Les Vampires- A B&W Silent Film (1915)

Les Vampires (1915)- Details, Review and Analysis

Retrospection:

First and foremost, the film's title makes everyone believe that this is about a vamplife story. Unfortunately, my bloodsucking friends, this has nothing to do with a vampiric sceenplay. When people read the title or see the film's cover picture, usually fall into this trap and prepare themselves to watch a horror film that will remind them some famous movies like Dracula, Nosferatu, Vampyr, Mark of the Vampire, and the list goes on. In fact, it is a crime film. However, even if “Les Vampires” has no similarity with the vampiric films, it's really worth your time!

To begin with, you have to know that “Les Vampires” is a B&W and a classic of the mute cinema series, which was directed by Louis Feuillade and produced by Gaumont. It was set in Paris, France, and its stars were: Musidora (as Irma Vep ), Édouard Mathé (as Philippe Guérande ) and Marcel Lévesque (as Oscar Mazamette ). It's considered to be a mini-series and one of the longest films ever made, because of its long duration. Guess what.. you should count at least 6 hours in order to watch it till the end. But again, I keep insisting that you will be indemnified after watching this.

Moreover, there are some similarities that have been noticed between this film and the two other Feuillade's masterpieces, named Fantomas and Judex. For this reason, these three films are often considered a trilogy. On the other hand, “Les Vampires” had acquired negative reviews by critics due to the film's lack of cinematic techniques compared to other films. Also, the film was rejected in the past by some French directors, as they described it as “a mere policeman series”. Nevertheless, this film was the origin of Musidora's success in film industry, as she possibly was the first screen “Vamp” in the European Cinema and she soon became a famous French star.

“Les Vampires” was lost and forgotten for years, until Henri Langlois, the founder of the French Film Library, discovered it and thanks to his efforts the film was saved and exhibited again. Today, the film is divided into ten parts/episodes. These parts are:

1. The Cut Head (31 minutes)

2. The Ring that Kills (13 minutes)

3. The Red Book (39 minutes)

4. The Specter (30 minutes)

5. The Escape of the Dead Man (35 minutes)

6. Hypnotic Eyes (53 minutes)

7. Satanas (42 minutes)

8. The Master of the Thunder (50 minutes)

9. The Poisoner (48 minutes)

10. The Terrible Marriage (57 minutes)

Review:

Actually, I don't know if all of these emotions that are born to a viewer after watching this film could be written in a short text like this. Neither if I am able to describe what I exactly felt during this outstanding film. However, I will make an effort.

First of all, as we already know this series had been filmed during a period at which Paris was like an abandoned and spooky place, inappropriate for living, because of the WWI. This fact was a great benefit for the film's creation, as the inexorable criminals (The Vampires) were able to move in an empty town, showing that they had frightened every citizen in it. In my opinion, this absolute wilderness gives to every viewer the impression of how strong their domination was.

Additionally, the actor's choice was made with a lot of success. Especially Musidora (Irma Vep), the superb, sensuous and impressive French actress, was one of the main characters who will remain in everyone's memory! This attractive woman, with the dark gaze and the cold face, has hunt our minds for sure. She used to appear always in black and always ready to give us an evidence of her grandiose individuality. When she wore her black uniform and was about to make her stealing -or murdering- business, she had the capacity to cause us an insurmountable feeling. Even if it isn't a horror film, viewers usually feel anxious, uncomfortable and nervous because of some actions which appear to be chaotic, unpredictable, insidious and with some upside down characteristics. Irma Vep was a delight. Personally, I couldn't have enough of her. I think I felt in love with her magnificent appearance and her special personality.

Every episode was a big surprise that involved chains of murders, robberies, threatening letters, love affairs and much more! We could easily notice how desperate some characters were, as they had been into a deep melancholy and they would prefer this uncontrolled situation to be stopped. Furthermore, the greatest moment is when you realise how a character's feelings deffer from episode to episode. You suddenly feel more sympathetic about every particular individual (depending on the character you support) and you think that you have become an active member of this story.

This is a B&W silent film that lasts at least 5 hours. Some people think that they would probably feel exshausted after watching this or that it won't worth their time because of its long duration. Nevertheless, I think it's magical how expressive a film can be, even if it is silent or in case its poductors had used extremely simple cinematic teqniques and economical wherewithal. In my point of view, I find it completely wrong to condemn (if I could use a word like this) a film before you first learn some details about it and before you realise if you are interested in its subject. There are many films which were directed during some periods of time that tecnology hadn't been as developed as it is today, but they still are the silent cinema's pearls and remain incomparable.

In conclusion, I wanted to mention that it was like I was watching this for weeks. I felt like I was participating in the film, having my own quandaries and feeling this endless chaos, especially as the episodes were coming to the end and the agony was increased. I feel blessed that we are able to watch series like this one! If this film hadn't been saved during the past, we wouldn't have delighted such an extraordinary film, as The Vampires.

What's the story about? - Analysis

The story took place in Paris, which was empty because of WWI. A criminal organization, known as “Les Vampires”, haunted the entire city. This dark empire of crime included members from all classes who used to steal from the high society of Paris, blackmail and of course kill people. It was about time for the ambitious reporter Philippe Guérande ( Édouard Mathé) to be chosen by the government, in order to investigate the whole situation and catch the ruthless criminals, who turned Paris into an abandoned place, unsuitable for living.

The film, as we have already mentioned, is separated in 10 parts. Let's see it one by one:

1. The Cut Head (or "La Tête Coupée" )

While the reporter (Philippe Guérande) of the newspaper "The Paris Chronicle" was working, he received a telegram which was about a decapitated body that was found in the swamps near Saint-Clement-Sur-Cher . The body belonged to a national security agent, called Inspector Durtal. Philippe spended the night in a castle, whose owner was an old friend of his father, named Dr. Nox. During the night, Philippe woke up and found a threatening note from The Vampires and a weird passage in his room that was behind a painting on the wall. Moreover, the American multimillionaire Mrs. Simpson was also in the castle and she suddenly realized that her jewellery and money were missing. They were stolen by a masked thief. The next day, Philippe decided to visit the Justice of the Peace, who didn't believe the whole case at first, but after these facts he planned with the reporter to outsmart Dr.Nox and Mrs. Simpson. They told them to wait at an anteroom, so that they could have plenty of time to search the castle. While they were looking for more clues in the castle, they found the Durtal's head in that mysterious passage that earlier Philippe discovered. When the magistrate and the reporter returned they found that Dr. Nox had disappeard and Mrs. Simpson was dead. The Grand Vampire left another note for Philippe, in which he said that he had murdered Dr. Nox and he was going to use his indentify.

2. The Ring that Kills (or "La Bague Qui Tue" )

The Grand Vampire read that Marfa Koutiloff , Philippe's fiancée, would perform a ballet show, called “The Vampires”. In order to discourage Philippe from finding out the truth and to maintain The Vampires' activities unpublished, he gave a ring with poison to Martha, which killed her during her show. Philippe saw the Grand Vampire and he recognized him immediately. He followed him to a fort, but the rest of The Vampires catched him and decided to execute him. While the pure reporter was captured, he realized that the Vampire Guarding was one of his co-workers, Oscar-Cloud Mazamette. Philippe and Mazamette decided to work together and trick The Vampires. They catched the Grand Inquisitor, who had put a hood on, and they replaced him with Philippe. Therefore, when The Vampires arrived they executed the wrong person, who was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court ! However, their plans were completely failed thanks to the police's entairance inside the building. As a result, The Vampires were forced to escape.

3. The Red Book (or "Le Cryptogramme Rouge" )

Philippe took the red small book that lifted from the Grand Inquisitor’s body. He learned that The Vampires were watching his house, so he dressed up and made himself unnoticed. As he was following everything that it was written down in that book, he visited a night club, called “The Howling Cat”. There he found Irma Vep performing her show. When her act was finished, the Grand Vampire entrusted to Irma the responsibility to take back the red book. Meanwhile, Mazamette had stolen a poisoned pen from the Grand Vampire and gave it to Philippe.

A few days later, Irma Vep made an attempt to enter to Philippe's house and work there as a maid. The reporter recognized her but he didn't say anything. Irma tried to poison him, but she failed. Philippe's mother got informed about her brother's car accident, so she decided to visit him. Before she go, her son gave her the poisoned pen that Mazamette stole from the Grand Vampire. When she, at last, arrived at her brother's place she understood that it was about a trap and got captured by The Vampires. Philippe's mother was held by a deaf-mute. He made her sign a ransom note, but she killed him with the poisoned pen. At Philippe's house, Irma was watching the reporter while he was sleeping. She let another Vampire into the house, but Philippe, who had already seen all of her actions, shot them with blanks. The Vampires managed to escape for one more time.

4. The Specter (or “Le Spectre” )

A businessman called Juan-José Moréno was looking for a safe apartment. The Grand Vampire appeared to him as a broker, with the name “Treps”. He managed to put Moréno into a “safe” apartment, which had a wardrobe that from the other side was ended to The Grand Vampire's and Irma's apartment. Later, Irma continued to disguise herself and that time she became a bank secretary. She learned that someone named Mr. Metadier had to bring 300,000F to another branch store, but he is unable to do it by his own. So, Irma undertook the responsibility. The Vampires murdered the poor man and threw his body out of a train. Irma tried to stole the money but the ghost of Mr. Metadier appeared and keep it, instead. The same day, Mr. Metadier's wife went to the bank and asked about her husband. She hadn't seen him for days. The bank found out that the money had never been delivered. Furthermore, Philippe learned about this situation and went to the bank ( in disguise). He immediately understood that the secretary was Irma Vep and he wrote down her adress, so that he could find her house and enter in. A few hours later, the Grand Vampire and Irma Vep opened the secret wardrobe to find the money and Metadier's dead body that Moréno had kept there. Philippe arrived at the house with his friend Mezamette, but the main door was locked and they couldn't enter. The Vampires escaped and after a while the police came. Moréno had just return to his apartment, when he soon realized that his safe wardrobe was open from the other side. Philippe captured Moréno and the truth was revealed. Moréno admitted that he was a criminal in disguise and refused that he had killed Mr. Metadier. He also said that he found the dead body by the train tracks. He used Mr. Metadier's letter of authority and his indentify, he pretended that he was “Mr.Metadier” and he placed the corpse and the money to his wardrobe. Police sent Moréno in prison.

5. The Escape of the Dead Man (or "L'évasion Du Mort" )

While Moréno was being kept in prison, he decided to commit suicide by poisoning himself with cyanide. The guards found his corpse in his own cell, but during the night he woke up from his deathbed! He cheated the prison workers, as they thought he was dead, and killed the nightwatcher in order to steal his clothes and escape from the prison. Mezamette, who was suffering from insomnia, noticed Moréno's action. Meanwhile, Philippe was pulled out of his window by The Vampires. They put him into a big box and while he was in it, the box slided down a large flight of stairs. He had been seen by some people who where around the place, so The Vampires were forced to recede. Thereafter, Philippe visited the box's designer, whose name was written above the box, and realized that this costume should be sent to Baron de Mortesalgues (another pen name of The Vampires). Afterwards, the reporter run into Moréno, but when he tried to inform the police, Moréno's company appeared and Philippe got captured again. Mezamette went to Moréno's hideout, in which the gang was capturing the reporter, and released Philippe. The same night, the Grand Vampire, as Baron de Mortesalgues, had organized a party about his niece, who was Irma Vep in disguise. A lot of people from wealthy classes were attending in that party and a surprise was waiting for them. A sleeping gas hypnotized all the guests and The Vampires magaged to steal their money and their expensive jewellery. They tried to escape with all those valuable items that they had collected, but, in the end, they had been robbed by Moréno. Mezamette was fed up with the Vampire's luck and wanted to quit from the case. Fortunately, he made up his mind.

6. Hypnotic Eyes (or "Les Yeux Qui Fascinent" )

Moréno learnt that a notary had been murdered by The Vampires. As he happened to have some kind of hypnotic power, he hypnotized his maid and turned her to his slave. Mezamette and Philippe watched a documentary about murderers who had been under inquest in the past. They suddenly realized that those murdereris were The Grand Vampire and Irma Vep. They both decided to make an attempt and investigate that case. On their way, the came across to an american tourist who was riding fast into the forest, so they followed him. They saw him putting a box under a large stone and they took it. Meanwhile at the Royal Hunt Hotel, The Grand Vampire and Irma Vep were hiding there, as “Count Kerlor” and his son. They read in the paper about a robbery, which is about 200.000$ and the guys who are suspected to be the criminals are Raphael Norton and Ethel Florid. Also, an award would be given to anyone who would manage to capture the suspects. The Grand Vampire and Irma Vep noticed that Mr. and Mrs. Werner, who were staying at the hotel too, were really upset by this announcement. Their strange behaviour made Irma and the Vampire to believe that they were the true criminals. Philippe and Mezamette who had already known where The Vampires were hiding, went to an another hotel and opened the mysterious box. Inside, there was the stolen money that the newspaper had written down. Back to Royal Hunk Hotel, Irma Vep entered the Werner's room and found the map that would lead The Vampires to the forest, where the money would be dug. Moréno came there in disguise and captured Irma, without Grand Vampire's caution. He also dressed his maid as if she was Irma's clone and ordered her to give the map to The Vampires. Afterwards, Moréno demanded ransoms from The Grand Vampire in order to release Irma Vep. To his surprise, Moréno fell in love with Irma and decided not to return her back. He hypnotized her and made her to write a letter, in which she would admit all the crimes that she had been involved in, during the past. The Grand Vampire visited Moréno, but Irma was again hypnotized and had a main purpose: to kill him. Concerning Philippe and Mezamette, they became rich! The police captured the Werners and sent them to prison. So, the treasure was won by the two co-workers.

7. Satanas (or "Satanus" )

A strange man visited Moréno's house, saying tha he knew everything about The Grand Vampire and his death. He also claimed that he was Satanas, the true Grand Vampire, and he maintained that all of that time he was subordinate. Moréno and Irma received a letter from “Satanas” while they were at a night club, called “Happy Shack”. With this letter the Vampire informed the lovers that they would be surprised by the power that he had. At two o'clock he destroyed the entire place by using a cannon. The next morning, Moréno and Irma Vep went to Satana's house and surrendered to him. He offered them the chance to work for him and he ordered them to find the signature of the famous millionaire that was recently robbed. Moréno sent one assistant of his to cheat Baldwin (the millionaire). She introduced herself to him as an interviewer from a famous magazine and sked him to sign a blank piece of paper. Afterwards, Irma came and requested to have a taped phrase from Mr. Baldwin. He accepted and said the phrase: “Parisian women are the most charming I've ever seen, all right!". The “interviewer” gave Moréno the piece of paper with the signature on it. Moréno wrote a note above the signature and ordered 100.000$ to be transmitted to the lady “from the magazine”. His gang went to the hotel, occupied the telephone and Irma played her role, too. When the bank employee called to confirm if that paper was truly signed by Mr. Baldwin, Irma answered and played the recording with Baldwin's voice. Moréno's assistant took the money, but she was seen by Mezamette who recognized the girl from the club “Happy Shack”. He followed her and found out that the money was destined for Moréno! Moréno gave the money to Satan, but the master told him to keep it as a gift. Mezamette and Philippe captured the lady who cheated the millionaire and made her to call Moréno and tell him to get there immediately. While Irma and Moréno were about to go and find their assistant, police came and captured them, too.

8. The Master of the Thunder (or “Le Maître de la Foudre" )

While Irma Vep was in prison, a letter had been sent there for her in order to inform her that she had to move to a penal colony in Algeria. When she was about to leave, she learnt that Moréno had been executed. Satanas followed Irma, dressed up like a priest - so that he could unmolested do his work with the releasing case- and sent a letter to Irma which warned her that the ship in which she was into was about to be exploded. Eventually, Satanas managed to blew up the ship with his cannon. Philippe found again the red book and informed Mezamette. Meanwhile, Mezamette's son was punished from the school authority, because of his bad behaviour, and he was sent home. Therefore, Mezamette and his son went to investigate the case together. They saw some guys who were putting many boxes into a house and they both noticed that one of those boxes had a shell on it. Satanas learnt that there were no survivors from the ship accident and went to Philippe to inform him about Irma's death. Satanas managed to paralysed Philippe via his poisoned pin. Moreover, he put a bomb into his house, but thanks to Mezamette who arrived there on time, the bomb was removed by him. Concerning Irma, she survived from the ship accident and she was already on a train, wich destination was Paris, and on her way to the nightclub “Howling Cat”. When she arrived there The Vampires greeted her. Furthermore, The Vampires found out that Satanas had been captured by the police. The criminals had to appoint a new leader for their organization. Also, Satanas ordered his team to send him a poisoned note, so that he could eat it and comitt suicide.

9. The Poisoner (or "L'homme des Poisons" )

Irma was devoted to her new master, whose name was Venomous. She and her lover found out that Philippe was going to be engaged to Jane Bremontier, so Irma and Lily Flower (who was Moreno's previous assistant and also a member of The Vampires' community) rented an apartment above the girl's place. The Vampires went to Philippe's and Jane's engagement party and replaced the champagne bottles with some poisoned ones. One of the guests drank it and died. His wife -who saw her husband dying in her own hands- inform the guests that the champagne includes a poisonous dose. As a result, The Vampires managed to escape again. Philippe and Mezamette picked up Jane and her mother and moved them to a safer place. Irma made an effort to fill a car with soporific gas, but she was seen by Mezamette. She gassed him and she hid in a box inside the car. Mezamette was caught by the police and he was transferred to the police station, as the officers thought that he was drunk. When he woke up he tried to warn Philippe about Irma Vep, but she escaped for one more time. Irma made an appointment with Venomous. In the same place, Philippe and Mezamette had arranged an appointment, too. Philippe captured Irma and left her in Mezamette's car, but Venomous found it out. He saved Irma and drove off in Mezamette's car. Philippe followed Venomous who got away by train. Also, the reporter was hampered by the police and he was unable to board on the train. This situation drove Mezamette mad and he attacked to the police officers who finally arrested him. In the end, after Philippe's and Mezamette's deposition, police felt sorry about Mezamette and set the man -who also was a philanthropist – free.

10. The Terrible Marriage (or "Les Noces Sanglantes" )

Finally, Philippe and Jane got married. The widow of the man, who got poisoned at Philippe's and Jane's engagement party, was hired by the couple to be their new maid. The poor woman was still depressed because of her husband's murder and wanted to find the truth. She received a letter from The Vampires who cheated her by telling her that she would find the answers that she wanted, if she went to a specific place. When she arrived at the house that she was told to go, she got hypnotized by The Vampires. She was ordered by them to unlock the main door during the night. The Vampires entered the house with the maid's help and fed poisonous gas into the couple's room. Mezamette shot them, but they cleared away. The poor maid tried to explain her actions to the family members. When they went to the police, Venomous found the chance and entered Philippe's house via a window, but he got shot again by Jane, so he had to leave the place immediately. After a while, the widow got captured again by The Vampires. Mezamette shot their car and caused an oil leak. Philippe followed the oil clues and he was leaded to the place that his maid and his wife were kept. He gave his wife a gun before he left, so that she could defense herself. The same night, a celebration party about Irma's and Venomous' marriage had been organized. Philippe planned to run away with the two women. Additionally, police had earlier prepared a massive raid and they managed to enter into Venomous' house. The Vampires got trapped and driven out onto the balcony where Philippe was. As a result, The Vampires got killed in the fall. Irma tried to kill Jane and her maid, but Jane shot her on the head with the gun that her husband earlier gave her. After this awful situation, everyone had been calmed down. Mezamette felt in love with the maid and made her a proposal of marriage. She accepted and they two got married. Eventually, the two couples were free to live their lives undisturbed.

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