31 Days of Horror: Vampyr

Vampyr - Der Traum des Allan Grey (1932)

Carl Theodor Dreyer ( The Passion of Joan of Arc) directed this loose adaptation of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 's 1872 short story Carmilla.

Allan Gray (Julian West) arrives at an inn in the village of Courtempierre. Once he arrives there - he is drawn into a series of weird occurrences involving an old man's daughter who is the victim of a vampyr or vampire.

This was Danish filmmaker Dreyer's first sound feature - although he uses it sparsely. The film is eerily shot - with a faded washed out look - creating an almost dream / nightmare like appearance. There are several really creepy moments like when the main character is buried alive.

This was the first of the often filmed Carmilla - the story was written 25 years before Bram Stoker's Dracula and probably influenced Stoker. Plus it was the first lesbian vampire - this was down played in this film where the vampire (vampyr) is an old woman but Hammer Productions exploited that particular aspect in their adaptations in the 1970's (The Vampire Lovers, Lust for a Vampire, Twins of Evil).