The Vampire (1945) User Reviews

Interesting round-about approach.

[Polaris_DiB · 8/10 · 18 October 2005]

This is a documentary of sorts, though it's largely fantastical in elements. It was done by a French surrealists, so it preoccupies itself with juxtaposing things to create quite odd effects.

The first part of it is sort of an overview of the general weirdness of the animal kingdom. "What poetry, what art inspired your terrifying form?" the narrator says as some sea creature creeps creepily along the floor of the ocean like something out of a German expressionist film.

Then the film gets a little into Murnau's classic Nosferatu, which eventually leads to discussion about what vampire bats are like, illustrated with a live Guinea Pig. The approach is quite interesting along with being somewhat self-aware. Jazz music scores it to bring us back to the sort of New Orleans voudou tradition of vampires.

It also has stuff that speaks subtextually about Nazi Germany and the like. Thus, for a documentary titled "Le Vampire", it certainly covers a lot of different types of horrors of the world. It's quite fantastic.

--PolarisDiB

Brutal, but fascinating

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 19 March 2016]

"Le vampire" or "The Vampire" is a French documentary from over 70 years ago. It is in black-and-white and obviously in French, so get subtitles as it is essential to understand what the narrator is saying in order to understand this one. First half of the film is basically in general about vampirism in the world of animals, which means we see a couple creatures that suck blood from others such as ticks for example. Second half of the movie is more specific and we see the concrete example of a certain bat and how it works its way into the bloodstream of a guinea-pig. As somebody with guinea-pigs myself, this was kinda painful to watch I must say, but it is still a fascinating nature documentary from an era when they were not frequent at all. This is probably Jean Painlevé's most famous work and you can definitely call him a pioneer in terms of the genre. I recommend these 9 minutes. Thumbs up.

Interesting Documentary

[TheExpatriate700 · 7/10 · 5 February 2015]

Le Vampire is an interesting documentary about the vampire bat. Although it does not feature up-to-date science, having been made seventy years ago, it still remains interesting.

The film benefits from evocative film-making by Jean Painleve. It opens with clips of other films by Painleve showing various bizarre creatures such as the sea-horse. It then goes on to an examination of the vampire bat itself, including a graphic depiction of the bat feeding on a guinea pig. Although the film is not overly gory, it still manages to disturb.

Sensitive viewers should be warned that the portions featuring the guinea pig are rather graphic and it is implied that the bat is allowed to feed until the guinea pig dies. Still, this short is well worth seeking out.

Was Not Expecting What I Got

[gavin6942 · 19 July 2011]

After a look at some strange creatures, the narrator and camera take us to the Chaco forest, on the borders of Paraguay.

I entered this film expecting something to do with vampires, and that is not really what I received. It does have clips from Murnau's "Nosferatu" and uses this to segue to the vampire bat. Painleve sees a parallel between the parasitic vampire and the world of bats.

This film does have some great early animal footage. Not sure how many animal films were around in the 1940s, but certainly not many, and any documentation of animal life is welcome. I almost feel bad for the guinea pig that was being used as a guinea pig.

Not sure how this film was avant garde. Really, it was mostly just an informative film, something you might show as a filmstrip to a classroom.

Speaking of Parasites, Now That Hitler's Gone....

[boblipton · 7/10 · 3 September 2018]

I'm not sure what Jean Painlevé was doing between 1939 and 1945, but it may have had something to do with the fact that he was the son of a Prime Minister of France, a scientist in his own right, a film maker, and there happened to be a war going on that was distracting people and sucking the lifeblood from such necessary projects as this one.

Get it? Well, I don't have sharp a sense of humor as the director, who filled this one with lots of Jazz music, from the Hot Fives and Hot Sevens, even as he starts out telling us about all the ugly, filthy disgusting creatures that infest our planet. Did this start out as a war documentary? Were the various disgusting creatures going to be followed by Hitler, and then came word that he was dead. "Alors!" says our auteur. "No need to waste all that footage. I'll just make it about.....bats. Or maybe haggis. No, I'll go with bats."

Boy is this one disgusting. The trouble is, like all of Painlevé's stuff, it's accurate.

Blood

[bob998 · 8/10 · 26 February 2022]

I was in my twenties when I saw Franju's short Le sang des betes, a pretty bloody essay on French slaughterhouses; this might make a squeamish person faint. Painleve's short is not in the same class of animal horror, but it's fun to watch anyway.

LE VAMPIRE {Short} (Jean Painlevé, 1939-45) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 5/10 · 16 January 2014]

This has nothing to do with the undead vampire of folklore, but rather a nature documentary about bloodsucking members of the animal world – including a few insects, but concentrating especially on the vampire bat. The critter is shown in uncomfortable close-up literally burrowing for sustenance into the cheek of a unfortunate guinea pig!

The 6-year shooting schedule for what amounts to just 9 minutes of film is baffling – unless WWII and the Nazi occupation of France made it difficult for the director to operate at his leisure! Incidentally, just as mysteriously, 23 of his efforts were released on DVD by Criterion (of all companies!) under the collective moniker SCIENCE IS FICTION…but, it is safe to say, that I will not be bothering to find out what makes them worthy of such 'prestigious' branding!