61. Vampyr/The Vampire (1932)

Running Time: 72 minutes
Directed By: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Written By: Carl Theodor Dreyer, Christen Jul, from the short story Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu
Main Cast: Julian West, Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz, Jan Hieronimko

THIS MOVIE SUCKED...IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE...

"If you've never seen a Dreyer film and wonder why many critics regard him as possibly the greatest of all filmmakers, this chilling horror fantasy is the perfect place to begin to understand."

The above is a quote taken directly from the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" book and one of the most absurd comments that I've taken away from Mr. Schneider's text. Suffice it to say, that I did not like "Vampyr" and thought it was very boring, very pointless drivel. If I had to make a recommedation based on the two Dreyer films I've seen, to a person who has never seen a Dreyer flick, then it would take me all of about three seconds to reccomend "The Passion of Joan of Arc", which I didn't love, but compared to "Vampyr", it was a sheer masterpiece.

To explain the plot of "Vampyr" would be really tedious and boring for me to do, as their isn't really a whole lot of plot to review. The film tries it's best to be a horror film and fails miserably. I can say, however, that I kind of see the world that Dreyer was trying to capture on film. The atmosphere that he was striving towards was a very murky, creepy, spooky one and one that he may pull off, but with the lack of story, the atmosphere falls flat on it's face with nothing to support it.

"Vampyr" was certainly not my favorite film thus far, and may very well be my least favorite. Despite a very nice POV scene, in which we're shown the point of view of a corpse looking out of a casket, as it's being carried down the road, "Vampyr" failed to bring me any closer to realizing the greatness that many proclaim, Carl Th. Dreyer possesses. I don't know, maybe I'm just missing something. Maybe the artist that is Carl Th. Dreyer is somewhere, somehow being lost as I view his pictures, but if that is the case, then that's fine...I'll go on and live the rest of my life not realizing the greatness that is Carl Theodor Dreyer, if it means I'll never have to watch this terrible movie again. Sorry Carl, you and I just aren't connecting somewhere.

RATING: 1/10 I nearly went with a ".5/10" but we'll call one the lowest of the low and leave it at that.

NEXT UP: Love Me Tonight...Rouben Mamoulian directs and while I've certainly heard the name before, I've yet to see one of his films. This one should be up Monday, as I'm not expecting any Netflix delivery until then.

January 2, 2010 1:41am