My take: While there are some creepy scenes and some cool camera tricks, overall this movie was just a confusing mess.
I’ve entered part 2 of Studies in Terror, the “Famous Monsters” chapter. I was excited until I watch this movie. The story: A man named Allen Grey, who is studying the occult, wanders into a town and finds lodging at a hotel. Strange events lead him to a mansion in the woods where a man is murdered and he discovers that the man’s daughter has fallen victim to a vampyr.
Poster for Vampyr.
That sounds like a simple synopsis, doesn’t it? Well, that was the only part of the plot that I was able to understand. I had to Google the ending to figure out exactly what happened. Apparently, the film was made in three languages at once. As a result, very little dialogue is used and the director uses a copious amount of intertitles between scenes to explain what is going on. Unfortunately, this director seems to have forgotten the art of intertitles in the three years since talkies took over the cinema.
So what is good about the film? There are some very creepy camera tricks to show spirits leaving bodies and shadows moving separately from their owners. There is also a very eerie dream sequence where you are put int he perspective of a man being buried alive.
Unfortunately, these creepy scenes do not make the film worth watching. I recommend avoiding this one unless you like non-sensical vampire movies. If you do fall into that camp, at least the film is easy to find. I found it on youtube:
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