended tinting: night exteriors are blue, night interiors are red, and day exteriors are green.

click here for filmstills (pictures from the movie)

Our Ranking

short review:

If you are a fan of motion picture history - then you can't afford to miss this gem! It is one of the earliest and most original gangster films, and combines realism and fantasy in a great way. Feuillade creates a frightening world where the ordinary and mundane may suddenly be overwhelmed by the mysterious, using a still camera and employing deep focus to create a real sense of the environment. Although these Parisian thieves aren't literal bloodsuckers, but do feed off the rich.