What filmmaking techniques does The Fearless Vampire Killers use?

CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967): Genre Subversion, Expectation Collapse, Silent Comedy Homage, Sympathy for the Villain and Reflection Reveal.

Who directed The Fearless Vampire Killers?

Roman Polanski directed The Fearless Vampire Killers, released in 1967. CineCode also covers Repulsion (1965), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Chinatown (1974), The Tenant (1976), Frantic (1988), Bitter Moon (1992).

What films are similar to The Fearless Vampire Killers?

Films that share techniques with The Fearless Vampire Killers include Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), King Kong (2005), Promising Young Woman (2020), Parasite (2019).

Comedy · Horror

The Fearless Vampire Killers

Roman Polanski, 1967

A bumbling professor and his timid assistant travel to a snowy Transylvanian village to hunt vampires and chase after a kidnapped innkeeper's daughter. It is a comedy that treats the vampire legend with a straight face. Watch for the jokes that hide a very bleak ending.

2 Narrative 2 Cinematography 1 Psychology

At a glance

The Fearless Vampire Killers is a 1967 comedy and horror film directed by Roman Polanski. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (2 narrative, 2 cinematography and 1 psychology), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Monty Python and the Holy Grail uses several of the same techniques.

Narrative

Genre Subversion

Setting up a film to look like a familiar genre, then breaking that genre's rules on purpose. You have to rethink what kind of story you are watching.

How this film uses it

The film looks like a vampire hunt, but the hunters are clumsy and the vampires are polite. The Count admires the professor's research. He later says he will turn the professor into a vampire for long evening talks and Alfred into a companion for his son.

Where to see it

The Count's welcome: The Count says he is a fan of Abronsius's research on vampirism and invites the hunters to stay in his castle.

Narrative

Expectation Collapse

Building up the usual genre expectations, like the villain getting caught and the climax approaching, then refusing to deliver them. Your own anticipation is what makes the letdown hit so hard.

How this film uses it

The hunters seem to win. They escape the castle with Sarah in a sleigh. Then she wakes up as a vampire and bites Alfred, while the professor drives on without noticing.

Where to see it

The sleigh ride: Abronsius and Alfred flee with Sarah. She awakens as a vampire and bites Alfred while Abronsius drives on.

Cinematography

Silent Comedy Homage

Borrowing the physical comedy of silent films, such as pratfalls, precisely timed gags and expressive body language. It is a nod to where cinema came from.

How this film uses it

Much of the humor is physical. The professor gets stuck in a roof window, and the hunters blast a locked door with a cannon powered by steam pressure instead of gunpowder. It plays like silent comedy.

Where to see it

The roof window: Abronsius gets stuck in the aperture above the crypt, leaving Alfred to try to stake the Count alone.

Psychology

Sympathy for the Villain

Inviting the audience to feel for a monstrous or wrongdoing figure. Pity, identification or shared intellect makes judging them harder.

How this film uses it

Count von Krolock does not threaten the professor. He says they will enjoy long evening discussions as intellectual equals, and then plans to turn him into a vampire. The politeness makes the danger odder and funnier.

Where to see it

The Count's plan: The Count mocks the hunters from the turret and says Abronsius will be an intellectual equal and Alfred a companion for his son.

Cinematography

Reflection Reveal

Using mirrors to show something the characters cannot see directly, such as a person missing from the reflection. A simple prop gives away a hidden truth.

How this film uses it

Alfred realizes Herbert has no reflection and understands he is a vampire. At the ball, the hunters appear in the huge mirror while the vampires do not. The mirror turns into a lie detector.

Where to see it

The ball: The hunters disguise themselves, but a huge mirror exposes them. They still manage to grab Sarah and escape.

Questions

The Fearless Vampire Killers: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does The Fearless Vampire Killers use?: CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967): Genre Subversion, Expectation Collapse, Silent Comedy Homage, Sympathy for the Villain and Reflection Reveal.
Who directed The Fearless Vampire Killers?: Roman Polanski directed The Fearless Vampire Killers, released in 1967. CineCode also covers Repulsion (1965), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Chinatown (1974), The Tenant (1976), Frantic (1988), Bitter Moon (1992).
What films are similar to The Fearless Vampire Killers?: Films that share techniques with The Fearless Vampire Killers include Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), King Kong (2005), Promising Young Woman (2020), Parasite (2019).

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