Amazon.com: This legendary seven-hour silent French serial, one of the earliest and most original gangster films, combines realism and fantasy. Written and directed by Louis Feuillade, Les Vampires concerns an intrepid reporter's pursuit of a strange gang of jewel thieves terrorizing Paris. The gang ambitiously seeks political, psychological, and sexual domination of the city's social elite, with the seductive Irma Vep (an anagram of "vampire") as its brazen leader. While slow going at first, the 10-part serial becomes more and more fascinating with each episode, thanks in large part to the alluring Musidora as Irma Vep. Because of her many guises and frightful charms, she truly becomes a vampire of sorts. Feuillade achieves a subversive, nightmarish atmosphere amid the everyday goings-on of the city. Filmed on the streets and back alleys of World War I Paris, the 1915 picture was a huge commercial success, though temporarily banned by Paris's chief of police for glamorizing crime. --Bill Desowitz
Masterful Cinema I've always been a big fan of art cinema and film noir movies. I am very fond of the early great Black and White silent films including Wings, Metropolis, Birth of a Nation and Napoleon among many others. I was greatly surprised with this saga of ten progressive chapters. The movie was made in 1915 and yes, there are repeating pieces of furniture seen between the different sets, and the night scenes are clearly shot during daylight. However, the movie is powerful and not as forcefully acted like many of the "big" early Hollywood movies. It gives you an eerie sense of reality because the actors are truly good and the cinematography captures a vivid and realistic picture of the turn-of-the-20th century France. I am now a big fan of this movie, and I would amply recommend it to all audiences. Musidora was indeed a captivating star and one of the greatest silent film actresses.
Brilliant, Pleasurable Films -- With Availability/Price Issues If you have any appreciation for classic cinema, this collection of serials is a must-own DVD set. The cloak-and-dagger Parisian underworld is fascinatingly immersive, the early-cinema film techniques are ingenious, and Musidora is a truly bewitching and alluring antiheroine.
That said, I have to comment on the availability and pricing of this DVD set (which, by the way, is well-produced and features a beautiful restoration of the films). I bought this a couple of years ago, brand-new, for around 30 bucks from an eBay seller. This was during a period when it was supposedly out of print, and, indeed, it wasn't in stock or available from online retailers.
Not long ago, the DVDs were back in print, listed as being in stock and sold through Amazon at a discounted price of about 30 dollars (or a little more), with a list price of $69.99.
Now, maybe a couple of months later, it's seemingly unavailable again, and there are Marketplace sellers with new copies listed between $120 and $600! There's even an old double-sided, single-disc edition (mine is two single-sided discs, not a flipper disc), used, currently listed for $500!
Buyer definitely beware. This set has frequently gone in and out of print, so don't rush to make a purchase you'll regret. As of this review, it's possible to track down cheap, new copies from reputable sellers on other sites (one rhymes with shme-shmay), not to mention the Unbox download purchase from Amazon. Of course, that may well change, but it's just as likely that these DVDs will be back in print someday soon and available as part of Amazon's inventory.
Sellers have the right to make as much money as they can (and considering the outrageous fees and commissions certain sites [cough cough] take from third-party sellers, I understand the necessity of a seemingly high listing price), but this has been an issue in the past with these DVDs.
A classic of the mute cinema series "Les Vampires" (1915 - 398 minutes - B&W) is a classic of the mute cinema series directed by Louis Feuillade. In ten episodes, it counts the adventures of a masked assailants group who haunt Paris. The mythical actress Musidora [ the first "Vamp" of the European cinema ] is the star in the series, that achieved fame due to the great admiration among the surrealists (Andres Breton and Luis Buñuel were its bigger fans), seduced by the dreamily scenes that sometimes appears in the narrative. At first "Les Vampires" was rejected for the French vanguard directors, that considered it like a mere policeman series. The film was saved from destruction thanks to the efforts of the founder of the French Film library, Henri Langlois, and after years forgotten, "Les Vampires" was exhibited again in the sixties, in concurred sessions that had marked time, especially in Paris, London and New York, causing a reevaluation of the critics relatively to the work of Feuillade. Andres Bazin, the great critic of the French cinema, said that "Les Vampires" was "one of the biggest film of all the times", admiration shared with the directors of the new French cinema. Today, Feuillade is placed side by side to other geniuses of the mute period of the cinema, as Griffith, Stroheim, Murnau and Gance. The episodes: 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: Satanus (42 minutes); 8: The Master of the Thunder (50 minutes); 9: The Poisoner (48 minutes); 10: The Terrible Marriage (57 minutes).
NOT OUT OF PRINT Recent inquiries to Image Entertainment about the availability of this disc indicate they are still waiting for stock to arrive in their warehouse. Other websites imply some sort of production problem with the disc that made it temporarily unavailable. Don't pay an outrageous amount for this title. It shall return!
That's Entertainment I have to confess that I first saw "Les Vampires" for academic reasons; because of its influence on the Surrealist movement. But now, having seen the entire series (lovingly restored) on its own terms, I think "Les Vampires" is just what it was originally meant to be-- an exciting, humorous adventure story and sort of a precursor of James Bond. The basic idea is that an investigative reporter becomes privy to the secrets of a criminal gang called "The Vampires" and manages to foil many of their plans. At the same time, WE become privy to the plans and in-fighting that go on between the Vampires and other criminal gangs. The main continuing character on the Vampires' side is Irma Vep, a beautiful cross between Mata Hari, Houdini and John Dillinger. At some point she falls prey to a criminal hypnotist, but she is always an interesting character in her own right and often sympathetic.
Technically, the DVD is wonderful; it contains the entire series on one disk, as well as several promotional films starring members of the cast. The film itself is transfered very well and is appropriately tinted; the entire project was obviously a labor of love, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
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