The Vampires or, The Arch Criminals of Paris (1915)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Please don't spend money on this.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

I knew next to nothing about this serial before starting on the first installment. I had mild expectations, figuring it would be a struggle to pay attention and not get bored. Boy, was I wrong! It starts of with a fast pace, leading you into a mystery with twists and turns and exciting villains. Following the young reporter, it's almost like an excellent Tintin-adventure. In fact, there are many parallels to Tintin that can be made, including a clumsy friend that happens upon great wealth.Sadly, it loses a lot of momentum about midway through. As far as I can understand, there was no script (only a general idea), and it kind of shows. I assume the Irma Vep and Mazamette-characters were the most popular, because they become more and more involved in the storyline as it progresses. After a while, Guérande (the hero reporter) is almost completely overshadowed by the "supporting cast". Musidora is fantastic as Irma Vep, and it's hard to complain about there being more of her - but it does lead to a less interesting story. As you eventually follow the villains almost as much as the protagonist, there is no longer any mystery to it. The twists and turns doesn't matter, because they often don't surprise you. When it comes to Marcel Lévesque's performance as Mazamette, it was probably better in its time than it is now. As (almost) the only character, he constantly looks at the camera, acting as if it was a slapstick comedy. The same goes for his son, who appears later.Don't get me wrong, there are still thrilling scenes, stunts and twists in the latter episodes, but they are few and far apart, and not enough to save the entire series. Maybe it would have been better if I had not "binge-watched" it, but from what I hear, that's how it's usually shown in screenings.Had the rest of the serial been as good as the first 4-5 installments, this would have been an excellent introduction to silent film.

An intrepid reporter and his loyal friend battle a bizarre secret society of criminals known as The Vampires.Director Louis Feuillade is something of a legend, having directed an astonishing 630 films in the silent era (and perhaps more). He is best known for "Fantomas", the serial he made prior to "Vampires", and while the former may be marginally superior, they are both exquisite in their own way, and a great example of early thrillers.Indeed, it is quite impressive that a film is seven hours long and still exists one hundred years later. Given how many silent films have since been lost forever, it is incredible that Feuillade's work seems to be intact and in great shape.

It's a cheesy, Empire style comparison to compare Les Vampires to 24 but, for me, there are many similarities. First of all it is episodic, although there is only 10 in Les Vampires.However the big thing that I noticed about Les Vampires was the pace of it all. Whilst I have watched and enjoyed many silent films, often the pace seems to be a lot more leisurely than I would like. With Les Vampires it's pretty much full steam ahead. This means, that you don't have time to think about the actual story which can be quite illogical, over a chapter and particularly over the whole film. Characters die and retrun to life, plus the most unbelievable oc-oncidences occur (just like 24!).I really enjoyed Les Vampires though, it rockets along and is great fun. If you enjoy silent films I would definitely recommend watching this.+

Louis Feuillade may have been an early French pioneer of silent shorts but "Les Vampires" is still bogged down in plot contrivances. Technically speaking it is difficult to view this today as it was upon its release, as 10 separate films, because we're not returning to the theater weekly to see the next great piece of the puzzle. And at 7 plus hours long, to view it in one sitting can be an act of futility and frustration.Feuillade's great strength was short films but with most of these 10 episodes reaching 45 minutes apiece, he extended his stay a large part of the time, serial or not. Designed as a crime saga with comic relief and unrealistic plot devices, "Les Vampires" has been compared to early James Bond and has been mentioned as being influential on Hitchcock. I don't see it. At best it can be compared to the weekly serials shown in theaters in the 50's, early pulp fiction, and the Pink Panther series. That's not an insult but I'm not giving out credit unjustly either. None of these take away from the fun of the work.The Vampires are a sinister (take that lightly) crime gang that is plaguing the streets of Paris circa 1915. Edouarde Mathe's Philippe Guarande and Marcel Levesque's Mazamette are the journalist and sidekick who pursue the group. The Vampires most featured member is second-in-command Irma Vep played by Musidora and she actually is rather sexy. The Vampires leader, the Grand Vampire, actually changes three different times during the story and it is the little nuances like this that spoil the film.Whereas having fun can be quite entertaining, plot can kill the messenger even at this early stage of cinematic history. The poison pens, portable cannons, and paralyzing pin pricks can all be strategically crafty when used appropriately, particularly in a serial series, but they lose their humorous magic when we can't even believe in the people using them. The Vampires, this menace that stalks the rich of Paris and robs them blind, are arguably the clumsiest and most unplanned organization I've ever seen wear black in a movie. Juan Jose Moreno, played by Fernand Herrmann, leads a rival crime syndicate that battles wits with the Vampires and the Guarande/Mazamette team. From the time Moreno enters the film, he successfully thwarts every single Vampire scheme hatched as they cannot do anything right. Indeed were Irma Vep not so sexy she would not be worth having around. She fails at practically every assignment she is given yet not only continually gets away but also is still a highly desired commodity by both the Grand Vampire and Moreno himself.Of course we know why these continual lapses in anything reminiscent of an actual plot and purpose occur...Feuillade has to push this baby to ten episodes to entertain the masses of 1915 for whom it was intended. But Feuillade does show some weakness here even above his writing by playing scenes out extraordinarily too long. In fact by virtue of trimming seconds off of every scene that went on too long "Les Vampires" could have made an excellent feature length picture around 210 minutes and we could have cleared up the ridiculous plot lapses to boot.From an acting standpoint it is neither forgettable nor excellent with the possible exception of Levesque's Mazamette character who steals the show with his hilarious mannerisms and comic imagery. While appearing to be a foolish sidekick early on, by the film's end he actually does more and knows more to catch the bumbling Vampires than anyone else on screen. And he's not even the star. If any influencing went on here it was Mazamette's character on Peter Seller's Inspector Clouseau.The nutshell: great fun if it weren't so unnecessarily long. Like early pulp fiction its nonstop use of dastardly doings, devious schemes, and nasty devices may keep you coming back for the next episode time and time again (same bat time, same bat channel) but the plot will probably slow you down in the end. Possibly worth watching to get a look at early French cinema but when compared to Griffith like all 1912-1920 films must be, Feuillade doesn't even come close...6/10.