Vampyr

(1932) ***

Allan Grey, a travelling student of the occult stops in a small town and becomes embroiled in a bizarre episode with one of the local families when he happens to witness the shooting murder of the father. He discovers that the family has already been struggling with the mysterious illness of their elder daughter. But as Grey explores the house and the grounds, he learns it's no simple "illness" the daughter is suffering from.

If anyone's too concerned that we'll be reviewing too many great movies, or too many terrible movies this year, worry not. The middle of the road is closely guarded by the Criterion Collection. Vampyr is another "yes, yes, it's lovely and all", flick that everyone on the internet seems to think is one of the greatest films in the history of the genre. But if you're wondering how you managed never to have seen it, it's because it's more of a film-student's idea of fun than a horror-fan's.

Humbly, I'm saying that, stacked against anything else I've seen from this era, the invention behind the visuals (double exposure, cool camera pans, etc) is about on-par, but it's not as dazzling to look at as Dr. Caligari, which continues to be the star-pupil to which I find myself comparing everything I've seen this year. It was made right at the crossover point between silents and talkies, so while there is audible dialogue, it's rather sparse. The music drives most of the action, such as it is: not a whole lot of running around going on here. That's all deliberate. Director Carl Theodor Dreyer was attempting to make a mood-piece and he hits his mark. Tonewise, it's got a lot in common with Picnic At Hanging Rock: it's slow, dreamy, and somber. It definitely strikes a mood, alas, that mood unlikely to give you much of a horror-boner. JohnnySweatpants basically agrees with me.