Dance of the Vampires (1967)

Note des utilisateurs:

7.1/10   

Réalisateur:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

Gérard Brach (story) &
Roman Polanski (story)

Release Date:

février 1967 (UK)

Genre:

Comedie | Horror

Accroche:

Who says Vampires are no laughing matter?

Plot:

A noted professor and his dim-witted apprentice fall prey to their inquiring vampires, while on the trail of the ominous damsel in distress.

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Vampire | Castle | Bat | Ball

Awards:

1 nomination

Avis des utilisateurs:

what Poland once was, with a smile (revealing fangs)

Ensemble

Jack MacGowran	...	Professor Abronsius
Roman Polanski	...	Alfred, Abronsius' Assistant
Alfie Bass	...	Shagal, the Inn-Keeper
Jessie Robins	...	Rebecca Shagal
Sharon Tate	...	Sarah Shagal
Ferdy Mayne	...	Count von Krolock
Iain Quarrier	...	Herbert von Krolock
Terry Downes	...	Koukol, the Servant
Fiona Lewis	...	Magda, the Maid
Ronald Lacey	...	Village Idiot
Sydney Bromley	...	Sleigh Driver
Andreas Malandrinos	...	Woodcutter
Otto Diamant	...	Woodcutter
Matthew Walters	...	Woodcutter
reste de la distribution par ordre alphabétique:
Roy Evans	...	Vampire at ball (uncredited)

Réalisé par
Roman Polanski

Scénaristes
Gérard Brach		(story and screenplay) &
Roman Polanski		(story and screenplay)

Produit par
Gene Gutowski	....	producer
Martin Ransohoff	....	executive producer

Musique originale
Krzysztof Komeda		(as Christopher Komeda)

Image
Douglas Slocombe

Montage
Alastair McIntyre

Création des décors
Wilfred Shingleton		(as Wilfrid Shingleton)

Direction artistique
Fred Carter

Création des costumes
Sophie Devine

Maquillage
Biddy Chrystal	....	hair stylist
Tom Smith	....	makeup artist

Directeur de production
David W. Orton	....	production manager

Assistant réalisateur
Roy Stevens	....	assistant director

Art Department
Clément Hurel	....	poster artist (uncredited)

Technicien du son
Lionel Selwyn	....	sound editor
Len Shilton	....	dubbing mixer
George Stephenson	....	sound recordist

Cascadeur
Hans Mollinger	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Chic Waterson	....	camera operator
Dennis Fraser	....	grip (uncredited)

Divers
André François	....	title designer
Tutte Lemkow	....	choreographer
Gillian Sutro	....	translator
John Sutro	....	translator
Dr. Ludwig Von Krankheit	....	fangs
Helen Whitson	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Cadre Films
• Filmways Pictures

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1967) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1968) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1972) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Cinemagia (Brazil) (DVD)
• Filmipaja (1968) (Finland) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (199?) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1986) (UK) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Warner Home Video (1995) (UK) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Autre(s) titre(s):

The Fearless Vampire Killers (USA)
The Fearless Vampire Killers or: Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck (USA) (DVD box title)
The Vampire Killers (USA) (working title)
Vampire Ball (Europe) (working title)
Le bal des vampires (Canada: French title) (France) (dubbed version) [fr]

Durée:

108 min

Pays:

USA | UK

Langue:

Anglais

Couleur:

Couleur (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Son:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Classification:

Iceland:12 | Netherlands:12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Brazil:Livre | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:16 (1968) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12 (w) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:15 (video rating)

Emplacements De Pelliculage:

Cortina d'Ampezzo, Belluno, Veneto, Italy

Company:

Cadre Films

Anecdotes:

Sharon Tate replaced 'Jill St John', who withdrew shortly before shooting.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the GB version, at 52:56 there's a daylight view of sky and mountains with no trees through the castle window as the hunch-back/vampires assistant lays down the coffin. At 53.20, after a cut, but still in real time, the view from the same window is now a night-time one and appears to be somewhat different with higher mountains, trees and no sky.

Guillemet:

Count Von Krolock: I am a night bird. I am not much good in the daytime.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bordello of Blood (1996)

what Poland once was, with a smile (revealing fangs)

Well, what is this movie about? To begin with: although the vampire was best popularized in the modern era by English writers, it is really a myth of Eastern European Roman Catholicism. (I could explain that better - and why the English so well co-opted it - but obviously not here.) This type of Catholicism (which finally produced a Pope in John Paul II) now only thrives (and none too well) in Poland - Polanski's home country. During the Second World War, Poland was utterly decimated. First, a large portion of its wealthiest citizens, who happened to be Jewish, were exterminated. The Polish catholics themselves were split radically between anti-semitic nationalists (who also, mistakenly, thought the Nazis would save them from the Russians) and pro-Communists who, mistakenly, thought the Russians would save them from the Nazis. Obviously, this was a no-win situation for the Poles. And yet the first cinematic impression of this disaster arrived in the form of - a comedy - Ernst Lubitsch's "To Be Or Not To Be" (later remade by Mel Brooks).

Does the reader really need to know all this to appreciate this movie? actually, yes. This film is laughter at death's door. The funniest and most memorable line in the film is from the Jewish vampire, responding to a threatened crucifix: "Oy vey, have you got the wrong vampire!" Funny? - Hilarious. Unfortunately, if this Vampire had any grandchildren, they all died in Auschwitz.

Why am I playing such a heavy hand here? Because this really is a great horror-comedy, far better and far more important than the studio hacks at MGM who released this film (after chopping it up) could ever have understood.

There is unfortunately no rumor that there's a director's cut in the vaults; it is well to remember that Polanski nearly disowned this film on release, and really only reclaimed it after the brutal slaying of his wife, who plays such an important role in the film.

But even as shredded as it is (pay especially close attention to the discontinuities involving the Professor), this is still marvelously written, directed, and photographed - truly frightening at moments, utterly hilarious at others, but always grounded in a particularly Polish sensibility which is now, alas, a thing of the past; - the preservation of a culture that, at its best, was among the best in Europe.