Les Vampires (1915)

Les Vampires
Directed by Louis Feiullade
Written by Louis Feuillade
1915/France
Societe des Essablissements L. Gaumont

IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Philippe Guérande: [writing] It is several months since we have heard about the Vampires. But can’t we see their crafty hands behind those recent sinister and mysterious headlines?

This early serial is a ton of fun.

Phillipe Guerande is an intrepid newspaper man on the trail of a sinister gang of thieves and assassins known as the Vampires.  Truth be told, he operates more like a sleuth and is accompanied most of the time by his faithful and brave comic-relief sidekick Mazamette.  The Vampires operate like a secret amoral Masonic lodge.  Nothing is as it seems.

I liked this a whole lot.  It combined the supernatural, the lurid, and the comic very neatly.  I loved that this did not spend forever bringing the viewer up to date at the beginning of every episode.   I viewed it over several days.

Fan highlights

4 responses to “Les Vampires (1915)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *