"Our release of Les Vampires is far superior to the 1995 edition currently available only in France. Not only will this version be significantly cleaner, it will have superior orchestration and garner new fans by recovering crucial elements that have not been experienced by audiences for more than 80 years," said Michael Stimler, President of Water Bearer Films.
Two-time Emmy winner David Shepard of The Film Preservation Associates, one the world’s prominent silent film restoration companies, will restore all ten episodes of Feuillade’s popular and visually stunning serial. USA Today hailed Shepard’s restoration of The Art of Buster Keaton as "almost universally regarded as the best video release of 1995."
Some of the most significant reintroduced elements, unavailable since the film’s initial release, include:
Robert Israel, one of the world’s finest practitioners of silent film accompaniment, will score the entire series with full orchestration using carefully selected vintage silent film compositions to capture the film’s dark horror and visual inventiveness. Israel has scored dozens of silent classics including films by Buster Keaton (including The Navigator and The General), Frank Capra, Frank Lloyd and others.
Les Vampires is an arch-criminal gang of brilliant but bloodthirsty thieves led by the indomitable and electrifying, Irma Vep. The gang’s exploits include the use of kidnapping, poisonous gas, heavy artillery, sexual domination, and murder to gain physical and psychological power over Paris’ elite.
Considered by critics as Fueillade’s best work, this 10 part, seven-hour-plus serial, is a blend of realism, fantasy, horror, and comedy. While any episode can be viewed as a complete film, most center on the electrifying Musidora as the seductive, raven haired, Irma Vep (an anagram of vampire). Cloaked in black silk tights, she is, like a true vampire, feared and desired by both her male and female victims.
The serial was an enormous success despite being temporarily banned by Paris’ chief of police for its glamorization of the criminal world.
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: Ian Stimler (ian@waterbearer.com)
I can't recommend Les Vampires highly enough. In it, Feuillade takes the perverse and sinister atmosphere he created in the Fantômas films, and if possible develops it even further. Essential viewing if you're interested in Feuillade or silent film serials in general. I've asked Mr. Stimler about his company's plans regarding Feuillade's equally brilliant Fantômas serial and will post his replies. In the meantime, I suggest you contact him directly through the links above.