Os Vourdalak

After making a couple of shorts, French artist Adrien Beau made his first feature film in 2023, inspired by the gothic novel «The Vurdalak Family. Unpublished Fragment of the Memoirs of a Stranger», written in French by Russian author Aleksey Tolstoy in 1839, which has been adapted to film on numerous occasions as a horror drama. Beau does not elude the horror angle, but by making the decision to dispense with computer visual effects to represent the vurdalak (vampire) and opting for a puppet that he designed, executed and voiced, his film takes different directions, including comedy, without express intention, so that the story evokes fascination, smile (or laughter) and terror in turns.

There is nothing comic about the story. In the middle of a forest (Serbian, in the original), a young marquis and ambassador of the King of France (excellent Kacey Mottet Klein) is assaulted and robbed by Turks. The courtier seeks help at the house of a peasant named Gorcha, to continue his journey. But the peasant family and the French diplomat, are all besieged by old Gorcha, who has become a bloodthirsty vurdalak. For his "mise en screen", Beau shot the film in 16 millimeters, which gives a richer and realistic visual quality to the image, in these days when we are accustomed to the pulchritudinous digital image; and in several scenes he resorts to the terror that arises from "the unseen", from what happens in the dark, instead of the explicit images in which the vurdalak subjugates all.

The decision to use a puppet may have been completely intentional, considering that all the characters are indifferent to his cadaverous appearance. Avoiding that "terror a la antique", with figures generated by the most macabre and sinister sector of an author's brain, and reluctant to make it visible with "grace a la CGI", Beau gives another dimension to the macabre, gives it some humor, with a cardboard entity without the fluidity of the computerized image, but which is capable of draining life and startle us, as the shot in which the vurdalak appears behind his little grandson and voraciously bites his neck and consumes his blood.

«The Vourdalak» premiered at the Venice Film Festival, within the framework of Critics' Week, where it won the Jury Prize for Best Female Performance for Ariane Labed (wife of Yorgos Lanthimos and awarded at that same festival for her performance in the drama «Attenberg» by Athina Rachel Tsangari). Currently it must be available on Amazon Prime (which co-produced it). Don't miss it and have your good glass of wine or bag of popcorn ready.

Now this was a movie that I learned about when going to the Gateway Film Center. The trailer caught my attention. When I realized that it was horror, I stopped watching. I got to see this as part of an early screener there. Seeing the title and knowing that this is based on folklore, I had an idea of the story we'd get here.

Synopsis: lost in the hostile forest, the Marquis d'Urfé (Kacey Mottet Klein), a noble emissary of the King of France, finds refuge in the home of a strange family.

We start this off at night. Marquis Jacques Antoine Saturnin d'Urfé has run into issues. There is a local bandit that attacked him, killing his horse, stealing his luggage and it seems like Jacques is the last one alive. He wandered into the forest to survive and seek refuge. He comes upon a manor where he knocks at the door. The man who answers bars his entry and tells him to seek refuge with another person. A horse would also be provided to continue his journey.

Things don't go as planned. This bandit in the area has hurt others as well. Jacques comes upon a woman and he falls in love with her, Sdenka (Ariane Labed). She ignores him and then Jacques meets Piotr (Vassili Schneider). He is dressed like a Romani person. Piotr takes Jacques to their home. Being that Jacques is nobility of France, he offers a reward for aiding him. Sdenka turns out to be Piotr's sister. Also living here is Anja (Claire Duburcq) and her son Vlad (Gabriel Pavie). She is married to Jegor (Grégoire Colin) who is away. He is the older brother to Piotr and Sdenka. There is the patriarch, Gorcha.

When Jegor comes home, he shows hospitality to their guest. Jacques wants to continue, but they don't have a horse for him. Jegor knows where he can get one. The issue is that he won't be able to until the following day. Jegor becomes upset when he learns that their father, Gorcha, isn't home. He went off to kill the bandit alone. A warning was issued when he left as well. He said that if he isn't home in six days, do not let him in. He would no longer be their father. They're approaching the hour of passing into the sixth day.

It is after that deadline that Gorcha is found. Jegor is mad, thinking that he's been lying there and they just didn't notice him. Jegor ignores the warning, believing it to be superstition. When this older man wakes up, we see there's something not quite right. Everyone but Jegor and Vlad see it. Gorcha makes Jacques uncomfortable. It is through this that we learn this man might have been become a creature known as the vourdalak.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the story. Where I'll start is that this is adapted from the short story 'The Family of the Vourdalak' written by Aleksei K. Tolstoy. I was familiar with this as Mario Bava used it for a segment in Black Sabbath. It also was loosely used for another movie from the 1960s called Viy. Since I was familiar with the concept, I was curious as to how it would be used here.

I'll say here that I'll try not to compare the two too much. Both have similar set ups. This version has tragedy striking Jacques and him needing aid. The basic story from there and how things play out are similar as well. What I like is that Jacques isn't used to having to fend for himself like he does here. The food is different from what he's used to. He is also not used to the country life, being part of the French court. I do like that like 'fish out of water' narrative. He doesn't know the customs and things are strange to him. They're just normal to these people though. I do like exploring that idea. Klein does good as well since we are like him in not knowing the customs or way of life.

I do want to discuss the family and their dynamic, but before doing that let me discuss the darker side of Jacques. Being that he's nobility and the people he's staying with are peasants. He's fallen in love with Sdenka. He comes on to her and she rejects him. We learn that she's bitter due to being in love with an unsavory person who brought her heartache. Jacques tries to woo her and when that fails, we see the toxic masculinity. He demands that she make love to him. What I like there is that she manipulates him, using her looks. I'll say here that Labed is good in her role. She is bitter at life and doesn't have many prospects to get out of her situation.

Let's then discuss the rest of the family. Jegor is the one who takes care of the family. At first, he's away helping other villagers kill this bandit. He doesn't believe in the superstitions which dooms his family. He is married to Anja. I get the idea that she loves him and their son, but life is hard. It is worn on her. The interesting one is Piotr. He dresses like a Romani woman. This draws anger from his brother. Sdenka accepts him for who he is. I thought this was a curious move to include in the story. I'd say that the acting here is good across the board so credit to all of them.

Then the last thing for the story to discuss is Gorcha. We never see him. When we get introduced, he's played by a puppet that looks like a skeleton. I thought that this was an interesting route to go. We know from the start there is something wrong with him. Even before seeing his face, the arms looked weird and how they moved did as well. This is odd, but I do love it. It is interesting to see Gorcha's children interacting with him. Good on them for their performances. I'll also say that co-writer/director Beau voiced this character.

All that is left then is filmmaking. I thought that the cinematography was good. It does well in capturing the area and period is set. I love that Jacques powders his face like he would in the Parisian court, even when he's hanging around this country manor. That feels normal for him. The costumes look real. I'll say again that I love that Gorcha is a puppet. Going practical there works. The rest of the effects were solid. The framing helps to hide the seams. I'd also say that the soundtrack fit what was needed.

In conclusion, I'm glad that I checked this movie out. We are getting a story that I know the basic premise for and doing tweaks with it. This is an arthouse take, but I don't think it goes too far into that to be pretentious. The best part here is the atmosphere. Part of that comes from the era it is set and the isolation of the events. The acting was good. No issues there. I thought that this was well-made. Using a puppet for the monster was interesting. It adds a different touch for sure. The rest of the filmmaking was solid as well. Not one that I can recommend to everyone. This is from France so I watched it with subtitles. If that is an issue, then avoid this. If not, we have a solid folk tale with a familiar creature.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Based on Tolstoy's La Famille du Vourdalak, where a vampire from Slavic folklore returns to feed off his own family, Adrien Beau's feature film debut Le Vourdalak follows the Marquis d'Urfé, an emissary of the King of France, finding haven in the house of a peculiar family where he expects to receive a horse to continue his journey.

Visually, it evokes the feeling of being in a fairytale due to its aesthetics resembling those of the past. There's charm and a sense of magic in them. The house and the woods add a haunting yet beautiful aura to the story that enhances its fantasy qualities. Due to the choices it makes when it comes to VFX, opting for practical effects with props instead of CGI, it achieves a slapstick humor that can also be scary at times (puppets, for instance).

It's not everyday that a film succeeds in combining genres so different as horror and comedy, but Le Vourdalak does it from beginning to end, making it worth watching.

The Vourdalak is a stylish, low-budget French movie from 2023 in which a noble emissary of the King of France seeks refuge in the home of a family living deep in the woods. Soon, they are confronted by an evil that begins to consume both the family and their new guest.

From the cover, it's clear that The Vourdalak is a film about a vampire-like creature. The cover design is unique and eerie, which certainly piqued my interest in watching the movie. It successfully captures the historical time frame, with spectacular costumes and set designs. The film has a mysterious atmosphere steeped in fantasy elements. The acting was strong, and the small cast of characters was engaging. I particularly enjoyed the dark approach, which had a few surprises up its sleeve, especially in the third act, where a memorable scene occurs that lingers long after the credits roll.

Overall, the movie manages to be distinctive enough to provide a memorable experience. However, it never fully immersed me in the story. The pacing felt a bit slow, which is a subjective criticism but hard to overlook. My biggest issue, though, lies with the use of puppets, especially for the antagonist. This creative choice consistently broke my immersion. I found myself distracted, imagining the behind-the-scenes mechanics of the puppetry, such as how the puppeteer might be moving at any given moment. This detracted from the film's ability to build a frightening atmosphere and ultimately prevented me from fully engaging with the story. While this may not bother everyone, it was a significant hurdle for me. I do admire those who didn't experience this issue.

The Vourdalak is a unique film with a sophisticated approach, offering something different from the countless movies Hollywood churns out daily. However, it didn't entirely grip me, which affected my overall experience. Perhaps it might work better on a second watch, but for now, I can't rate the movie any higher. [5.2/10]

A number of reviews seem to consider the film a dark comedy. While the main character behaves a bit foolishly at times and the vourdalak's looks maybe lack finesse, I didn't see it that way myself, so I thought I'd share my two cents.

From old Russian, Czech, and maybe also Polish scary movies (made roughly some time before the late 80s) that I have seen, the style of the vourdalak's appearance in this film makes me think this was done as an homage.

There's just something about it and the entire film... The closest movie I can think of that this feels similarly creepy to is "Viy", an old Russian movie. (If you've seen that movie and liked it, by the way, then you'll probably like this. If you liked this movie, then you should definitely try to check that one out.)

I might be totally wrong, but this movie felt like it was from another time, maybe also because the creature was real (be it makeup or a puppet, it was a practical effect) and not cgi. (Nothing wrong with digital effects, mind you; I rather love them all.)

The only hint of modernity in this was a jump scare at one point.

Other than that, this movie could have fit right in among the other strange creepy movies in the box set called "All the Haunts Be Ours".