| Les Vampires | |
|---|---|
French poster |
|
| Directed by | Louis Feuillade |
| Produced by | Gaumont |
| Written by | Louis Feuillade |
| Starring | Musidora Édouard Mathé Marcel Lévesque Jean Aymé Fernand Herrmann Stacia Napierkowska |
| Cinematography | Manichoux |
| Distributed by | Gaumont |
| Release date(s) | 13 November 1915 – 30 June 1916 |
| Running time | 399 min. |
| Country | France |
| Language | Silent French intertitles |
Les Vampires (French for "The vampires") is a 1915/1916 ten-part silent film serial. It was written and directed by Louis Feuillade and stars Musidora as "Irma Vep" a femme fatale whose name is a suspicious anagram of "vampire." The serial is set in Paris and follows the exploits of a gang of master criminals (known in the period as an "Apache gang") who call themselves "Les Vampires."
Olivier Assayas 1996 movie Irma Vep, with a story line of a director's attempt to remake Les Vampires, is both an homage to the innovative nature of the original film and a critique of the then current state of French cinema.
Contents |
| # | Title | Released | Runtime | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Severed Head La tête coupée |
13 November 1915 | 33 mins. | Journalist Phillipe Guèrande and his friend Mazamette investigate a mysterious criminal organisation calling themselves Les Vampires. A police inspector is beheaded, and Phillipe spend the night in Dr. Nox's mysterious castle, full of secret passageways. The leader of the gang, the "Great Vampire", is unmasked, but manages to escape. |
| 2 | The Killer Ring / The Ring That Kills La bague qui tue |
13 November 1915 | 15 mins. | Marta Koutiloff performs on stage as a vampire bat and tells Phillipe that she will reveal the Vampires' secrets, but is killed by a poisoned ring. |
| 3 | The Red Codebook Le cryptogramme rouge |
4 December 1915 | 42 mins. | Phillipe learns to decode the Vampires' messages, while cabaret singer and Vampire strategist Irma Vep enters the Guèrande house disguised as a maid, and Phillipe's mother is kidnapped. |
| 4 | The Spectre Le spectre |
7 January 1916 | 32 mins. | The Vampires fight another criminal, Moreno, who tries to steal their loot, but Guerande engineers Moreno's arrest. |
| 5 | Dead Man's Escape L'évasion du mort |
28 January 1916 | 37 mins. | Moreno fakes his death and escapes from prison. Phillipe is taken prisoner by the "Vampires", but escapes as well. The Great Vampire organizes a ball to steal his guest's valuables, but is outwitted by Moreno. |
| 6 | Hypnotic Eyes / The Hypnotic Gaze Les yeux qui fascinent |
24 March 1916 | 58 mins. | The Vampires seek a treasure in the Forest of Fontainebleau. Moreno hypnotizes Irma Vep into murdering the "Great Vampire", and takes over the gang. |
| 7 | Satanas Satanas |
15 April 1916 | 46 mins. | The Lord of the Vampires, Satanas, reveals his existence. He kills Moreno by bombarding the restaurant where he was eating and tries to steal the fortune of American millionaire George Baldwin, but is thwarted by Phillipe and Mazamette. |
| 8 | The Thunder Master Le maître de la foudre |
12 May 1916 | 55 mins. | Irma Vep is captured by the police, but Satanas arranges her escape; however he, too, is caught. He commits suicide in his cell. |
| 9 | The Poisoner L'homme des poisons |
2 June 1916 | 53 mins. | The new "Lord of the Vampires," Venomous, is introduced. He tries to poison Guérande, but his plot fails. |
| 10 | The Terrible Wedding Les noces sanglantes |
30 June 1916 | 60 mins. | Guerande finally marries Jeanne. The Vampires plot against the couple, but are thwarted by Mazamette. All of the Vampires are killed or captured. |
In November 1915, the walls of Paris were plastered with street posters that depicted three masked faces with a question mark as a noose, and the questions "Qui? Quoi? Quand? Ou…?" ("Who? What? When? Where…?"). The morning newspapers printed the following poem:
Of the moonless nights they are kings,
darkness is their kingdom.
Carrying death and sowing terror
the dark Vampires fly,
with great suede wings,
ready not only to do evil... but to do even worse.[1]
The film is distributed in the United States in the DVD format by Image Entertainment on two discs. In France, Gaumont has released a special restored edition in 4 discs. Artificial Eye in the UK has used this restoration for their release on three discs, which includes several Feuillade shorts.