Despite having dialogue this feels very much like a silent film. This dated, spooky little gem concentrates on visual imagery rather than concentrate dialogue and this fact gives it a dreamy, ethereal quality rarely seen in modern cinema. Indeed the film works best as a series of haunting visual images as our hero experiences weird events, hallucinations, and frightening dreams. Although difficult to watch and not exactly entertaining, VAMPYR is nonetheless a fascinating horror film which taps into some of our deepest fears.Despite having a vampire, this is a film which actually feels like a ghost story due to some spooky scenes of character's spirits coming out of their bodies and walking about in dream states. Exceptional use is made of shadows as they are given lives of their own in a very unsettling way. The acting is understated and efficient, but there is little in the way of a linear plot or storyline - it's just the images, linked together to form a puzzling whole. This is definitely a unique item and a good example of expressionistic cinematography, and it stays in the mind long after viewing.

What a f*cking masterpiece.Late one night, a mysterious man shows up at the bedside of Allan Gray- a psychic medium who seems to possess the ability of astral projection. This man offers him an ominous warning and gives him a package that is to be opened "after his death".Upon waking, Allan is led by "shadow people" to the house of this same man...just in time to witness shadowy demons murder him.He tries to intervene, but it is too late...the man dies...Seeing Dreyer's mindblowing display of light and shadows in action, really makes you realize how effective such a device can be- and what a lost art it has become in modern horror.Watching this segment of the film is kind of like going on one of those carnival haunted house rides. The camera is always in motion, turning to catch the action, as if to mimic how we would react from the position of the rider (which we, as viewers, are in).Anyways...after the man dies, Allan opens the package. Finding that it contains a book on the history of Vampires.It is evident that the old man feared there would be no one there to stop the vampires from preying on his loved ones after his demise. And he had good reason to be afraid, because the vampires have their eyes set on his daughters. Hence the ominous warning provided to Allan the night before.He feels a moral obligation to protect her. But, as soon as no one is paying attention, the vampire lures her out and bites her. Now Allan is left trying to figure out how to save her.Luckily, the caretaker (the unsung hero of the film) figures it out.While Allan is out on all his psychedelic spy mission odysseys- gathering intel and trying to save the old man's other daughter. It's the caretaker who does all the grunt work and vampire slaying. And the only way the eldest daughter could truly be safe; is once the Master has experienced the "True Death", mind you.This film was way ahead of it's time. It has an almost modern feel, despite coming from pre-world war II Germany. And it's probably the most influential vampire film ever made. Most of the vampire sub-genre is indebted to this film. The special effects are as flawless as the transitions from altered state to reality (with the farmer seemingly acting as the psychopomp). The acting is absolutely brilliant- particularly with the main character. And that ending is downright hilarious!!! Can't believe it took me this long to see this. An absolute classic.9 out of 10.

Slow pans, suffused lighting, sparse dialogue, and indelible imagery, elevate this vampire movie, a complete opposite to the bloody neck-biters of Hammer Films Inc. It's not a movie for everyone. Too slow for some, too actionless for others, Vampyr does carry the stamp of a master, Carl Dreyer. The overall effect is to unnerve rather than frighten. Images collect rather than jolt, passing through to the subconscious where the film lingers long after a last flickering frame. Not a ghost movie, the effect is nevertheless ghostly and dreamlike, with daylight apparitions gliding through some nightless nether nether world. A counterpart perhaps closest in effect is 1962's Carnival of Lost Souls, minus adagio pacing. In some weird sense, the film manages a glimpse beyond the limits of conventional horror. In short, it's a masterpiece.

The film makes more sense as a series of nightmare/dream put together than a movie with plot. Vampyr was the first sound film for Carl Theodor Dreyer, but it must as well be silent. Since the movie had to be recorded in three languages, to save money, Dreyer put very little dialogue in the film and much of the story is told with silent film style title cards. Sadly the movie lacks any real actors, as most of the people were untrained to be in film, but the film works in a way, since it's easily for them to show emotion then read lines. The main actor in this film wasn't a full time actor, but a rich Baron who funded the film by the name of Nicolas de Gunzburg. He starred in the film under the name of Julian West among a mostly non-professional cast. Gunzburg plays the role of Allan Grey, a student of the occult who enters the village of Courtempierre, which is under the curse of a vampire. The baron did little acting, but look at stuff with very little expression on his face. He was a dream like state, but bland as a character. The character was so bland, it even making me sleepy. We hardly got to know the true him, as the film shows unstop dreams scenes. The scenes like the farmer ringing the bell with a reaper on his hand was just chilling. Then the several scenes of shadows dancing and wandering on their own was good use, and somewhat creepy. The lighting, shadows, surrealistic nightmarish quality is just superb.The dream scenes have a Un Chien Andalou type film to it, as some of them had nothing to do with the plot. The film plot seems to run the same plot lines of other vampire movies at that time such as Dracula (1931). The film seems like a quickie horror film to capitalize on the Dracula craze. The film also struggles with it's identify, as much of it was by Dreyer and Christen Jul whom based on elements from J. Sheridan Le Fanu 's collection of supernatural stories, 'In a Glass Darkly". Dreyer took took parts of the novels like 'Carmilla', a vampire story with a lesbian subtext. Actually the film draws its central character, Allan Gray, from Le Fanu's Dr. Hesselius from the novel. The other being 'The Room in the Dragon Volant' which is about a live burial. The Point of View of the dead man is creepy and should be shown in film school on how to make perspective of a person state by using camera angles. The scene of the young man being carried away in the coffin is an incredible combination between the music and the way the camera is being depicted as the man in the coffin. Chilling. Dreyer found it difficult to decide on a title for the film as it was also been known as Destiny, Shadows of Hell, Close Up or The Strange Adventure of David Gray. The film as fought censors, as the village doctor suffocates under flour dropped from the mill above was deem too violence. I believe that scene, represent 'change'. The white flour in the end, it's about erasing a dark figure in white. As to lighten the mood of the film, as to wake itself from it's dream like state. It's all very symbolic. The fusing of fantasy and reality in this landmark tale, works somewhat as we the audience are to believe, the vampire distorted his perception of the real and the unreal. This film seems to represent everything great about the era from which it came. Special effects are used in this film not as a way to dazzle the audience, but to communicate a powerful, dream-like trance. The atmosphere fairly reminiscent to a feverish claustrophobic feel. The film itself is somewhat incoherent, but that sort of adds to the disorienting visual effects. What might be it's downfalls, it is too visual and disoriented for certain people to follow. It get confusing with each scene. The film feels surrealistic, and thus aren't meant to be interpreted literally. A movie like "Vampyr" isn't trying for realism, or narrative cohesion; it's first and foremost about the images on the screen. That's why some people can't get into the film. Dreyer's other film "The Passion of Joan of Arc" is similar in that it is able to communicate a powerful message through stunning and masterful cinematography. I suggest that viewers of this film watch other Dreyer films. In short, this films is a masterpiece. Savor it. Un chef-d'œuvre. Merci