Roman Polanski's 1967 horror-comedy The Fearless Vampire Killers is a unique and enjoyable vintage film with a great plot, attention to detail, and humor. While it's an exciting movie, not a single vampire is killed throughout the entire two-hour movie. The film's suspense and humor make up for the lack of violence and gore. I particularly enjoy the title, which sarcastically refers tothe two main characters, “The Vampire Killers” who are in no way fearless. Throughout the movie they shriek and cry out in fear like little children in a haunted house. As a vampire and vintage film buff, I would certainly recommend this film for vampire and horror fans that enjoy classic frights and campy dialogue. As a fan of comedy, I would recommend this film for people that enjoy subtle and chuckle worthy humor.The storyline harkens back memories of a time when vampires weren't sensitive pansies living in a suburban high school environment, but brideless Transylvanian counts living in huge creepy castles. The film's intentional plot cliches act as a tribute to the classic vampire films of old, like Dracula. In the film there are two settings, the village, and the castle. The first setting gets underway when a vampire expert, Professor Abronsius, and his assistant, Alfred, are frostbitten from riding a sleigh across the beautifully filmed wintery Transylvanian countryside. As their sleigh rolls into a village clad in garlic, the village people help bring the pair back to health. During this recovery period, Alfred, played by Roman Polanski, becomes romantically attracted to Sarah, the beautiful innkeeper's daughter, played by Sharon Tate. In the meantime, Abronsius, through careful research and hilarious evidence gathering, discovers that the village is enslaved by the cliched, walking vampire stereotype: Count von Krolock, who looks like he came off the cover of a Count Chocula cereal box. But just as Abronsius breaks the news to Alfred, Krolock, in need of a bride, kidnaps Sarah and takes her to his big spooky castle and bites her in the neck in standard vampirical fashion. It was then up to Abronsius and Alfred to rescue the damsel in distress.
I was impressed with how big and lavishly detailed Krolock's castle was in the film, which is where setting two takes place. After the two sneak into the castle to rescue Sarah, Krolock discovers and imprisons the pair. But in a completely slapstick and unrealistic scene, the two heat up water in an old cannon stowed nearby and use it as a sort of gunpowder and shoot a hole in the wall. I extremely enjoyed this scene because it reminded me of an old Three Stooges where they put bullets into a meat grinder, crank the handle, and fire the meat grinder like a machine-gun, killing the bandits attacking them. Alfred then poses as a vampire and goes to a vampire masquerade ball in order to rescue Sarah as everyone dances, but the plan hilariously backfires when Alfred dances in front of a mirror, and all the vampires see that he's a human. Now with a hoard of vampires on his tail, Alfred takes Sarah and elude the vampires in a particularly long but enjoyable chase scene similar to the 1969 film Planet of the Apes. Abronsius, Sarah, and Alfred then escape the castle. One of my favorite parts of the film was the end. As the three speed away in a sled, Sarah turns into a quite scary looking vampire and bites Alfred, either killing him or turning him into a vampire. As the credits roll to spooky music, a narrator explains that Sarah's vampirism spreads throughout the world. I love happy endings. When I watched The Fearless Vampire Killers, I never ceased to be impressed by the film's attention to detail. I give Roman Polanski kudos for how genuine the setpieces look in this movie, especially Krolock's castle. The castle is enormous and “horrified” to fit the movie's plot. In several scenes, it's possible to see macabre paintings, coffins, spiders, and cobwebs, very impressive details for such an old movie. All of the outfits in the movie look authentic to Classical Era clothing, especially during the masquerade ball scene where the vampires luxuriously wear powdered wigs and petticoats like 18th century French royalty comparative to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. While not as impressive as the castle setpiece, I was still impressed by the authentic and rustic look of the Transylvanian village. I particularly enjoyed the use of “extras” as villagers which gives a realistic feeling to the garlic clad hamlet. My favorite aspect of The Fearless Vampire Killers was the film's humor. In almost every scene, it seemed like I was chuckling at a line of dialogue or a completely ridiculous happening (like a water powered cannonball). I think I had more fun watching this film than I had laughing at movies like The Hangover. Thinking back, I could almost consider this film to be a forerunner of “spoof” films like Airplane or Scary Movie. One great thing that The Fearless Vampire Killers has is that the humor isn't as elaborate or stressed as in modern films. From watching this film I've learned that its easy to find simple, classic humor in a world of situational comedies starring Michael Cera as that socially awkward teenager. All you need to do is go back forty years. 4.5 out of 5
I was impressed with how big and lavishly detailed Krolock's castle was in the film, which is where setting two takes place. After the two sneak into the castle to rescue Sarah, Krolock discovers and imprisons the pair. But in a completely slapstick and unrealistic scene, the two heat up water in an old cannon stowed nearby and use it as a sort of gunpowder and shoot a hole in the wall. I extremely enjoyed this scene because it reminded me of an old Three Stooges where they put bullets into a meat grinder, crank the handle, and fire the meat grinder like a machine-gun, killing the bandits attacking them. Alfred then poses as a vampire and goes to a vampire masquerade ball in order to rescue Sarah as everyone dances, but the plan hilariously backfires when Alfred dances in front of a mirror, and all the vampires see that he's a human. Now with a hoard of vampires on his tail, Alfred takes Sarah and elude the vampires in a particularly long but enjoyable chase scene similar to the 1969 film Planet of the Apes. Abronsius, Sarah, and Alfred then escape the castle. One of my favorite parts of the film was the end. As the three speed away in a sled, Sarah turns into a quite scary looking vampire and bites Alfred, either killing him or turning him into a vampire. As the credits roll to spooky music, a narrator explains that Sarah's vampirism spreads throughout the world. I love happy endings. When I watched The Fearless Vampire Killers, I never ceased to be impressed by the film's attention to detail. I give Roman Polanski kudos for how genuine the setpieces look in this movie, especially Krolock's castle. The castle is enormous and “horrified” to fit the movie's plot. In several scenes, it's possible to see macabre paintings, coffins, spiders, and cobwebs, very impressive details for such an old movie. All of the outfits in the movie look authentic to Classical Era clothing, especially during the masquerade ball scene where the vampires luxuriously wear powdered wigs and petticoats like 18th century French royalty comparative to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. While not as impressive as the castle setpiece, I was still impressed by the authentic and rustic look of the Transylvanian village. I particularly enjoyed the use of “extras” as villagers which gives a realistic feeling to the garlic clad hamlet. My favorite aspect of The Fearless Vampire Killers was the film's humor. In almost every scene, it seemed like I was chuckling at a line of dialogue or a completely ridiculous happening (like a water powered cannonball). I think I had more fun watching this film than I had laughing at movies like The Hangover. Thinking back, I could almost consider this film to be a forerunner of “spoof” films like Airplane or Scary Movie. One great thing that The Fearless Vampire Killers has is that the humor isn't as elaborate or stressed as in modern films. From watching this film I've learned that its easy to find simple, classic humor in a world of situational comedies starring Michael Cera as that socially awkward teenager. All you need to do is go back forty years. 4.5 out of 5
