The Polish born Polanski burst onto cinema in the first half of the 1960s with several excellent psychological thrillers including KNIFE IN THE WATER (1962), REPULSION (1965) starring Catherine Deneuve in Mod 60s London, and CUL-DE-SAC (1966) starring Donald Pleasence. THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS was Polanski's first color film and he goes all out with in gorgeous MetroColor. THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS has an interesting history for a minor horror film. In the United Kingdom, it was released as DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES. For the United States version, Executive Producer Martin Ransohoff and MGM cut 12-20 minutes from Polanski's British release, redubbed some of the actor's voices, and added an animated prologue before the credits to play up the film's humorous elements without Polanski's consent. The American version was roundly badmouthed by critics and disowned by Polanski. In the early 1980s, MGM found a print of Polanski's original version that has since been rereleased in theaters and on DVD, garnering new fans and more favorable reviews from critics.
Due to no fault of its own, THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS also has a bit of notoriety connected with director Roman Polanski and actress Sharon Tate. In true Hollywood fairy tale style, Polanski fell in love with his beautiful co-star Sharon Tate (VALLEY OF THE DOLLS) during the filming of THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS. They were married, Tate became pregnant, and the two were expecting their first child when Tate and four others were murdered in Polanski's San Fernando, California home in August of 1969 by disciples of Charles Manson's cult. Tate was eight and a half months pregnant with Polanski's baby. THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS is a reminder of happier times for both Polanski and Tate.
With Screen Story and Screenplay by frequent Polanski collaborator Gerard Brach (THE NAME OF THE ROSE) and Roman Polanski and directed by Roman Polanski (CHINATOWN), THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS are Professor Abronsius (Jack MacGowran), recently of Konigsberg University and his bumbling assistant Alfred (played by director Roman Polanski). The two arrive at night by sleigh to a snow covered village in Transylvania, searching for signs of vampires. They are granted lodging by Yoyneh Shagal, the innkeeper (Alfie Bass) and his plump wife Rebecca Shagal (Jessie Robins). Abronsius notices garlic hanging from the rafters. He asks if there's a castle nearby. The villagers shake their head but the village idiot (Ronald Lacey) confirms a castle exits in the vicinity. Abronsius is confident they're close to locating a bloodsucker. Shagal takes them to their room where they encounter Shagal's beautiful daughter Sarah (Sharon Tate) taking a bath in their bathroom. Alfred is immediately smitten with the red-headed Sarah. Later that night, Shagal sneaks out from his bed and tries to sleep with his busty maid Magda (Fiona Lewis) who rejects his advances. Mrs. Shagal suspects her husband's shenanigans. She looks for him in Magda's room but only finds the maid mending his shirt. Shagal is hiding behind the door.
The next morning, Abronsius observes a mysterious hunchback Koukol (Terry Downes) purchasing wood in the village. Koukol notices Sarah staring at him through an upstairs window. Alfred tries to wave her away from the hunchback's sight. Abronsius orders Alfred to follow Koukol to find out where he lives. Alfred sneaks onto the back of Koukol's sleigh only to fall off in the snow before discovering Koukol's home. That night, Sarah flirts with Alfred so she can take another hot bath in the bathroom. Koukol returns to the village with an aristocratic stranger in his sleigh, his master Count von Krolock (Ferdy Mayne). Von Krolock descends from the skylight above the bath, biting Sarah on the neck. Alfred hears a noise and peers through the keyhole, seeing the vampire von Krolock for the first time. He tries to wake Abronsius who's in a deep sleep. Von Krolock whisks Sarah away to his castle. Shagal races into the frigid night to rescue his daughter. Three woodcutters bring Shagal's frozen body back the next morning. Abronsius inspects Shagal's body and finds puncture bites all over. Abronsius tries to have Mrs. Shagal put a stake through her husband's heart. She won't do it. Abronsius and Alfred attempt to drive a stake into Shagal. Shagal, now a vampire, awakens and escapes through a trap door into the wine cellar. Abronsius and Alfred chase after Shagal on skis as he leads them to von Krolock's castle.
Abronsius and Alfred manage to sneak into the castle only to be locked in a room by Koukol. Koukol returns later and escorts them to a large study where von Krolock greets them. A little bat and mouse proceeds between Abronsius and von Krolock as they dance around who they are and what their true intentions are. The Count shows them to their rooms where they meet von Krolock's son Herbert (Iain Quarrier), who happens to be homosexual and interested in Alfred. As they prepare to sleep, Alfred hears a woman singing a haunting melody. He wanders the hallway but can't locate the woman. Koukol assists von Krolock and Herbert into their coffins in the crypt. Shagal drags his coffin in to join them. Koukol makes Shagal sleep in the stable. Morning arrives. Abronsius is positive von Krolock is a vampire. Abronsius and Alfred search for the vampire's lair and Sarah. They spy on Koukol building a coffin. Koukol blocks their way to the crypt. The vampire killers climb to the top of the castle, crossing ramparts until they find a small, circular window leading down to the crypt. The smaller Alfred squeezes through the window. Abronsius tries and becomes stuck. Abronsius tells Alfred to kill von Krolock with a stake through the heart. Alfred tries but chickens out.
Alfred exits the crypt and returns to the castle to go pull Abronsius back out of the window. He hears the mysterious woman singing again. Alfred finds Sarah singing in a bathtub. She tells him she's preparing for the Midnight Ball. Alfred looks out the window and sees the Professor's legs dangling out the window. He forgot about his master. Alfred retrieves the almost frozen Albronsius but clumsily loses the professor's bag with stakes and crosses over the wall in the process. The sun begins to set. Sarah can be heard singing again. Alfred goes to her room only to find Herbert waiting for him. Herbert attempts to seduce Alfred. He goes to bite Alfred who blocks Herbert's fangs with his book of love advice. Herbert chases Alfred who grabs Abronsius and they escape back up to the ramparts. Looking down at the courtyard, they see dozens of von Krolock's vampire family emerge from their coffins in their best costumes. Von Krolock surprises them on the ramparts. He tells the vampire hunters they will not be leaving...ever. Von Krolock locks them out on a tower. Von Krolock addresses his vampire flock and reveals that after some formal dancing, they will be dining on the young Sarah now wearing a beautiful crimson dress. Abronsius and Alfred escape the tower by using one of the castle's cannons to knock down the heavy oak door. Abronsius and Alfred secure a couple of suits and wigs from two older vampires and sneak into the Midnight Ball where they risk their lives to rescue Sarah and escape von Krolock and his family of vampires.
Known for his more serious, psychological thrillers, director Polanski surprises in THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS with a deft touch for physical comedy. Professor Abronsius and Alfred are the Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy of vampire hunters. Abronsius is the intellectual but absent-minded academian obsessed with proving vampires do exists. Alfred's his clumsy assistant, providing much of the physical comedy constantly dropping and tripping over the Professor's bag of vampire weapons. Actors MacGowran and Polanski make a good inept, comic duo, succeeding in their endeavors despite themselves. Director Polanski fills THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS with all the horror film tropes horror film audiences love including thick cobwebs, melted wax dripping from gothic candles, a spiral staircase, superstitious villagers, upside down bats in the castle's bowels, and even a hunchback servant! Polanski and cinematographer Douglas Slocombe (THE LADYKILLERS) channel Hammer's horror films like THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957) or THE BRIDES OF DRACULA (1960) with deep, thick colors from Krolock's black and red cape to the costumes of the vampires at the Midnight Ball. I almost thought Polanski was going to make his first feature film with a happy ending with THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS as Abronsius and Alfred escape with damsel-in-distress Sarah from von Krolock's castle on their sleigh. Only Sarah reveals razor sharp fangs as she bites into Alfred's neck, dashing my hopes of an Alfred/Sarah wedding.
Like Mel Brooks' YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, some of the humor in THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS has its roots in Jewish Eastern Europe (remember, Polanski was born in Poland). One running subplot involves the lecherous Jewish innkeeper Shagal and his wandering eye for his busty maid Magda while trying to hide his lustful intentions from his suspicious wife Rebecca. Naturally, Magda rejects Shagal's advances by slapping him. The scene plays out like a Jewish joke which it very well might be. Rebecca wanders up to Magda's room to throttle her missing husband only find Magda alone, mending Shagal's shirt. If Rebecca had looked behind the door, she would have found Shagal cowering in fear. When Shagal becomes a vampire, the first person he goes to bite is Magda. In one of THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS funniest gags, Magda tries to fend off Shagal with her crucifix. Shagal shakes his head at her. The crucifix won't work on a Jewish vampire. Oy!
The filmmakers are dialed in to vampire lore with garlic hanging from the inn's rafters to keep vampires away, a medical bag full of wooden stakes and crucifixes, and several scenes where the vampire killers notice their hosts cast no reflection in the castle's mirrors. But Polanski provides vampire horror film aficionados with some surprises in THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS. Not only does the film have a Jewish vampire in Shagal (who looks like Topol from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF), there's also a gay vampire in Herbert von Krolock, son of the Count, who has eyes (and fangs) for the meek Alfred. Director Polanski stages two well-crafted set pieces for a vampire spoof. Von Krolock's attack on Sarah in the bathtub is the film's first scary scene. We see von Krolock gazing down at her from the skylight, scraping snow away from the glass for a better view. Sarah notices snow flakes falling on her from inside before she looks up to find von Krolock descending in his black and red cape. The second bravura set piece is the dance of the vampires at the Midnight Ball. It's an intricate dance sequence, expertly choreographed as Abronsius and Alfred weave their way around multiple dance partners to sneak Sarah away from her blood sucking captors. Special kudos to composer Krzysztof (Christopher) Komeda for his musical score that straddles the line between eerie and humorous.
The cast for THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS is eclectic and not exactly household names for American audiences. Irish actor Jack MacGowran as Professor Abronsius resembles a spindly Mark Twain with his fluffy white hair and moustache. MacGowran made his film debut in John Ford's THE QUIET MAN (1952) and had worked with Polanski earlier in CUL-DE-SAC. As Abronsius, MacGowran bounces between absent-minded, klutzy professor and occasionally astute vampire killer (he and Alfred never do kill a vampire in the film). With Abronsius's frailness, a running gag in THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS involves Abronsius becoming frozen quite easily if he's out in the frigid Transylvanian air too long. Ironically, MacGowran's final role was as film director Burke Dennings who dies suspiciously after visiting the demon possessed Regan in William Friedkin's THE EXORCIST (1973). MacGowran himself died soon after completing THE EXORCIST and some conspiracy theorists are convinced the THE EXORCIST production was cursed by the devil himself.
Like James Dean, Sharon Tate's film career was as brief as her life. THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS is an opportunity to appreciate Tate and contemplate a career that might have been. Tate was already becoming famous for her beauty and she's ravishing as the village beauty and innkeeper's daughter Sarah. Tate as Sarah exudes innocence as a young woman coming of age, unaware of the evil that exists outside her insulated world. It's interesting to imagine what kind of career Tate might have had. She appeared in Mark Robson's sex potboiler VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (1967) for her stunning looks yet exhibited she was adept at physical comedy in a supporting role in the James Bond spoof THE WRECKING CREW (1968) starring Dean Martin as U.S. Government agent Matt Helm. Would her husband/director Polanski have cast her in one of his future dramatic films? Tate's last appearance in a film was a cameo as a party guest in husband Polanski's serious horror film ROSEMARY'S BABY (1969) starring Mia Farrow. Tate was only 26 year old when she was murdered. Quentin Tarantino revived the memory of Sharon Tate and immortalized her in his revisionist take on Hollywood and the Manson Cult in 1969 in ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (2019) starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate.
Count von Krolock in THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS may be one of my new favorite non-Dracula vampire characters. As played by German actor Ferdy Mayne, Krolock is urbane and well-educated like Dracula. Unlike the reclusive Dracula, Krolock has a family and relatives and with that the usual family problems. His son Herbert is gay. His relatives all sleep in a graveyard in the center of the castle and they're thirsty for blood. Except for the occasional woodcutter, the Krolock's are having trouble finding fresh prey until the Count discovers Sarah. Mayne's deep voice and aristocratic looks (and white hair) make Krolock memorable. Other Ferdy Mayne roles to check out include as a Nazi general in Brian G. Hutton's WWII thriller WHERE EAGLES DARE (1968) with Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood and teaming up again with Polanski in his pirate action/satire PIRATES (1986) with Walter Matthau. The most humorous character in THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS besides Alfred is the innkeeper Shagal played by Alfie Bass (THE LAVENDER HILL MOB). I mentioned Bass's Shagal looked like Topol from FIDDLER IN THE ROOF. Bass actually took over the FIDDLER IN THE ROOF role from Topol on the London stage. Shagal's henpecked by his wife as a human and gets no respect from the hunchback Koukol when he becomes a vampire, forced to sleep in his coffin in the stables instead of the crypt like the Krolock's.
Some final trivia and tidbits. Director Roman Polanski was quite comfortable both in front of the camera and behind it. In THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS Polanski plays the cowardly vampire hunter Alfred. Polanski starred as the main character in a few films including as Trelkovsky in his psychological film THE TENANT (1976) co-starring Isabelle Adjani. Polanski has a memorable cameo in his own film noir CHINATOWN (1974) as a sniveling crook who slices up private eye Jack Nicholson's nose with a knife when he gets too nosy in his investigation. CRAZYFILMGUY did see the tacked on animated sequence on the U.S. version for THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS as a special feature on his Blu Ray copy. The short segment is terrible and does not belong with the rest of the movie. What is funny and belongs is MGM's lion logo morphing into a vampire bat which occurs at the beginning of the opening credits. That transition sets the tone for the film's humorous (at times) tone. THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS has a RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) connection. Director of Photography Douglas Slocombe and actor Ronald Lacey worked on both films. Lacey has a brief appearance as the village idiot in THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS. Lacey played the Nazi Toht in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Terry Downes who plays Krolock's hunchbacked servant Koukol had been a former World middleweight boxing champion. Although most of THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS was filmed at Elstree Studios in London, England, some of the outdoor snow sequences and the exterior of Krolock's castle were shot in the Dolomites of northern Italy, adding to the film's European feel.
Often, spoofs and satires can be over the top and outrageous such as Mel Brooks' BLAZING SADDLES (1974), Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam's MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975), or Jim Abrahams and the Zucker Brothers AIRPLANE! (1980). Maybe it's a European thing but THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS comes off as a serious Hammer like horror film that contains slapstick gags and pratfalls and two amateurish protagonists who stumble their way into the home of the supernatural creature they are seeking. Polanski manages to make both elements work in his homage to vampire films. THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS also gives us another chance to appreciate the beautiful Sharon Tate, a promising young American actress who's life was cut too short just two years later. Movie fans are fortunate that MGM uncovered Polanski's original vision of THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS for future generations to appreciate this irreverent vampire film.
