While I watched a couple spooky movies (in the spirit of Halloween), I wanted to talk about one in particular—Vampyr [IMC DVD 791.4367 V216] directed by Carl T. Dreyer. This movie was full of wonderful atmospheric effects but I felt a little confused during parts of the storyline. I decided to read the screenplay that accompanied the DVD and it gave a lot more depth and understanding to the movie.
Carl T. Dreyer is best known as the director of The Passion of Joan of Arc. When he released the film Vampyr, most critics disliked it. Only later did it gain popularity with film goers and movie critics. The story follows a young man who is interested in the occult. When this man is staying at a hotel one night, he has some strange happenings which lead him to a man whose daughter has been bitten by a vampire. The young man begins to investigate what is happening, and is led by shadowy figures as he uncovers the hidden agendas of everyone involved. Dreyer is great with camera effects, which particularly come to life in black and white films. However, the viewer is required to piece a lot of the parts together without much help, which is where the screenplay ended up being a great help. It was also interesting to see which parts Dreyer had wanted to incorporate but was unable to because of various reasons. If you are looking for an atmospheric film to wrap up your Halloween season, I would recommend checking this one out.
As many of you might know, I am working off the list of 1001 movies to watch before you die. They recently released the newest edition of this book, which means that there are some newer films which were added to the list. Keep an eye out as I will be watching these in the next couple of weeks! Follow along on your own travelogue adventure here: https://letterboxd.com/peterstanley/list/1001-movies-you-must-see-before-you-die/.
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