Les Vampires

Not one of those accomplishments that will truly point to a life meaningfully spent, I did successfully watch all 6 1/2 hours of this serial. It was reasonably fun, in an old comic book sort of way, but very low budget and the criminal organization never seemed very powerful or threatening. Mainly enjoyable were the many now old-school criminal plot devices and archetypes, and I never got bored of Irma Vep's creepy facial expressions. The booby trap at the end was just brutal.

A solid adventure serial, with less lulls in the action than the Fantomas series Feuillade did just before it, and a larger dose of comic relief. There's a full variety of the sort of thing you'd expect from a pulp story of this period: fraud, kidnappings, coded messages, gassings, bombings, mesmerism, phony mediums, etc. The episodes where the various criminals are working against each other usually keep up the suspense best, since at least then you can't be sure who'll win.

Bribery and blackmail, kidnapping and murder, twist and turns, this serial has it all. While the pacing may be a tad slow it's broken up into ten self contained but interconnected episodes so you can easily watch it at your leisure. Even now it still remains an exciting series of mystery and intrigue and it's very stylistically creative.

Dull story, dull visuals, plus the plot twist at the end of Chapter 1 made my bullshit alarm go off

Not a ton of artistic merit here, but entertaining fare nonetheless. A serialized tale of a journalist (who seems to produce precious little journalism) on the trail of the underworld gang "The Vampires". Except for a few slow spots, the film is loaded with schemes, surprises, reversals, captures and escapes. Along the way, they run the gamut of old-school thriller staples like disguises, poisons, gases, hidden compartments and hypnotism.

Unique concept film that hasn't aged as well as some of its contemporaries, but there are some very cool ideas that influenced (probably) hundreds of films in the years to come.

Most films from the silent era that have endured to be remembered in the modern day typically have some significant level of artistic or technical merit to them. I can't say that's particularly the case with Les Vampires though. Still, Louis Feuillade does construct a compelling enough pulp serial with enough twists and turns to make the seven hour runtime endurable if still exhausting.

Easy to watch due to the clear breakdown of episodes, so don't be intimidated by the length. This is a fairly fun experience, though more interesting as an historical curiosity and influential piece than a film that holds up today. There are some wonderfully goofy moments, though, and it's very strong filmmaking for the time. The main protagonist isn't terribly interesting. You get the sense at times it's being made up as they go along, and it has a disjointed feel due to this, but it's fun.

A really cool piece of history but less good as an actual entertaining watch. It’s basically all about Irma Vep and the comic relief guy everyone else can bite me. Lots of slow sections and it took forever to do anything but then there would be some really cool chase or a new funny Irma costume and I would sigh and dive back in

I reviewed all of the episodes individually, so this is the recap: While the 2020 me found some sequences pretty exciting, some absolutely hilarious, and a few a little dull, I'm fairly certain that 1910s me would have been rushing back to the cinema at each new installment.

I haven't seen a movie older than this yet..So, I can say that it is very nice compared to 1920s movies.Especially Irma's bat costume and stunt performances were successful.

84.50

The plot can get pretty contrived and melodramatic, but it's loads of fun - humorous, dark, pulpy, and thrilling.

Gosto mais de Fântomas do que Les Vampires, o primeiro por ter origem literária ganha na transposição narrativa inclusive com o magnânimo uso de cliffhanger e como Les Vampires é uma obra original em termos narrativos e por sua vez o cinema está engatinhando nas questões dessa linguagem, me parece que o empréstimo literário de Fântomas foi mais feliz na execução. Mas isso não quer dizer que a Irma Vep não seja uma das grandes viãs de sempre do cinema, a femme fatale original.

Id rather slit my throat while having a donkey take a shit on my chest than watch this again.

exhausting. after the very nice first episode, i was rather disappointed to find out how episodic it was. it's a disjointed mess that peters off into convoluted meaninglessness, and it somehow manages to make these 'vampires' look more like a couple of corner diary thieves than any grand international conspiracy. i did like some of the first parts though. individually, would rate something like this: 6/4/6/5/6/5/3/4/2/3.

I didn't really start getting into it until more than halfway through the series. The story mainly consists of a series of now-familiar plot devices and it might be a bit tough for a modern audience to appreciate it, save for a handful of memorable scenes. The characters and performances are really what make this enjoyable. The frequent touches of comic relief and the extended pantomiming in lieu of expository dialogue is really a joy to watch.

83.000

I liked third episode most. reminded me of Mabuse the Gambler and Bond movies. These serial films (Judex, Fantomas etc.) probably inspire to create fictional organisations like Spectre and Marvel's Hydra.

Imaginative, atmospheric fun with great characters. Very enjoyable stuff. The later episodes aren't as strong, though, and the last one is a bit weak, save the very good climax.

#417

83.500

I really liked the first episodes, but, unfortunately, the later ones didn't impress me that much.

405

393

I've seen about half of Les Vampires, including some of the more "integral" chapters, and while I'm impressed by the thought that went into the stories, I was somewhat bored overall.

# 341