Les Vampires is a six hour long film, split into episodes of various lengths, from an hour to only 15 minutes. I shall update this post as I watch further episodes.
As of 20th March 2016, I have watched Part 1 only.
The Story
Part 1 - The severed Head
Phillipe, a hotshot journalist is investigating reports of Vampires in a part of France that he grew up in. His editor sends him there to follow up reports of the headless body of the inspector in charge of vampire investigations being discovered. He contacts an old friend of his fathers, a Doctor Nox, who owns a nearby castle after the local magistrate refuses to allow him to stay at the courts.
He arrives on the day that Dr Nox is selling the castle to a millionaire American woman, Mrs Simpson. They both stay the night. Phillipe locks his room when he retires after turning down a nightcap, but wakes in the night to find a mysterious note in his pocket, warning him to cease his search, or he will suffer bad fortune. Searching for how the note got into his pocket, he finds a painting which slides open to reveal a secret passage in the walls.
While Mrs Simpson sleeps, her prized jewellry, that she never allows to leave her person is stolen by a masked thief who entered her room by another secret door . We see the masked figure enter Phillipe's room once more.
The next morning, Phillipe takes breakfast with Dr Nox, and discovers Mrs Simpsons cigarette case in his pocket, shortly before Mrs Simpson screams for help from the window having discovered the missing jewellry. Phillipe rushes to his car and has his servant drive him away. Dr Nox tells Mrs Simpson of the cigarette case and that his running away proves his guilt.
Phillipe has not run away however, he has gone to the magistrate. He tells the story of the secret doors and explains that he is being framed for the robbery, probably to get rid of him. Shortly after, Dr Nox and Mrs Simpon arrive at the magistrates to accuse Phillipe. The magistrate shows them into a waiting room while Phillipe hides from them, and he orders a police officer to guard them in the room while he investigates the secret door.
The magstrate and Phillipe drive to the castle and Phillipe shows him the door behind the painting, inside is a box that couldn't be seen in the darkness of night. Inside the box is the severed head of the inspector. They rush back to the courts, only to discover the dead body of Mrs Simpson alongside Dr Nox's clothes. There is a note from the vampire explaining that he had killed and assumed the identity of Dr Nox. We then watch the vampire make his escape across the courthouse roof.
The Visuals
The film employs a great use of tints, orange for a lit interior, blue for a nighttime interior and green for outside in the day. Apart from this, it is relatively simple from a cinematography persepctive, relying on it's story to captivate the viewer.
The Sound
This is a silent film, and the version I watched was unscored.
What I learned
The Story
The film is a thriller, a murder mystery. I am personally very fond of this genre and it was exciting for me to watch such an early example. I love how the viewer is subverted, we trust Dr Nox from the outset, he is introduced as a personal friend of the protagonist's father, yet he clearly masterminded a situation in which he stole the riches of Mrs Simpson and managed, despite his late, unexpected arrival, to frame Phillipe as if it was always ever his plan.
The visuals
The tinting is a blunt instrument compared to modern grading, yet it works well as an atmospheric device. It is important in communicating when Phillipe has turned his light on and off as well, and allows us to understand what has happened without actually darkening and underexposing the scene.