The film ‘Vampyr’ by Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1932, with live music by Artuan de Lierrée
Vampyr - The Dream of Allan Gray is a German-French horror film by Danish film director Carl Theodor Dreyer, which was produced from April to October 1930 and first shown in Germany on 6 May 1932. It is loosely based on the novella Carmilla by Irish author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.
Allan Gray is a young student travelling through Ireland who is obsessed with thoughts of the supernatural. One evening, he stops at a secluded inn near the French village of Courtempierre. During the night, Allan is suddenly woken up by an old nobleman who enters his room: the old man desperately asks for help and leaves Allan a parcel labelled ‘To be opened after my death’. The old nobleman then disappears. Allan sets off in search of the village's secret: first, shadows lead him to a mysterious castle, where he encounters a one-legged soldier, an old man and an old woman (who later turns out to be the vampire Marguerite Chopin). Allan leaves the castle and follows the shadows to a large castle in a spacious park. This is where the old nobleman and owner of the castle lives with his two daughters. Gray witnesses the old owner of the castle being shot in the back.Allan Gray stays at the castle overnight as a guest, especially as he has fallen in love with the daughter Gisèle, who asks him for help: Her older sister Léone seems to be under the influence of a mysterious illness. Allan finds Léone lying in the park with fresh bite wounds on her neck and carries her back to the castle. Meanwhile, Allan remembers the parcel that the old owner of the castle had given him and opens it. Inside is a book with detailed, gruesome descriptions of vampires. Allan learns from the book that Léone has fallen victim to a vampire and is apparently under its spell. In the meantime, a coachman at the castle is killed. The village doctor arrives to treat the sick Léone. Allan recognises the village doctor as the old man who was present in the mysterious castle. The village doctor announces that only a blood donation can save Léone's life - Allan donates his blood and falls into a deep sleep. When he wakes up, Allan is only just able to prevent the sinister village doctor from poisoning Léone. The doctor kidnaps Gisèle and flees the castle. Allan follows the doctor, but is plagued by terrifying visions; among other things, he has to relive his own funeral.
Meanwhile, the old castle servant finds Gray's vampire book and learns that vampires can be killed by drilling an iron rod through their hearts.Allan and the castle servant exhume the body of the vampire Marguerite Chopin, who has been identified as the mastermind behind the atrocities, and kill her in the manner described in the book.With the destruction of the vampiress, Léone also recovers.Marguerite's assistants, the village doctor and the one-legged soldier, are haunted by Marguerite's ghost and Allan manages to free Gisèle.The village doctor is buried under tonnes of flour in a mill.Gisèle and Allan walk through a bright forest at dawn.
Vampyr was a failure at the cinema box office.Vampyr is now regarded in many circles as one of the best horror films of all time.
The Encyclopaedia of International Film wrote: ‘The subtle lighting direction and barely noticeable shifts in emphasis create a climate of incomprehensible menace in which dream and reality constantly intermingle.The film cleverly eludes both the expressionist norms of the fantastic and the naturalistic-artificial depiction of horror."
