"Young traveller Allan Grey arrives in a remote castle and starts seeing weird, inexplicable sights (a man whose shadow has a life of its own, a mysterious scythe-bearing figure tolling a bell, a terrifying dream of his own burial). Things come to a head when one of the daughters of the lord of the castle succumbs to anaemia - or is it something more sinister?"
Vampyr was Dreyer's (la passion de Joan D'Arc) first talkie but for this showing it was presented as a silent film with a live band providing accompaniment. Its the first silent film I've seen in years and I've never seen a film with live music before.
The film itself is cleverly shot. Very dreamlike and eerie. A thin gauze was put in front of the lens as a filter to add to the flavour of the supernatural. Dreyer alternates between short cuts and lingering close ups to create a rather weird sense of menace. There is great use of light and shadow. I can imagine how terrifying and disturbing this would be for those seeing it on initial release back in the 30s.
As for the live band. I was slightly concerned at first as I'm not a great fan of constant music throughout films but it worked really well. I think it enhanced my experience and made the film more accessible.
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