In the Vampyr DVD, Danish filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer channeled his genius for creating mesmerizing atmosphere and austere, unsettling imagery into the horror genre. The result – a chilling film about a student of the occult who encounters supernatural haunts and local evildoers in a village outside Paris – is nearly unclassifiable. A host of stunning camera and editing tricks and densely layered sounds creates a mood of dreamlike terror. With its roiling fogs, ominous scythes, and foreboding echoes, Vampyr is one of cinema’s greatest nightmares.
Blu-Ray Special Edition Features
- High-definition digital transfer of the original German version of the film, from the 1998 restoration by Martin Koerber and the Cineteca di Bologna, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Alternate version with English text
- Audio commentary featuring film scholar Tony Rayns
- Carl Th. Dreyer, a 1966 documentary by Jørgen Roos chronicling Dreyer’s career
- Video essay by scholar Casper Tybjerg on Dreyer’s influences in creating Vampyr
- Radio broadcast from 1958 of Dreyer reading an essay about filmmaking
- PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by critics Mark Le Fanu and Kim Newman, a piece by Koerber on the restoration, and a 1964 interview with producer and actor Nicolas de Gunzburg
- AND: A book featuring Dreyer and Christen Jul’s original screenplay and Sheridan Le Fanu’s 1872 story “Carmilla,” a source for the film
Vampyr DVD -$39.95
