Vampir

I saw this film at Sitges International Film Festival and was pleasantly surprised. This film reminded me of earlier horror classics like Carnival of Souls and especially of contemporary European auteur cinema. This is a different kind of horror film, not a typical vampire horror movie with loud bangs and cheap tricks what we have been used to seeing in recent years.

Vampir takes place in modern times in rural Serbia. We follow the protagonist as he arrives from London to this place and is confronted by local habits, traditions and superstitions.

Tomovic does a great job by telling the story by staying close to the character and showing everything subjectively through the main character's eyes. The lack of subtitles for the Serbian dialogue spoken by the locals enhances the paranoia and fear. The film is very creepy and atmospheric, cinematography and sound design go hand in hand in creating this beautiful yet very haunting picture. The acting throughout is superb as it's very authentic, subtle and naturalistic.

Tomovic as a writer/director succeeds in creating a very Kafkaesque story that has a much deeper meaning than an ordinary vampire movie. It is full of metaphors and has themes of returning as an immigrant child to your ancestor's country and belonging.

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.

This film has some really interesting and promising aspects to it but unfortunately fell just below average for me.

This one was a slow one guys... and I mean slow. Nothing super interesting happens until about 40 minutes in and nothing particularly exciting happens for another 20 minutes after that.

Aesthetically, this was super enjoyable and intriguing and this is what primarily carried the film for me. It had beautiful and atmospheric settings and shots throughout.

There wasn't a ton of dialogue in this, and when there was, it was clunky most of the time. So, I preferred when it was silent or in a foreign language the most.

All in all it just didn't give me enough of a story, and what it did give me was a bit confusing with a lot of unanswered questions. The positives were there, but unfortunately the negatives outweighed. Wouldn't recommend to most unless you're looking for something aesthetically pleasing.

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.

Brooding folk horror from Serbia (with an English script) as a familiar tale is given a downbeat (not sparkly not glamorous) vampire in a small rural village.

The central character arrives to look after a cemetery, but its not long before rumours of the undead begin to affect his dreams.

Beautiful simplicity without many of the sfx or hammy performances we've cone to expect from vampires. Dark and delightful soundtrack too.

The main story is told by a handful of characters, but the villagers (living and dead) create an otherworldly environment to scare our hero. But is he a Harker, a Van Helsing or a Renfield?