Vampire Flicks: The Fearless Vampire Killers (Dance of the Vampires) (1967)

Though I learned of the title in The Amazing, Colossal Book of Horror Trivia, which I've had since 2002, the first image I ever saw from The Fearless Vampire Killers was in another book, The Rough Guide To Horror Movies, which I got back in 2006. It was featured in the first chapter, The History, which provided an overview of the genre throughout the 20th century and beyond, specifically in a section which charged that, in the 60's, Roman Polanski, "Covered every significant Sixties trend with his distinguished terror-filled trio" (the other two movies in that trio were Repulsion and, of course, Rosemary's Baby). The image was of Polanski's character, Alfred, attempting to stake the vampire, Count von Krolock, while he's resting in his coffin (which he fails miserably in the actual movie). That and the idea that the movie was a horror-comedy meant as a send-up of the Hammer movies was all I knew of it for decades until 2023, when I found the Warner Archive Blu-Ray at that year's G-Fest (I had planned on watching and reviewing it as part of my Screams of Laughter October Fest, but it didn't work out). It wasn't something I was actively looking for but, rather, part of my usual big haul that I always come away from that convention with. In fact, when I saw the Blu-Ray on the vendor's table (the same vendor I've mentioned before, i.e. the one I tend to buy a lot of stuff from), I was a bit hesitant, as I'm not a big fan of Rosemary's Baby, but, at the same time, because of my love of not only Hammer but Gothic horror in general, I couldn't pass it up. If nothing else, I knew it would be well-made and stylish, which is par for the course with Polanski, and just hoped that it would also be both genuinely funny and a truly loving, affectionate tribute. And when I watched it, I found I was right on two of those points: it is very well-made on a technical level, and does invoke many of the classic tropes, not only from the Hammer movies but other vampire movies in general, which I appreciated.

But, unfortunately, it's in not only in the comedy but also the characters and story where the movie falls flat for me. Yeah, sad to say, but I'm not a fan of this. I've now watched it three times and I just cannot get into it. Not only are there just a handful of scenes and moments that really make me laugh (which, I'll admit, could be due to a cultural disconnect just as much as it is my personal sense of humor), but the characters, including the two leads, are so overly quirky and unlike real people that I find myself unable to get invested in them. It also doesn't help that, despite having an average movie length of under two hours, it feels too long and slow, and I find myself wishing it would hurry up and end by the time we get to the climax. Between this and Rosemary's Baby (I have also seen Polanski's Macbeth, but that was way back when I was in high school), I'm beginning to think that Polanski's artistic sensibilities just aren't on my wavelength.

In the mid-19th century, Prof. Abronsius, a formerly of the University of Konigsberg, and his assistant, Alfred, journey across Central Europe to prove the existence of vampires. They arrive at a small village in Transylvania on a bitterly cold, snowy night in December and stay at an inn, which, Abronsius notes, has numerous cloves of garlic hanging from the ceiling and around the windows. When he asks the innkeeper, Yoyneh Shagal, of this, as well as if there is a castle in the area, both he and the villagers are reluctant to answer (though one of them does blurt out that there is one). The professor is sure that this is proof of vampires; Alfred, on the other hand, becomes perplexed when Shagal harshly punishes his daughter, Sarah, for merely taking a bath. The next morning, both he and Abronsius see him board up the exterior entrance to the bathroom, which adjoins their room. Later that day, an ugly hunchback, the sight of whom frightens Shagal's servant, Magda, appears at the inn, receiving a delivery of candles from the innkeeper. Thinking he may be tied in with the vampires, Abronsius has Alfred follow him, but he proves unsuccessful in learning anything. That night, Sarah, irritated with how her father keeps her locked up, and wanting to take another bath, persuades Alfred, who is smitten with her, to help prepare one for her. However, the vicinity's vampire lord, Count von Krolock, comes in through the bathroom skylight and abducts her while she's bathing. Incensed at this, Shagal rushes out into the night to rescue her, but the next morning, several men bring back his frozen body. Inspecting him, Abronsius finds fang marks on his wrist, leg, and abdomen. Before they can stake him, Shagal rises as a vampire himself and attacks Magda, whom he always lusted for as a human. Abronsius and Alfred chase him around the inn, then off into the snowy countryside, his trail leading them to Castle Krolock. Breaking into the old building, they eventually meet the Count, who claims to be an admirer of the professor's work. He offers to let them stay the night, which they accept, hoping for an opportunity to destroy the Count, while Alfred is concerned with rescuing Sarah.

In the context of both Roman Polanski's career and life, The Fearless Vampire Killers is significant in many ways. For one, it marks the end of his initial filmmaking period in Europe, beginning with 1962's Knife in the Water, and then followed by Repulsion and Cul-de-sac. In fact, when grouped with those latter two, it's also the end of a sort of trilogy he made while he was living in London, before he came to Hollywood for Rosemary's Baby. By extension, it was the last of three consecutive movies he co-wrote with Frenchman Gerard Brach, though the two of them would reunite when Polanski began making movies in Europe again after fleeing from the United States, working together on Tess, Pirates, Frantic, and Bitter Moon. It was the first movie he made in color, and his first on a considerable budget, following his much more modest previous works. Most significantly, in regards to his personal life, it was the movie where he met Sharon Tate (whose presence here, sadly, makes it all the more uncomfortable to watch).

I won't deny that, as much as I can't really connect with them, Polanski and Jack MacGowran are memorable in their respective roles of Alfred and Professor Abronsius. When you break them down, their characters are pretty simple. Abronsius, for instance, is an elderly, doddering fool who's obsessed with proving that vampires are real but is clearly not physically up to the task of traveling across Central Europe to do it (he nearly freezes to death when they first reach the village). Still, when they arrive at the inn and he sees possible signs that there are vampires in the area (all of the garlic, the villagers' unwillingness to acknowledge it, and their sharp, contradictory denial of a castle), he's ecstatic and eager to investigate any further clues. In fact, when he sees the fang marks on Yoyneh Shagal's frozen body, he's almost overjoyed, and calls the villagers out on their willful ignorance when they try to say he was killed by wolves. He then tries to convince Shagal's wife that he must be staked through the heart, but she nearly stakes Abronsius himself over the suggestion. And by the time he and Alfred get around to doing it themselves, Shagal resurrects and they have to chase him around the inn and out into the snowy landscape, leading them to Castle Krolock's. Upon meeting the Count, Abronsius matches wits with him, as von Krolock claims to be an admirer of his research on bats, with the professor continuously pulling stuff out of thin air to explain why he and Alfred came to the castle. Abronsius later admits that he actually admires how the Count "held his own" during their conversation (he was clearly just humoring him by pretending to go along with his arguments). Despite knowing for sure that he's a vampire, they stay the night in his castle, with Abronsius planning on staking the Count when he's resting in his coffin, while Alfred is more interested in finding and rescuing Sarah.

Speaking of the latter, a recurring motif with Abronsius is that he's so intent on proving the existence of vampires that virtually nothing else matters to him. He's overjoyed when he finds signs of actual vampires when they first arrive at the village, and couldn't care less about how weary Alfred is by this point or that the villagers are clearly being terrorized. And like I said, he's practically giddy when he sees the fang marks all over Shagal's frozen body, and is really insensitive about Rebecca Shagal's grief

over her husband or the terror it's put into those who found him. This motif continues when they chase the now vampiric Shagal to Castle Krolock, despite Abronsius having promised to perform a blood transfusion on Magda, the inn's maid, who was bitten by Shagal. The same goes for when he takes up the Count's invitation to spend the night at the castle, putting both himself and Alfred in potential danger. He even decides not to barricade their room, telling Alfred, "The best thing is to sleep with one eye open. 

Or to take the watch, in turns." And he's so intent on staking the vampires, as well as excited by the clues they continue to find, that he's dismissive of Alfred's concern for Sarah. Similarly, he's so fascinated with science that he sometimes forgets the situation he and the others are in, stopping to examine something he finds fascinating. When Alfred is carrying him across the castle roof, after saving him while he was stuck in an opening in the crypt's wall, Abronsius goes on about the beautiful sunset is and how the vampires will soon rise from their graves, adding, "It is the 

order of things." This continues when, in the next scene, they're in the library, when they should be preparing for the vampires to arrive or trying to find Sarah; instead, Abronsius wishes he had the time to go through the numerous books and research material there. Then, he walks up some stairs, which lead to an observatory, and takes the time to look through the telescope, at the planet Saturn. Even when they're running from the vampires during the climax, he has to stop and look at some bats he sees hanging from the ceiling down in the castle's cellars! And in the end, he not only fails to kill a single vampire, but unknowingly gives them the opportunity to spread across the world.

Alfred is a shy, awkward, and introverted little man scares easily, often letting out a high-pitched gasp. Unlike his older but more driven mentor, Alfred comes off as very weary over all of this traveling across Europe in search of vampires. He looks like he's almost at the end of his rope when, shortly after they've arrived at the inn and been shown to their room, Abronsius excitedly raves about how they're coming close to finally achieving their goal. During the first act, he also has the misfortune of seeing things that no one else does. During the sleigh ride in the opening, he alone has to fight off a pack of "wolves" that attack the sleigh, something that goes unnoticed by both Abronsius, who's nearly frozen to death, and the sled's driver. More significantly, he's the sole witness to Count von Krolock's abduction of Sarah (although, fortunately, no one disbelieves him). And when the Count's hunchbacked servant, Koukol, shows up at the inn, Abronsius tasks Alfred with following him. Alfred does hitch a ride on the back of his sleigh, only to witness Koukol chase after a dog, which he seems to actually eat off-screen! He's so shocked by this that he lets go of the sleigh and gets left behind in the snow. His butt-monkey status only increases when they get to the castle, as he loses his nerve when tasked with staking the Count while he's sleeping, has to remove Abronsius from an opening he gets stuck in, then carry him back across the castle's roof, and finds himself preyed upon by the Count's gay son, Herbert. Through it all, what Alfred really cares about is rescuing Sarah, whom he's become infatuated with. In fact, in that regard, he's no better than Abronsius when they're milling around the library instead of getting moving, as he looks through and takes a small book called A Hundred Goodlie Ways of Avowing One's Sweet Love To A Comlie Damozel. And even though he and Abronsius do manage to escape the castle with Sarah that proves to be their undoing in and of itself.

Even though Alfred does seem to admire and even have affection for Abronsius, the professor is actually pretty crappy to him. Not only is he insensitive to his assistant's needs or what he's going through, and saddles him with some unenviable tasks, like tailing Koukol from the inn, but he tends to put down Alfred and even kind of bully him. When Alfred suggests the castle may not have a crypt, Abronsius dismisses what he says as foolish, then pompously asks, "You're not going to start arguing with me like my colleagues

from Konigsberg, huh?" When he gets stuck in the opening in the crypt, he charges Alfred with staking the vampires, and when he's aghast at the idea, Abronsius flat-out says that he's ordering him to. He continues to berate and insult Alfred as he fumbles around and then loses his nerve for it. Again, when he frees Abronsius and carries him back across the roof, the professor is completely oblivious to Alfred's exhaustion and physical strain, as he talks about nature. And when Alfred runs into him while being chased by Herbert, Abronsius accuses him of fooling around, and once they've eluded him, he asks if Alfred did something to provoke him and doesn't seem to buy his denial.

The lovely Sharon Tate plays Sarah, Yoyneh Shagal's free-spirited daughter who chafes at her father's strict, overprotective nature, especially when it comes to her "curious habit" of taking a bath every day, which she says she picked up during her time at school. In fact, she's in the middle of a bath when both Alfred and Abronsius first see her, and Shagal proceeds to actually spank her and then board up the bathroom's exterior door in response. But she persuades Alfred to let her reach it through the door that adjoins it to his and the professor's room, and to help her prepare the bath itself. However, this leads to her being abducted by Count von Krolock, who comes in through the bathroom's skylight. Much later, Alfred comes upon her in the castle, while she's, of course, bathing. He tells her that he's come to save her, and she, in turn, tells him that the Count is planning to throw a ball at midnight. She disappears after she tells him to turn his back, under the ruse that she's putting her clothes on, and she's not seen again until the ball, where the Count presents her to his vampire cult as another imminent member. Alfred and Abronsius manage to infiltrate the ball, find Sarah, as she dances with the Count and the other vampires. Despite their being discovered and chased by the throngs of vampires, they manage to escape with her. But, as they escape on a sleigh, Sarah turns into a vampire herself and attacks Alfred, which Abronsius is completely oblivious of.

Yoyneh Shagal (Alfie Bass) is simultaneously the sleaziest, yet most hilarious character in the movie. When Alfred and Abronsius first arrive at the inn, Shagal welcomes them with open arms and sees that they have a pan of warm water to stick their freezing feet in. Though he, like everyone else, evades the professor's questions about all of the garlic hanging about and if there is a castle in the vicinity, he continues acting accommodating to them, boasting about his inn and happily showing them to their room. But, when he catches Sarah bathing in the small bathroom that adjoins theirs, he harshly spanks her as a punishment, admonishing her for always having to take a bath. He even goes as far as to board up the bathroom's exterior door the next morning. Late that first night, Shagal proves to be a pervert when he slips out of bed with his wife, Rebecca, and goes up to the room where his servant, Magda, sleeps. Uncomfortably referring to her as "my good little fairy," he attempts to take off his nightshirt in order to try on the one she's mending for him, but then has to hide when Rebecca wakes up and comes looking for him. (He tries to go to Magda again the following night, but Rebecca catches him this time.) The next day, he conducts some business with Count von Krolock's servant, giving him some supplies that he rides off with, but that night, he's horrified when the Count breaks into the inn and abducts Sarah. Shagal heads out to rescue her, eating some of the garlic they'd hung up, possibly hoping it may act as protection. It doesn't, as his frozen body is brought back the next day, with fang marks here and there, and his blood completely drained.

Shagal gets even funnier, as well as more deviant, when he becomes a vampire. Upon resurrecting and leading Alfred and Abronsius on a chase through the inn, he heads straight for Magda's room yet again. When faced with him, she pulls out a cross, only for him to laugh at her and say, "Have you got the wrong vampire!" (he's Jewish), before biting her offscreen. He also hides from the others in her room, behind the door, like he did when he was human. Later, at the castle, Shagal waltzes into the crypt where the Count 

and Herbert sleep, carrying his own coffin and putting it on the floor like a sleeping bag. However, Koukol the hunchback isn't having it, and motions for him to leave, as Shagal protests, "I'm not disturbing a soul here! There's plenty of room, people can pass over here." Koukol proceeds to drag him and his coffin out of the crypt and him down into the horse stables, as Shagal complains, "Please, it's not comfortable here. It's dirty here. Look, the day is coming. There's too much light here for me." Koukol goes as far as to 

drag his coffin right up alongside the horse and put the lid on. After he leaves, you can still hear Shagal complaining, "What can you do with such people? Hunchback swine. What does it cost? Does it cost him anything? He should leave me in there. Why does he bring me in here?" Alfred later finds him snuggling with Herbert in the latter's coffin in the crypt. When he rises the following evening, he goes back to the inn and abducts Magda, bringing her back to the castle in order to make her his own vampire 

bride. He still acts all pervy towards her, trying to get her to change into the dress she's to wear at the ball while he watches. Overhearing this through a chimney, Abronsius shouts back down into it, acting as though he's the voice of God, prompting Shagal to get down on his knees and beg forgiveness. He actually does so in order to make sure that Shagal's horse still has its sleigh hitched outside, but he also tells him to leave Magda alone. Shagal says he will, but when we cut back to him, he has blood around his mouth and Magda is lying on the floor, dead, as he apparently drained too much blood. He then pulls her body into an open grave and shuts the coffin lid.

Rebecca Shagal (Jessie Robins) is a big, heavyset woman who is well aware of her husband's infatuation with Magda, and is about ready to beat his ass when she first realizes he's gone to her room. She awakens in the middle of the night to find he's not in bed and angrily yells for him, before grabbing a big link of bratwurst and carrying it like a club. When she looks in Magda's room, she doesn't find Shagal, as he hides behind the door; instead, she ends up clocking Abronsius in the head with the bratwurst when he and Alfred sneak upstairs to see what's going on. The next day, Abronsius demands to know who hit him, but both Rebecca and her husband plead the fifth. Regardless of the problems she has with him, she's utterly distraught when Shagal's frozen body is brought back after he goes out to rescue Sarah. Her best moment comes when Abronsius tries to explain to her that she must drive a stake through Shagal's heart. It takes a little bit for him to make her understand, and when she does, she turns on the professor, coming at him with the stake and growling, "You stupid, old goat! Stick it?! I'll stick this right through you, you old fool!" This, naturally, sends both Abronsius and Alfred running back to their room in a panic. 

Poor Magda (Fiona Lewis) doesn't have much to do except be lusted over, not only by Shagal, both as a human and as a vampire, but by Alfred. When he and Abronsius first arrive at the inn, he can't help but stare at her large breasts while she's pouring the hot water in the pan for the two of them. And when Koukol shows up at the inn, prompting her to hide beneath the table, Alfred crawls under there with her and plays around with her top, prompting her to slap his hand. Her most notable moments come when Shagal first enters her room as she's mending his nightshirt and she threatens to scream if he tries to take off the one he's wearing, and during the third act, when the vampire Shagal abducts her back to Castle Krolock. There, while she is excited about going to the ball and meeting the Count, she ends up dying when Shagal bites her neck and doesn't become a vampire. Still, like I said, Shagal does, disgustingly, find use for her body besides.

I'm pretty sure that Count von Krolock (Ferdy Mayne) is modeled on Christopher Lee's Dracula from the Hammer films, even though there had only been two at that time (not counting The Brides of Dracula, which Lee isn't in), with the second being released the year before this. The image of him as this tall, sophisticated, fairly debonair older man is very much akin to Lee's Dracula, at least when he puts on the facade of a normal human, and his black cape with the red interior also makes me think of Lee (though the same went for Bela Lugosi's cape). He's also very similar to Dr. Ravna in Hammer's The Kiss of the Vampire, both in how he comes off as a fairly gracious host when Abronsius and Alfred first meet him, and how he's the leader of this vampire cult that's gathered at his castle. The only thing he's not is intimidating. That's likely not the point, since this is mostly meant to be a comedy, but still, save for his first appearance, when he's being driven back to the inn via Koukol's sleigh, and abducts Sarah from the bathroom through the skylight, von Krolock is never all that menacing. I do like how he goes along with Abronsius' rambling about his research and his claims that he and Alfred were chasing after a bat that was active during the winter (which he says was flying while asleep), asking the professor questions to see if he can defend his claims. He's also, as Abronsius notes, brazen when it comes to his vampirism, telling them, "I'm a night bird. I am not much good in the daytime," and when he shows them to their rooms, he messes with them a bit, putting them in separate rooms, then adding, "The rooms... communicate." But, during the third act, he doesn't do anything that memorable. He does threaten to torture Abronsius and Alfred for all eternity once they've been made into vampires, tells them of his plans to spread his cult across the world, and points out how much happier Shagal is as a vampire, but I don't find him that compelling. And he does nothing memorable during the climax, as when Abronsius and Alfred escape with Sarah, he sends Koukol after them, rather than going himself.

More memorable, albeit with less screentime, is Herbert (Iain Quarrier), the Count's son. While we know there are plenty of lesbian vampires, Herbert may be the first full-on gay male vampire who ever appeared in the movies When he meets Abronsius and Alfred, he immediately takes an interest in the latter, closing the distance between them in order to shake his hand, and he can also be seen thinking about him before he and his father retire for the day. During the third act, Alfred comes upon Herbert while he's preparing himself a bath, wearing only a nightshirt and, maybe, something to cover his unmentionables. He immediately comes onto Alfred, calling him pale and sickly, and gets really touchy-feely with him. He insists he needs "a little rest" and guides him over to the bed, sitting next to him on its edge. Ignoring Alfred's question about the ball, Herbert instead notes that his eyelashes, "Look like golden threads," and says he has a "pretty head," before confirming that there is a ball and Alfred will be able to dance there. He then gets up and flamboyantly motions around, going, "La-la-la, la-la, la-la-la, la-la." Noting the small book that Alfred is clutching, Herbert takes it and, looking through it and finding it's that book on how to get a woman, notes, "So that's the big secret. Somebody is in love. Somebody's little heart is beating around in their bosom. Pitter-pat, pitter-pat, pitter-pat, like a rat in a cage." He then reads, "Seventieth way: Place the left arm around the shoulders of the loved one. Put the left hand on her left shoulder, like a little birdie alighting on a branch," and does just that to the very uncomfortable Alfred. He then reads, "Then, let an angel pass," asks Alfred, "Shall we allow an angel to pass?", and goes on, "Once the angel has passed, bend the face towards the locks of the loved one and brush them with the lips." Herbert gives Alfred the book back, then drops all pretenses, reveals his fangs, and chases him around the castle. He comes close to biting him twice, but Alfred thwarts him, once by biting him back, on the ear! Both he, and later Abronsius, manage to evade him, but later, von Krolock tells them that, once they're vampires, Alfred and Herbert will, "Learn to know each other better."

Koukol (Terry Downes), the Count's ugly, mute, hunchbacked servant mainly acts as the muscle when it comes to dealing with prisoners, as he chases after Alfred, Abronsius, and Sarah when they escape at the end. He also does various chores like making excursions into town and bringing back supplies, preparing rooms for the Count's "guests," doing the same for the Count and Herbert's coffins in the crypt, and even bringing Alfred and Abronsius breakfast. Most significantly, when he leaves the inn with all those candles, we see why Magda hid from him: he sees Sarah looking at him through the window, sneers at her with his ugly teeth, and that night, brings the Count back to the inn so he can abduct her. He also keeps Alfred and Abronsius from entering the castle crypt through its main door, forcing them to skirt around the roof. While Koukol is, by all accounts, human, he proves to be really savage in the scene where Alfred hitches a ride on the back of his sleigh. Coming across a dog, or wolf, in his path, Koukol chases after the poor thing, kills it offscreen, during which you hear a hideous scream from around the snowdrift, and when he reappears, there's blood all over his mouth, suggesting he ate it! And like I said, there's a funny moment where, for whatever reason, he will not allow Shagal to sleep in the crypt with the Count and Herbert, possibly because he doesn't think he's worthy.

While few of the ancillary characters are that memorable, there is one, listed as the "village idiot" (Ronald Lacey), who's notable for one moment when he blurts out there is, indeed, a castle in the area, while everyone else is denying it. Those sitting around him quickly cover his mouth before he can say anymore but the damage is clearly already done. (If he looks familiar, that's because Lacey would go on to play, among other roles, Agent Toht in Raiders of the Lost Ark.) And the sleigh driver who brings Alfred 

and Abronsius to the inn at the beginning is played by Sydney Bromley, an English character actor who appeared in a number of movies during this period, including some for Hammer, and is also one of the tramps who gets slaughtered near the bridge in An American Werewolf in London. He doesn't get much to do here in his brief screentime, although we do see him ranting and raving about transporting them while he's trying to warm up, and he just about kills himself when bringing in all of their luggage.

While I may not be a big fan of Roman Polanski's movies, and I, obviously, have many misgivings about him as a person, one thing I can't deny is that he's always known where to point the camera, as this movie looks gorgeous. It was the first one he shot in Panavision and it's just lovely, with that 1960's gloss that gave movies made during that period a feeling of prestige. It also helps that the cinematographer was Douglas Slocombe who, among many other notable credits (like the excellent 1945 anthology horror, Dead of Night), would go on to shoot the original

Indiana Jones trilogy. The snowy settings and landscapes in and of themselves make for many a picturesque shot, even during an overcast, bitterly cold day, like Alfred and Abronsius' first actual day at the inn. The nighttime scenes, despite often being obvious day-for-night, also look really beautiful, including both the opening and the ending. Many of the big wide shots of the countryside are clearly augmented with matte paintings, including those aforementioned nighttime shots, as well as when they're making their way across the castle's roof and

you can see the horizon in the distance, but they still look lovely, with the matte paintings actually giving them something of a fairy tale quality. Special mention in that regard must go to the view of the wintertime sunset in the distance as Alfred is forced to carry the nearly frozen Abronsius across the roof, and the surrounding landscape when von Krolock menaces them when they're on the castle's turret. As for actual filmmaking technique, Polanski never gets too showy, save for a couple of POV shots through 

some keyholes. His other most notable examples of camerawork are a handful of long, sustained shots, notably those that follow Alfred as he roams around the castle, or those that follow him and Abronsius around the ballroom when they've disguised themselves and are dancing among the vampires. Speaking of which, that scene in and of itself is not only pleasing to the eye, thanks to the art direction and colorful costumes, but also an example of Polanski's measured and precise direction, given how 

the vampires are in perfect sync with each other as they dance, while Alfred and Abronsius are, by contrast, totally out of sync, not to mention uncoordinated. And the moment at the scene's end, where the two of them and Sarah are revealed to be human, as they're the only ones casting a reflection in a large mirror, was skillfully done with a copy of the ballroom built behind the fake mirror, with three stand-ins for the main actors.

The opening credits are probably the showiest and most visually extravagant part of the movie, beginning with Leo the Lion, after his two roars, suddenly morphing into a green-faced vampire, with red eyes and a little bit of blood running down his long fangs. It's an unexpected and amusing image, and the animation is well done, but it's also rather unsettling. That segues into the opening credits, which scroll up against a gray background that has a simultaneous foggy, snowy, and frosty texture to it, as animated drops of blood drip down onto and around

them. Some of these drops slide down the credits themselves, others fall onto and then run across the tops of the letters, and some even splat when they hit the letters, flinging smaller blood droplets across the screen. Near the end of the credits, one drop morphs into the shape of a bright red bat and flies continuously across the screen, before landing and becoming a flame atop the "I" in Polanski's producer/director credit. At the end of the credits, the camera pulls back to reveal that the background has actually 

been an extreme close-up of the surface of the moon. Another animated bat, this time black instead of red, flies past the screen, and the camera pulls back further to reveal the snowy landscape, as the sleigh comes into view, while the full moon is high in the sky.

Not every part of the movie's direction and production are flawless. There are many instances where the film is sped up, often for comedic effect, and it's obvious because the image quality becomes a bit duller. There are also some very plain uses of rear-screen projection, mostly in the scenes where they're riding the sleighs through the snow, though the most egregious example is the last time you see both Count von Krolock and Herbert, when they watch Koukol chase after Alfred, Abronsius, and Sarah, using a 

coffin as a makeshift sled. Also, because of the use of day-for-night, it can sometimes be difficult to tell what time of day it is, such as when Alfred and Abronsius chase after Shagal when he escapes the inn after becoming a vampire. Judging from those screenshots, you'd swear it was taking place in the middle of the day, wouldn't you? But since Shagal is a vampire, it should actually at night. Though, I should be fair and clarify that this isn't the fault of the 

original filmmakers, as the original nighttime filter effect was removed when the movie was remastered in HD for its American Blu-Ray release. And finally, the editing sometimes feels a little choppy, with scenes ending or fading to black sooner than you'd expect, or cutting from one to the other so suddenly that it can take my brain a second to process it (like how it suddenly goes from the shot of the Count heading towards the inn to Shagal trying to sneak away to Magda, only to hit something that clatters loudly).

Polanski had initially planned to shoot the movie in Austria, in order to use a castle he'd once spotted there while on vacation. But when that didn't work out, he did all of the location shooting in Italy, specifically in the Dolomites, along with studio work at various places throughout England. As I said up above, the location definitely adds to the movie's visual beauty, with all of the lovely snow and vistas, and the initial main setting of the small inn has a rather quaint quality to it. In fact, even though it's in the middle of a very small village, you see so little of 

the rest of this place that you might forget it even is a village and instead think this inn is the one bit of civilization out in the middle of this snowy wasteland. Not only do you feel how cold this place is, but the inn's interiors feel almost medieval, as they're so small and cramped, with the main tavern being probably the most spacious room in the place, aside from the wine cellar. It really gets across how poor this family is, just barely able to make ends meet with their business out there (and yet, Abronsius later 

claims about Shagal charging $4 and not bringing breakfast). The room that Alfred and Abronsius take is really tiny, barely having enough room for their two beds, and the same goes for the adjoining bathroom; the outside corridor that separates their rooms from those of Shagal and his family is also pretty claustrophobic; and Magda has very little room in which to move around in her own room upstairs, which is accessed by a ladder leading up into some attic space.

Of course, Castle Krolock, by contrast, is a massive place, one which looks naturally imposing on the outside (sources differ as to what the actual shooting location was), with high, spike-lined walls and a large family graveyard within them, from which numerous vampires rise on the night of the ball. The interiors are enormous, with a large, main hub area that has an elevated walkway running along the walls; lots of long corridors, filled with old paintings of past family members; von Krolock's big study, where Alfred and Abronsius are first introduced to him, and which is

adjoined by his equally big library, with huge shelves of books and a globe in the middle, and a winding staircase that leads up to an observatory, with a small telescope; various large bedrooms and bathrooms; and a grand, elegant ballroom. Separate from the actual interiors is the crypt, found on the castle's upper floor, housing both the Count and Herbert's coffins, as well as the stable down below, where Koukol forces Shagal to sleep. And a number of scenes take place atop the castle's treacherous roof,

where Alfred and Abronsius attempt to enter the crypt through an opening in the wall. They also become trapped atop the castle's turret, from which they can see the window to the ballroom. Fortunately for them, there's a cannon there that they use to blow open the door. The final touch is how the place is old and dusty, with cobwebs on just about everything, getting across the idea that it hasn't actually been lived in for, perhaps, centuries. And all that art direction just revels in the Gothic, and I love it.

That's another thing I do admire: just how much this is an affectionate spoof of, not only the Hammer movies, but vampire flicks in general. Besides those allusions to Christopher Lee's Dracula and The Kiss of the Vampire, all of the Gothic touches in the art direction can make one think of Hammer. In fact, Abronsius noting all of the garlic when he and Alfred first arrive at the inn is like when Peter Cushing's Dr. Van Helsing arrives at an inn early on in Hammer's first Dracula movie and notes all of the garlic hanging up in there as well. Really, the only thing

missing in this regard is a large amount of gore, be it in the form of necks being bitten or vampires being staked (the latter of which never happens). As for the vampires themselves, while they never turn into bats, most of the usual tropes are here: they have to be staked through the heart, they have to sleep in their coffins or graves during the daytime, they don't cast reflections, and, most notably, they don't like garlic or crosses (and like in other movies, they can also be repelled merely by the vague image of a cross, like 

when Alfred and Abronsius put two decorative swords in the shape of one to temporarily contain the vampires in the ballroom). While the hunchback servant/assistant is a trope more closely associated with Frankenstein, there are still plenty of vampire movies, be they Dracula adaptations or otherwise, where the vampire has at least one loyal human servant. Also, a number of vampire movies have used dogs in the place of what are meant to be wolves, as 

this one does. And, in an allusion that was especially obscure for the time and is still very much so today, Abronsius' look is meant to resemble the character of the village doctor in the 1932 German film, Vampyr, while Alfred's costume is akin to that of Hutter in Nosferatu.

The only aspect of familiar vampire lore that the movie plays fast and loose with is how someone who's been bitten becomes a vampire themself. Shagal seems to become one because, as Abronsius finds upon examining his body, he was totally drained of blood. Simple enough, and a trope that has been featured in past movies. But Sarah and Magda are where things get a bit murky. When Count von Krolock abducts Sarah, he bites her, but throughout the latter half after Alfred finds her at the castle, she's apparently still human, albeit seemingly under the

Count's influence in how she looks forward to the ball and believes the vampires' claims that she will see her father soon. Even though she was previously heard apparently singing in an eerie manner, and mysteriously disappears when Alfred's back is turned, when you see her again at the ball, she's seemingly entranced but, apparently, still human, as her reflection is clear in the mirror, along with her would-be saviors. But, while she's escaping with them on the sleigh, Alfred comments that her hand feels cold, which initially seems like it could just be due to the

frigid night air, only for her to suddenly bare her fangs and bite his neck. It's more confusing with Magda. Again, when Shagal comes to her after becoming a vampire, she's bitten, and Abronsius intends to perform a transfusion the next day in order to save her, only for he and Alfred to wind up at the castle that night. But even when Shagal returns to the inn the following night, abducts, and brings Magda back to the castle, she's still not a vampire herself; instead, she just acts the way Sarah did. And she

never gets the chance to become a vampire, as Shagl ends up killing her when he bites her offscreen. Why she doesn't resurrect afterward isn't explained (unless she did after Shagal took her into the grave with him). These inconsistencies aren't deal-breakers, seeing as how, like with werewolves, the rules of vampires tend to change from one movie to another (we've already seen plenty of different takes on them this month), and since this is, again, a horror-comedy, it's probably best not to take it so seriously, anyway.

As the website DVD Savant says, The Fearless Vampire Killers deals with some themes that Roman Polanski often explored in his work, such as the contrast between those with power and those who are helpless. Not only does this allude to the vampires themselves and how they deem humans as nothing more than lowly creatures they can feed on, but also in how Abronsius is both insensitive and, in some cases, downright bullying towards Alfred over the course of the story. Another is the idea that virtuous qualities don't mix with the task of fighting evil, as

Alfred proves as ineffective a hero as the professor due to his naivety and interest in Sarah. Also, the vampires prove themselves to be much more capable because they're unified and all focused on their goal, while Alfred and Abronsius are anything but, and by the time they do start to pull themselves together, it proves to be too late. And, as Douglas Slocombe said when he was interviewed in the book, Comedy Horror Films: A Chronological History, 1914-2006, Polanski intended for the movie to be an old-fashioned fairy tale, with its snowy, Central European setting, the settings, and also how those stories tend to be fairly dark and don't always have the happiest endings.

But, as much as I can admire the film, I'm still not a big fan of it. There are a handful of reasons, but the main one is because every single character feels like a caricature, making it hard to connect with them. That's especially true of our leads, with Abronsius an extreme send-up of the elderly, Van Helsing-style vampire expert, and Alfred is a meek scaredy-cat who, despite his fear, is determined to save Sarah, even though he barely knows her (it's only because he's horny for her). I don't have much luck with the other characters in this regard, either, be they Shagal, 

as funny as he is, Count von Krolock, Herbert, Koukol, etc. The only exceptions to this, really, are Sarah and Magda, but they're not onscreen enough and both end up falling prey to the vampires in the end. Another thing that didn't help was the thick accents of some of the characters, with Jack MacGowran being the worst offender in this regard, with the accent he puts on (I actually had to watch the movie with the subtitles on the second time I re-watched the movie for this review in order to get

everything he said). Despite how much I enjoy him, Alfie Bass is sometimes hard to understand, too, as are some of the ancillary characters early on, like the sleigh driver, those miscellaneous villagers at the inn during the opening, and those men who bring back Shagal's frozen body.

As much as I can admire Polanski's direction from a technical standpoint, I feel he has a tendency to draw the movie out much longer than is necessary. While it's certainly not egregiously long at 107 minutes, with the Count making his first appearance, when he abducts Sarah, less than 25 minutes in, followed shortly followed by Shagal becoming a vampire, and Alfred and Abronsius chasing him around the inn, it's when the setting shifts to the castle that things really slow down for me. It feels like Polanski is really trying to show off both the real shooting location and

the castle interiors, but as impressive and lovely as I've admitted they are, there's only so long that I can look at them without wanting things to move on. I do think much of the second act, concerning Alfred and Abronsius' botched attempt to stake the vampires while they're in their coffins, Alfred coming across Sarah and learning about the ball, and the two of them searching the Count's library and then the observatory, really drags, but fortunately, that scene where Herbert attempts to seduce Alfred livens 

things up a little. But after that, when we get to the third act, with the two of them stuck on the turret, their escaping it, their infiltration of the vampire ball, and ultimate escape with Sarah, I'm more than ready for it to end. As I've said before, I have no problem with a movie taking its time, but if I don't care about the characters or, if it's meant to be a comedy, find it that funny, it isn't going to endear it to me.

Alright, let's go ahead and address the elephant in the room: the inherent uncomfortable feeling about Polanski's movies because of the crime he later committed, as well as the other allegations against him and his admitted attraction to younger women. Granted, The Fearless Vampire Killers doesn't have as much in it, content or thematic-wise, that's as icky as some of his other movies, like Rosemary's Baby, but it is still skin-crawling when Polanski looks at Magda's cleavage, plays around with her top while she's hiding under the table, or just leers at her and

Sarah in general. That's to say nothing of Shagal's lecherous interests in her, both as a human and a vampire, or the scene where Count von Krolock abducts Sarah while she's bathing. And speaking of which, as beautiful as she was, I find it unsettling to look at Sharon Tate knowing that, in two years, she, her and Polanski's unborn baby, and four other people would be murdered by the Manson Family.

The other major reason why I'm not big on the film is because, for the most part, I don't find it that funny. Like I said, I do like Shagal, and I snicker at how uncomfortable Alfred is over Herbert's interest in him, especially that in the bedroom, but, otherwise, I find the laughs to be few and far between. Much of the humor is an exaggerated, almost cartoonish or even slapstick variety, such as the reveal that Abronsius is frozen solid by the time they get to the inn; the old professor getting knocked over the head by a big link of bratwurst; Alfred's botched attempt at

trailing Koukol's sleigh; Shagal causing a loud clatter when he tries to go to Magda's room; Abronsius initially putting his skis on backwards; him getting stuck in the opening in the crypt's wall, followed by Alfred nearly choking him while trying to pull him through, before completely bungling his chance to stake the resting vampires; moments where the two of them get their heads caught in spider-webs, with a strand running between their heads when they walk up the stairway to the turret; Koukol's disastrous attempt to chase them down at the end using a coffin

as a makeshift sleigh; and so on. Normally, I'm all for that kind of humor, but it doesn't do much for me here. There are some moments during the section at the inn after Shagal becomes a vampire that I do find funny, like how Rebecca threatens to stake Abronsius himself over his instructions to do so to Shagal's body, and the following scene, where they're practicing staking a vampire and Alfred accidentally whacks the professor's hand while he's holding the stake (Jack MacGowran's yelling and ranting sell it).

The latter is also set up cleverly, with an establishing shot of their shadows on the wall, and it's only when Alfred hits Abronsius that you see they're actually in their room, practicing on a pillow. During the chase around the inn when Shagal resurrects, there's a moment down in the wine cellar where they stake what they think is him standing behind a curtain and blood seems to spew out all over them... but it turns out they staked a wine barrel and are being doused with red wine. Shagal then climbs out of the cellar,

and while Alfred tries to follow him, Abronsius goes back to drink some more of the spewing wine. Also, when they first find their way into Castle Krolock, there's an amusing bit where it's pitch black and you hear them fumbling around in the dark, until they find a curtain. And when Herbert decides to stop playing around and comes at Alfred, there are a plethora of pretty funny slapstick gags. Alfred blocks his first bite with the book and runs for it, while Herbert

struggles to pry his fangs loose and rips the book in half. Alfred runs down the exterior corridor and across the entire span of the walkway that circles around the castle's interior, only to end up right back to where Herbert is waiting for him. During the ensuing struggle, where Herbert pins him to the ground and goes for his neck again, Alfred bites his ear in order to escape his clutches. He runs down another hallway, only to slip and slide across the floor, ending up in a bedroom, where Abronsius

comes across him. At that moment, when he tries to warn the professor, Herbert also comes sliding in and crashes into the bed, its canopy collapsing on top of him. The two of them run and finally hide behind another door in order to evade him.

Speaking of Herbert, he's not the only hint of possible homo-eroticism here. Normally, I wouldn't look too deep into this kind of thing, and I've seen more strongly implied examples in movies even older than this (like Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes, where you have a scene where two characters are seen sitting in bed together, with one of them wearing a tank-top), but the close relationship between Alfred and Abronsius, with how Alfred sees to some of his needs, such as helping him get dressed and the like, does make you wonder. In fact, when the two first

spend the night at Castle Krolock and are shown to their rooms, they seem to panic when they realize they're going to be in separate rooms. Ostensibly, their concern over being separated is for each other's safety, but you can also read it as two possible lovers not like the idea of being apart, before the Count then reveals that their rooms are connected. Moreover, when they prepare to turn in for the night, Alfred actually climbs into bed with Abronsius without a second thought! Abronsius is taken aback by this, 

asking, "What are you doing?!",and Alfred innocently answers, "I'm going to bed." The professor sneers, "What has come over you? Go to your own bed!", and Alfred reluctantly does so. Again, it's for fear of his own safety, as he inanely asks, "Alone?", but he does look like somebody who's been rejected. But Herbert plays this up to the hilt, with how he's clearly infatuated with Alfred from the moment he meets him, is seen pining for him, and really tries to seduce him, before chasing him around and trying to bite him, i.e. blatant sexual harassment and attempted assault.

A personal disappointment for me is that there isn't more humor built around the vampires themselves or the tropes associated with them. Said tropes are present, obviously and we do get some humor built around them, like the "staking" down in the wine cellar; the reliance on garlic, with some characters eating it in hopes of repelling the vampires with their breath; Shagal wanting to rest in the crypt along with the Count and Herbert, and later snuggling with the latter in his coffin; and the mirror gag when Herbert is coming on to Alfred, as well as at the vampire ball, 

but I would've liked more. As for the actual vampires, while Shagal and Herbert are meant to be comic characters, the others are played fairly seriously. At the ball, there is something kind of funny in how perfectly synced they are in their dancing, and Alfred and Abronsius infiltrate it by knocking out two guys on either side of an old woman using armor helmets, with her being so deaf that she doesn't hear a thing (apparently, being undead doesn't cure physical handicaps), but that's about it. Otherwise, the humor is mostly derived from the aforementioned slapstick and how over-the-top the characters are.

In particular, a lot of comedy comes from how over-the-top Alfred can act whenever he's scared. Often letting out that high-pitched gasp and making funny faces, you see him utterly terrified and panicky a number of times, sometimes in ways you've also seen cartoon characters act in creepy situations. It starts at the very beginning, when he realizes their sled is being chased by a pack of wolves, is unable to warn Abronsius or the driver, and has to fight them off himself, first by kicking at them and then whacking them with the professor's umbrella. When he later

sees Count von Krolock abducting Sarah, he not only lets out that gasp, but is so freaked out that, when he warns Abronsius, he initially can't speak and has to make fangs with his fingers, then point at the bathroom door. You also see him utterly horrified at Koukol apparently killing and even eating a dog, shivering at the castle's decor when he and Abronsius are exploring it, losing his nerve when he's tasked with staking the vampires, repelled by Herbert's interest in him and running in a complete circle, right back to him, terrified when the Count traps him and

Abronsius on the turret, and trying his best not to look suspicious during the vampire ball. As I've said, he's also often completely exhausted, both from what he's going through and how it never seems to faze the professor. Alfred's most classic moment of terror comes when he hears the sound of singing in the middle of the night in the castle, then turns and runs back to his room when it stops. You not only hear him barricading his bedroom door when he ducks inside, but come morning, it's revealed that he completely

buried himself beneath the bedspread, sheets, and pillows. When he pokes his head back out, he sees Koukol looking at him, which horrifies him even more, although it turns out that all he did was bring him and Abronsius breakfast. Finally, at the end of the movie, as they're escaping on the sleigh, Alfred is again privy to something that he's unable to warn Abronsius of, and he pays for it this time.

There are some moments of definite black humor, like when Shagal realizes he's killed Magda and is later seen taking her body with him into a grave, or at the end, when Koukol crashes his sleigh offscreen and you then hear what sounds like him getting attacked by dogs (possible payback for when he killed that one dog early on). And while you'd expect the scene where Shagal's frozen body is brought back to the inn, to be played somewhat seriously, the position his body in, the way they spin him around like a top when Abronsius examines him, Rebecca's

exaggerated yells of grief (which prompt a nearby dog to start barking), and Abronsius' delight that he's found signs of vampirism on the body make it come off as darkly humorous. But there's one that I'm sure as to whether or not it's supposed to be funny. During their first night at the inn, after they've settled into their room, Alfred is shown attaching what look like heated glass bulbs to the professor's bare back as he lies in bed, looking through his research material. I have no freaking clue what those things are or why

Alfred is doing this, but if it's meant to be funny, all it did was confuse me (if someone knows what is going on there, let me know; it may be some sort of old-timey home remedy for cold that I'm not familiar with).

As far as its being both a horror film and a comedy, The Fearless Vampire Killers mostly sticks with the latter, although it does have a few effectively creepy moments. In fact, the Count's abduction of Sarah does feel like something you would see in a straightforward vampire movie from the period. The build-up is well done, establishing that Koukol is bringing the Count (whose face you don't get a clear look at right away) at the same time that Alfred is helping Sarah prepare her bath. You then see him watching Alfred from outside, through the window, 

before he then appears at the bathroom skylight when Sarah is bathing. As she's relaxing in the tub, she notices snowflakes coming down on her and looks up in time to see the Count descend through the skylight. As I said before, he does come off as genuinely menacing in this instance, as he smiles evilly, clamps his hand over Sarah's mouth, and bites her neck, as she struggles in the tub, splashing water all over the door. Hearing this, Alfred looks through the keyhole, sees the Count, and warns Abronsius. But when they 

open the door, the Count has taken Sarah, leaving behind only some bloody soap in the tub. Shagal comes in and, realizing what's happened, desperately tries to climb up through the open skylight, yelling for the Count to bring Sarah back. Throughout this sequence, there are moments of humor, like the sudden cutaway to Shagal causing a racket while trying to sneak off to Magda's room, Alfred's reaction to seeing the Count, and Shagal falling into the tub when he drops from the skylight, but fortunately, 

they don't counteract the scene's effectiveness. The same goes for the earlier scene where Alfred sees just how bestial Koukol himself is when he kills that dog offscreen. The way he runs after the poor thing in that loping manner, the sounds you hear it make, and the sight of Koukol's bloody face are all pretty horrifying, but, again, it's balanced well with some humor, namely in Alfred's reaction and how he ends up left behind in the snow when Koukol rides off to the 

castle. And, while it's not the creepiest or most atmospheric of sequences, the moments in the castle where Alfred hears singing in the distance, sometimes going to investigate, which is when he finds Sarah there, are still well done.

What ultimately cements this as a horror film, in spite of the comedy, though, is the ending, which is unexpectedly bleak and dark. Just when it seems as though they've escaped, Sarah suddenly becomes a vampire and bites Alfred in the neck, unbeknownst to Abronsius, who's driving the sleigh. It then ends with the sleigh continuing on into the night, as a narrator, who also introduced the protagonists at the beginning (it's actually Ferdy Mayne, who played the Count), returns to tell us, "That night, fleeing from Transylvania, Professor Abronsius never guessed he 

was carrying away with him the very evil he had wished to destroy. Thanks to him, this evil would, at last, be able to spread across the world." So, not only have none of the vampires been destroyed, but Alfred and Abronsius have failed to save Sarah, she has just doomed poor Alfred, and Count von Krolock eventually succeeded in spreading his cult across the entire planet and, likely, wiping out mankind! Other horror-comedies have ended in a nihilistic fashion, sure (An American Werewolf in London or The Return of the Living Dead, anyone?), and Polanski's movies never end happily, either, but I was, honest to God, not expecting that.

Like all of Polanski's movies during this time (save for Repulsion), The Fearless Vampire Killers was scored by Krzysztof Komeda (credited as "Christopher Komeda"), and while his music is used fairly sparingly, it is quite memorable, nonetheless. The opening and ending credits are scored to this bizarre chorus of voices singing along with this big, loud, almost western-like music, creating a piece that sounds kind of like an eerie version of one of Ennio Morricone's spaghetti western themes. A similar, more haunting version is used when Count von Kroleck is first seen when he's being driven to the inn and when he comes in on Sarah and abducts her, the latter coming off like something you'd hear in a traditional horror film. An offbeat, eerily twanging string piece, sometimes accompanied by that same singing, is used for the moment when Koukol sees Sarah through the window and when Alfred sees him attack the dog while hanging on to the back of his sleigh, and there's some fairly atmospheric music for when Alfred and Abronsius make their way across the castle's roof in order to reach the crypt. There is also some light-hearted, lovely music for scenes like when Alfred is building a snowman outside the inn and looks at Sarah watching him through the window and when she comes to his room, asking if she can take a bath. Curiously, when Alfred and Abronsius chase after Shagal, the music is light and even kind of whimsical in how it sounds. Some classical-sounding pieces play during the vampire ball scenes, and the climactic escape from the castle, rather than being fast-paced and exciting, still has a haunting quality to it, possibly hinting at how this isn't going to end as happily as it may seem.

Originally shot and, to this day, known everywhere else as Dance of the Vampires, the movie's re-titling was the work of MGM when they distributed it in the United States. In fact, they also added an overlong, Dr. Strangelove-like subtitle, making it, The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are In My Neck, and there are also advertising materials that call it either just The Vampire Killers or Your Teeth In My Neck. This was one of many attempts to make it feel like more of a full-on farce, as the movie itself was drastically altered in many ways. A zany, animated intro, played to music featured in the vampire ball scene, was added, depicting Alfred and Abronsius bumping into each other in a graveyard, when a green-skinned vampire rises from his grave and chases them around, laughing right at the camera every time he managed to scare them. But then, a bag, containing a "VAMPIRE PREVENTION KIT," falls from the sky, and Abronsius opens it to find cloves of garlic, which he and Alfred both eat. When they next run into the vampire, they breathe on him, causing him to shrink and run

off. Another bag falls from the sky, and Alfred opens it to find a crucifix. When they next run into the vampire, who now has a clothespin on his nose, Abronsius puts the crucifix in his face, again, causing him to shrink and run off. As the professor and Alfred shake hands, the vampire tries to sneak up on them, only for the sun to suddenly come up, sending him running back to his coffin, with his two would-be victims now chasing him. When they find the coffin, a third bag falls, this one containing a stake and a hammer. Abronsius tries to stake the vampire, only to hit his own thumb with the hammer, so he has Alfred hold it. This time, he manages to drive the stake in, and it quickly cuts to a close-up of the vampire's

moaning face. The coffin lid closes on him, and Alfred and Abronsius congratulate themselves, when the MGM logo pops up and they run to the right side, cowering from Leo the Lion as he roars. Instead of morphing into the vampire face, he just grows fangs and they run off, leading into the opening credits. Because of the addition of this prologue, the movie was shortened considerably, with the cuts ranging anywhere from twelve to twenty minutes, according to various sources. Among these deletions were a moment where Shagal is stomping sauerkraut and stops to stare at Magda's butt; some of the journey to Castle Krolock; the scene where Alfred hears what sounds like Sarah singing in the castle and goes to

goes to try to follow it, only to get spooked and barricade himself in his bedroom; the moment where they're in the castle observatory and Abronsius is distracted when he looks through the telescope and sees Saturn; and when he speaks to Shagal as though he's the voice of God. There were also some additional shots and moments added to this version, most notably one between Abronsius and Alfred the morning after they've spent the night in the castle, where the former explains why vampires sleep during the day. And finally, all of the characters were dubbed with voices that were deemed more palatable for American audiences.

For many years, it was assumed that the movie's American-born executive producer, Martin Ransohoff, was the one responsible for these alterations (it still says so on the "alternate versions" section on the movie's IMDB page). However, in the late 90's, early 2000's, DVD Savant reported that it was actually the work of Merle Chamberlain, MGM's Head of Theatrical Post-Production, and especially Margaret Booth, the studio's supervising film editor. Though she has a pretty lauded legacy overall, when she died in 2002 (she lived to be 104 years old), it was made known that she had a lot of authority at the studio, overseeing the editing on numerous major movies, and, according to The Guardian, "All the filmmakers had to go through her in order to have a final editing of sound and vision approved." And it seems she often wielded this power in order to cut any movie to her personal liking, including The Fearless Vampire Killers. Some of the sources that Savant cited for this info included the studio's head negative cutter at the time, whom they said they spoke with directly, and author Ivan 

Butler in his book, The Cinema of Roman Polanski. (Interestingly, all of this happened the year before Booth left MGM, which she herself later said was because she was fired by studio president James Aubrey.) Polanski, needless to say, was not happy about this version of the movie and tried to have his name removed from it, but wasn't successful (that, in and of itself, is more proof that it wasn't Ransohoff's doing, as he and Polanski were still on good terms at the time of that DVD Savant article, and as far as I know, remained so up until Ransohoff died in 2017). It remained the common version in the United States until the mid-70's, when it went out of circulation. The original version was then unearthed in the early 80's and is the one that's now widely available on home media over here, with the only difference being how it retains the American title of The Fearless Vampire Killers.

While the animated intro has often included as an extra on the movie's DVD and Blu-Ray releases, the actual American version was, for a long time, considered lost media, only occasionally popping up on TV in other countries (like on Turner Classic Movies in Latin America). But then, in 2024, German company Plaion Pictures put out a new release of the movie, which included, as a bonus feature, a 16mm scan of that version (which they said they found at the last possible minute). Also, while I normally don't like hearing about how companies sometimes do this, that sequence where they chase Shagal to the castle has, thankfully, been re-filtered to look as though it's taking place at night, as it was originally meant to be and was on most pre-Blu-Ray releases. At least that way, those who see the movie for the first time in this release won't be confused, like I was.

I probably lost credibility in some people's eyes by admitting that I'm not a big fan of The Fearless Vampire Killers or Roman Polanski's work in general (though, keep in my mind, I've still only seen a small handful of his movies at the moment), but as I always say, I just have to be honest. I will give the movie its due and say that it's beautifully shot, with great location work and awesome, Gothic art direction, it features good performances by the actors, a very memorable music score, it does delve into the dark stuff, despite being a horror-comedy, and is definitely a spoof of the vampire genre with a lot of affection behind it. However, it just doesn't do it for me, as I find nearly all of the characters hard to connect with, it really drags once the setting switches to the castle, and save for the characters of Shagal and Herbert, as well as some miscellaneous scenes and moments, the comedy tends not to work for me. Like I said in the introduction, it could be a cultural thing as much as a case of my own sensibilities not jiving with Polanski's, but regardless, this isn't a movie that I ever see myself watching again.