The Fearless Vampire Killers
Director: Roman Polanski
Release year: 1967
I wanted something light. I remembered not enjoying this a few years back but loving it as a kid, so I gave it another go. It’s a farce based on a mixture of Hammer horror and Universal Monsters. Roman Polanski directed such amazing films in this period, but this is still disappointing on second watch.
The set design and consumes are wonderful. Watching these shallow comedic characters flap around is made more bearable when the locations look so exquisite. Sharon Tate is luminous, some of which is because we know her fate not long after this was made, but also she shows great comic timing in her role as the captured daughter of the innkeeper our intrepid non-heroes are staying with.
It’s the pacing that kills it. There’s not much story because it’s a pastiche, deliberately similar to all that’s come before. The characters spend too much time running around the beautiful sets and being too goofy for my taste. I did enjoy the arrival at the inn after recently watching Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing rock up at the original in Terence Fisher’s Dracula.
This is broad, obvious slapstick comedy with strong Jewish roots. The actors seem to be having fun, but I didn’t find it funny, which is a killer blow for a comedy. I did admire lots of the camera work and character comedic details though. It was more enjoyable than last time, I’ll give it that.