THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS Movie Review

Pardon Me, Your Teeth Are in My Neck
Dance of the Vampires

Professor Abronsius (Jack McGowran) and his bumbling assistant Alfred (Roman Polanski) bring along a sack full of wooden stakes when they visit the desolate, Transylvanian castle where they hope to destroy an ancient family of vampires. For years I've read heavily qualified, polite reviews of Roman Polanski's 1967 The Fearless Vampire Killers. Most of the reviews talk about how the film was butchered by its American distributor (it was indeed). They talk about how infuriated Polanski was by this, and how he tried to have his name removed from the credits (he did try, unsuccessfully). They talk about the poignancy of seeing Sharon Tate in the film, with fangs for teeth and blood dripping from the corners of her mouth (it is tough to look at that scene, even today). What few of the reviews point out, however, is that The Fearless Vampire Killers (which has been restored) is a knockout. That a comedy can be this saturated not just with blood but with dread and still be deeply, darkly hilarious is quite a feat. There are fabulous set pieces in the picture—the ball of the vampires, the prowl along the roof of the castle—but it's the consistency of Polanski's comic tone that's so remarkable. This is a simple but subversive little story about how, despite our best intentions, evil occasionally triumphs. The Fearless Vampire Killers is a comedy, but one without comic relief; there are no concessions to the audience's equilibrium and no escape, not even in the unhappy ending. But it's a visionary work, and a visually thrilling one as well (do your best to see it letterboxed, or better yet, on the big screen). Polanski once accurately reminded an interviewer: “What is horrible to you is not necessarily horrible to me.” Though his art has always reminded us of that which makes us “uncomfortable,” perhaps it's time—in this sanitized cinematic era—to be grateful for that. Perhaps it's time for this extraordinary artist to receive a little unqualified praise.

NEXT STOP … Repulsion, Rosemary's Baby, The Tenant

1967 98m/C GB Jack MacGowran, Roman Polanski, Alfie Bass, Jessie Robbins, Sharon Tate, Ferdinand “Ferdy” Mayne, lain Quarrier, Terry Downes, Fiona Lewis, Ronald Lacey; D: Roman Polanski; W: Gerard Brach, Roman Polanski; C: Douglas Slocombe. VHS, LV, Letterbox MGM