Vampir

Vampir is a erie and hunting drama played out in a sinister and suffocating rural village in Serbia. The drama places the audience in the shoes of Arnaut, played beautifully and sensitively by the director, keeping his head down in the aforesaid village where a group of gangsters in London don't have a hope of tracking him down. Arnaut struggles to find some peace and isolation in an environment where the people are outwardly friendly, but gloomy and ominously uncanny. I had a very strong feeling of 'The Twilight Zone'.

The film is grim and macabre with excellent performances, whilst managing to show the beauty, style and distinct vibe of the rural villages of Yugoslavia. Excellent, and very enjoyable horror !!!

Vampir is grounded in Serbia and this country side. The pace is slow, and the land is sparse. The film is somewhat silent given the main character doesn't speak Serbian, and no one in the village speaks English.

The main character suddenly arrives in Serbia from London, and he is taking a position to be the caretaker for a cemetery.

But, as he tries to settle in, the main character finds that the village and villagers are odd. Then, he starts experiencing odd disturbing dreams. At this point, the reality of this character starts to be questioned.

Small subtle details can be found that relate to some points in Dracula. These are little hints to show where the story is heading. The main acotr does well in his role as his past unfolds into his present.

This doesn't have the typical shock and gore of a horror vampire film. Instead, it has a steady and quiet sense that overpowers by the end.

This film was part of the Screamdance section at Raindance Film Festival and I had a beautiful evening discovering this unique film there. The presentation was followed by a Q&A with writer/director Branko Tomovic and producer Jean-Louis Alexandre where they gave the audience insight information on how and why this film was shot.

It was interesting to hear that Vampir is deeply connected to Tomovic's upbringing and that haunting village really exists in real life. The film is about so much more than just a silly horror film with lots of scares. For those who understand what being an immigrant child means this film raises interesting topics about your heritage and being confronted by traditions and superstitions of the locals. All this is cleverly masked by the filmmaker with great local characters and suspenseful metaphors.

Tomovic did a great job in making you feel for the character, the entire story is told subjectively through Arnaut's eyes. The film makes you feel the isolation of that place, the loneliness and paranoia. The claustrophobia kicks in as there is no way out. It's beautifully shot and acted. A sensitive authentic subtle performance. The film's strength is the atmosphere and doom that slowly creeps in. Once you realise there is no escape it is too late.

A very promising film with great locations, and a decent story.

However the camerawork is shaky at best, and except for one or two acceptable locations it never shines or manages to pull off anything remotely scary.

Most of the scenes are shot in the daylight which does confuse the overall nature and intent of the film.

There are a plethora of vampire films out there to choose from, but this fails in almost every department which is a real shame.

The main characters performance is so wooden he could've staked the entire village in one sentence.

A shame really as this could've been something special.

I saw this not knowing what to expect. And I was pleasantly surprised to see something so different from what's currently being offered in mainstream cinemas. This film is art, beautiful cinematography, haunting soundtrack, original directing ideas, no CGI and very subtle and honest performances.

Above all, this film will take you on a journey and suck you in deeper and deeper into this small Serbian village and its dark secrets.

The atmosphere and suspense that Tomovic creates in his film will get under your skin.