"Nots-feratu"
Sometimes, they say, you have to be in the right mood to appreciate a movie. But what does it say about the quality of that movie if it's intrinsic value can't be appreciated in any random circumstance? Vampyr, a film from 1932 (directed by the legendary Carl Dreyer), might've been better suited to the silent era, the addition of a soundtrack does it little favor. There's a sleepy, dream-like quality to it that, if anything, the sound detracts from, bringing us back into reality (watching it, I was never unaware that I was "watching" a movie, there was never a suspension of disbelief). The movie's pacing is, like most films of the silent era, very slow and deliberate, but it feels as if there's not alot being said by Dreyer. Also, I realize that it's not meant to be a horror film in the strict sense of the word, but I didn't find the atmosphere all that creepy either. It inferior to Nosferatu in every regard, and while it may deserve a second look by today's film historians, it's hardly the creepy classic it's so often touted as being. Perhaps, if I ever watch it again, I'll be in a more receptive state, and its qualities will grow on me. If I ever watch it again, that is.