Director: Roman Polanski
Year: 1967
Country: United Kingdom/USA
Alternate Titles: Dance of the Vampires; The Fearless Vampire: Or Pardon Me, but Your Teeth Are in My Neck
Genre: Vampire; Horror/Comedy
Plot:
Tracking their quarry to an elusive mountain village, a professor and his assistant gradually come to learn the entire town is in the grips of a bloodthirsty vampire count and try to ward him off when he targets a young woman in the village.
Review:
This here was quite the enjoyable and somewhat better-than-expected effort that has a lot to really like about it. First and foremost among the positives here is the absolutely hilarious comedy, which runs throughout the film with such frequency and consistency that there are plenty of genuine laughs. It tends to be a little one-sided here with sheer slapstick resulting from their bungling and ineffectual hunting means, which brings up their near-incompetence in this task, which becomes gut-busting as time goes on, with how they're going about trying to get their mission accomplished here when they're always stumbling around over everything in their path, merely trying to get the most basic commandments of vampire-hunting accomplished.
The scenes of them up at the castle are even better, not just because there's more to play with their but almost all of these gags are incredibly fun with the professor getting stuck in the window and having to guide his skittish assistant through a step-by-step process of the finer points on vampire-staking, the truly hilarious slapstick chases throughout the corridors of the castle and the different methods of trying to keep their true intentions at least hidden despite all the occupants fully aware of what they're doing which makes for a truly fun time here with constant gags and spills. Likewise, other fun scenes include the really funny costume ball that features the two of them dressed in traditional garb to blend in and try to rescue their charge while alternating between revealing information about their quest to free her and the escape plans while out in the middle of the crowd only to fully blow their whole cover with the use of a traditional means of vampire lore to cause this to become incredibly funny along with the rising imminent danger along the way.
Even other more overt horror scenes here include the vampires' early raids on the village where they abduct the villagers into their ranks and try to thwart his advances against them makes for a fine time here alongside the slapstick means of trying to keep their charges at bay while the main Gothic castle is truly glorious and enchanting with the perfect setting here to conceive of the events within, and overall there's plenty to really love here. About the only true flaw to be found in here is the rather goofy nature of the vampires here with their lavish over-sized fangs that shouldn't possibly be able to be hidden here such is the over-the-top nature of their appearance, and though that truly fits into the realm of the film within here there's little else about them that should've been attempted here what with their sticking out the wrong way here. The comedy, as well, can be hit-or-miss depending on the mood at the time, but there's still a lot to really like here.
Overview: ****.5/5
A funny, goofy, and highly enjoyable vampire effort, this is an immensely likable entry in the genre and manages to have far more positive factors than expected, holding it up despite a few minor drawbacks. Those with an appreciation for this era of genre fare, who are curious about it, or who are fans of the creative crew, will have a lot to like here, while most others might want to heed caution.
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