Reviews: Vampyr (1932) Movie Review
- Related: [ Movie Details for Vampyr ]
Subgenres: Creatures, Twisted Mystery, Possession, Vampires
Horror fans searching for a breakdown of Vampyr (1932) will find our review covers the plot, themes, and the shocking ending everyone talks about.
Vampyr (1932) is a 1h 15 min German fantasy horror cult film that was shot in Abbaye de Braye, Braye, Aisne, France; Montargis, Loiret, France; Presbytere and Oise, France. The film was based on elements from J. Sheridan Le Fanu‘s supernatural stories from In a Glass Darkly. Danish director and screenplay writer Carl Theodor Dreyer (The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Gertrud (1964), Ordet (1955)) did a marvelous job executing this cult classic film. Vampyr contains mysterious atmosphere throughout, minor violence, gothic horror, vampire, poison, skull and crossbones, deal with the devil, stake in the heart, serial killer, bloodsuckers, and suspense.
Viewers are warned that Vampyr is somewhat difficult to understand on its first viewing, so it is best for viewers to see this film at least twice before judging. There are some interesting images and eerie, moody atmosphere that viewers who enjoy older movies will adore. The narrative style is, however, unusual as there is not much dialogue in this black and white film.
Allan Grey (Julian West) spends a night at an inn while traveling across the countryside. It did not take long during his night at the inn for strange things to start happening including an old man entering his room mentioning that "The girl mustn’t die" and leaving a parcel that reads to only open after the old man is dead. He saw shadows that are not cast from anything/figure, but the weirder thing is that a one-legged soldier’s shadow walking across the room and… you will have to watch the movie to see what the shadow did, Allan decides to follow a few shadows to an old castle and sees the old man who had to enter his room, but the old man was on his last breath. The old man’s daughter has a severe case of anemia, and the doctors cannot help her, but maybe Allan will be able to save her after he tries to rid all of the vampires from the area. He learned about the vampires after opening the box from the old man.
Vampyr is a film that every vampire fan might not enjoy because it was eerie, haunting, unsettling and I would not classify it as a horror film because there was nothing traditionally horrific and scary in it.
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Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Vampyr Rating Scores
- Our Score: 8/10
- Overall Score: 8.39/10
- IMDB: 7.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 9.8/10
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