The last time I saw a Belgian movie done in the style of the fake documentary it was the brilliant, witty and highly disturbing Man Bites Dog (a film I recommend to everyone who can stomach the content). So I approached Vampires with a certain degree of optimism. The premise – a documentary crew allowed full access to a modern family of vampires – seemed like a winner. If done well.
But now, having watched the movie, I’m really stuck in a swampy middle ground. The movie certainly wasn’t without humour and enjoyment but it was nothing great either. In fact, I’d have to say that it even falls slightly short of the similiar “Vampirology” episode of that intermittently interesting horror show called Urban Gothic.
Georges (Carlo Ferrante) is the head of the household. His wife is Bertha (Vera Van Dooren). Their “son” is the hotheaded Samson (Pierre Lognay) and “daughter” Grace (Fleur Lise Heuet) wants to be human again because she’s fed up of having no pleasure in a life that has no major risk to it. Two other vampires live in the cellar, that’s what vampires have to do until they have children – turn a child into one of their own and create a family unit. There’s tension in the household, within the main group and between the cellar dwellars and those living upstairs.
As the movie goes on, after a very amusing opening sequence, viewers get to learn about the vampire ways and rules. These are traditional vampires – no sunlight or crosses, they sleep in coffins, they have fangs – but they are also integrated into society in a very modern, progressive manner.
Don’t get me wrong, I liked Vampires. It made me chuckle on occasion, especially some of the more twisted gags, and I was never bored but it ultimately amounted to very little and ends with no satisfactory conclusion for either the characters or the viewers.
The cast all do quite well in their roles but the emphasis is on fangs and scowls as opposed to 100% naturalism, which is evinced more through the movements and choice of camera shots.
Director Vincent Lannoo, who also wrote the script with Frederique Broos, emulates the style in a way that’s satisfying enough but even this falls between two stools. It’s neither rough and loose enough to be a work in progress nor is it polished enough to be a completely finished “documentary”. But it’s not bad.
I liked Vampires, I really did, and I feel that my review is doing nothing more than highlighting the flaws in the film. It works rather well despite those flaws but it never becomes anything great. Considering the central subject matter and conceit of the movie I expected something more from it. Which it didn’t deliver.
Vampires is released on DVD on 24th October here in the UK. The disc seems fine, picture quality is good (though I was a bit worried when one or two moments of speech didn’t seem adequately covered by the subtitles but perhaps it was just translated so efficiently that less written words were required) and there are a few extra features for those interested. Various interviews with the cast and crew make up a good 27 minute section and are, overall, amusing and entertaining enough. The 3 minutes of deleted scenes actually contains a few out-takes in the mix. There’s the 5 minute short film, “If I Had 10 Poor People” which may amuse some people though I was disappointed by it. And then the uninspiring trailer and a stills gallery that runs automatically for a few minutes.
DIRECTOR: VINCENT LANNOO
WRITER: VINCENT LANNOO, FREDERIQUE BROOS
STARS: CARLO FERRANTE, VERA VAN DOOREN, PIERRE LOGNAY, FLEUR LISE HEUET
RUNTIME: 88 MINS APPROX
COUNTRY: BELGIUM
Film Rating: 
DISC Rating: 
