Unwatchable in producer Martin Ransohoff’s botched Stateside edit (writer/director Roman Polanski vomited after he saw it), this spoofy vampire pic now available only in its full Euro-cut (about 20 minutes longer at 108") that originally played as DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES. Current editions keep the FEARLESS VAMPIRE title (Ransohoff’s sole improvement), but use the full cut. And while the film still isn’t what you might call funny, it is fun; very watchable, indeed. Watchable the key word as production design and Douglas Slocombe’s lensing drop-dead gorgeous, anticipating Tim Burton’s Goth stylings by decades in some fairy-book Carpathian Castle where vampire expert Jack MacGowran (hidden behind an unintelligible accent & bushy facial hair) along with Polanski, his bashful assistant, hope to meet the undead to test some theories. But there’s more than vampires to meet, Polanski also eager to ‘investigate’ castle maiden Sharon Tate, pretty enough to attract anyone’s attention, vampires and non. Chases, coffin accommodations, sharpened stakes, it all leads to a grand vampire ball, and a superb coup de théâtre with reflecting mirror for our Not-Yet-Dead trio. So, at least in the original cut, this isn't for completests only.
DOUBLE-BILL: Polanski's distinct comic vibe also in PIRATES/’86, a financial & critical disaster of HEAVEN’S GATE/’80 proportions, and weirdly compelling once it ramps up its revenge story. A true & valuable film maudit, bleakly dark & funny, as if Samuel Beckett was gag-man on a comic pirate movie.
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