''The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck'' (shortened to ''The Fearless Vampire Killers''; originally released in the United Kingdom as ''Dance of the Vampires'') is a 1967

comedy horror Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...

film directed by

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...

, written by

Gérard Brach Gérard Brach (23 July 1927 – 9 September 2006) was a French screenwriter best known for his collaborations with the film directors Roman Polanski and Jean-Jacques Annaud. He directed two movies: ''La Maison'' and ''The Boat on the Grass, Le B ...

and Polanski, produced by

Gene Gutowski Witold Bardach (July 26, 1925 – May 10, 2016), better known as Gene Gutowski, was a Polish-American film producer who produced many of Roman Polanski's films, including '' Repulsion'' (1965), ''Cul-de-Sac'' (1966), ''The Fearless Vampire Kil ...

and starring Polanski with his future wife

Sharon Tate Sharon Marie Tate Polanski (January 24, 1943 – August 9, 1969) was an American actress and model. During the 1960s, she appeared in advertisements and small television roles before appearing in films as well as working as a model. After receiv ...

, along with

Jack MacGowran John Joseph MacGowran (13 October 1918 – 30 January 1973) was an Irish actor. He was known for being one of the foremost stage interpreters of the work of Samuel Beckett and Seán O'Casey. He was also known to film audiences for his roles as ...

and

Alfie Bass Alfie Bass (born Abraham Basalinsky, 10 April 1916 – 16 July 1987) was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; his parents had left Russia many years before he was born. He a ...

, and featuring

Ferdy Mayne Ferdy Mayne or Ferdie Mayne (born Ferdinand Philip Mayer-Horckel; 11 March 1916 – 30 January 1998) was a German-British stage and screen actor. Born in Mainz, he emigrated to the United Kingdom in the early 1930s to escape the Nazi regime. ...

. In the film, a doddering vampire hunter (

) and his bumbling assistant (

) travel to a small mountain village where they find the tell-tale traces of

vampirism A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

. The assistant becomes enchanted by the local tavern keeper's daughter, Sarah (

), who is promptly abducted. Determined to save the buxom maiden, they confront the undead Count in his castle. The film has been adapted into a musical, ''

Dance of the Vampires ''The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck'' (shortened to ''The Fearless Vampire Killers''; originally released in the United Kingdom as ''Dance of the Vampires'') is a 1967 comedy horror film directed by Roman ...

'' (first adapted in German under the translated title ''Tanz der Vampire'').

Plot

In the mid-19th century, Professor Abronsius, formerly of the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg () was the university of Königsberg in Duchy of Prussia, which was a fief of Poland. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant Reformation, Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke A ...

, and his young apprentice Alfred are on the hunt for

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

s. Abronsius is old and withering and barely able to survive the cold ride through the wintry forests, while Alfred is bumbling and introverted. The two hunters come to a small village in

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

seemingly at the end of a long search for signs of vampires. The two stay at a local inn full of angst-ridden townspeople who perform strange rituals to fend off an unseen evil. While staying at the inn, Alfred develops a fondness for Sarah, the overprotected daughter of the tavern keeper, Yoine Shagal. Alfred witnesses Sarah being kidnapped by the local vampire lord Count von Krolock. In despair and armed only with a bunch of garlic, Shagal sets out to rescue Sarah that night, but in the morning, he is found frozen outside the inn, with fang marks on his wrist, leg and abdomen. After Shagal, now a vampire, rises and attacks Magda, the tavern's beautiful maidservant and the object of his lust when he was still human, Abronsius and Alfred follow his trail in the snow, which leads them to the Count's ominous castle in the snow-blanketed hills nearby. They break into the castle but are trapped by the Count's hunchbacked servant, Koukol. They are taken to see the Count, who declares himself a fan of Abronsius's research on vampirism. They also meet the Count's son, the foppish (and homosexual) Herbert, who expresses an immediate interest in Alfred. Meanwhile, Shagal, no longer caring about his daughter's fate, sets up his plan to turn Magda into his vampire bride. Despite misgivings, Abronsius and Alfred accept the Count's invitation to stay in his ramshackle Gothic castle, where Alfred spends the night more fitfully than his teacher. The next morning, Abronsius plans to find the castle

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

and destroy the Count by staking him in the heart, seemingly forgetting about the fate of Sarah. Since the crypt is guarded by the hunchback, they attempt to climb in through a roof window. However, Abronsius gets stuck in the aperture, leaving Alfred to complete the task of killing the Count in his slumber. At the last moment, he loses his nerve and fails to accomplish the deed. Alfred then has to go back outside to free Abronsius, but on the way, he comes upon Sarah having a bath in her room. She seems oblivious of her danger when he pleads for her to come away with him, and informs him that a grand ball is to take place that night. After briefly taking his eyes off her, Alfred turns to find Sarah has vanished into thin air. After freeing Abronsius, who is half-frozen, they re-enter the castle. Alfred again seeks Sarah but encounters Herbert instead, who first attempts to seduce him, and then, after Alfred realizes that Herbert's reflection does not appear in the mirror, reveals his vampire nature and attempts to bite him. Abronsius and Alfred flee from Herbert through a dark stairway to safety, only to be trapped behind a locked door in a

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

. As night falls, they become horrified witnesses as the graves below open up to reveal a huge number of vampires of various past centuries at the castle, who hibernate and meet once a year only to feast upon any captives the Count has provided for them. The Count appears, mocking them and tells them their fate is sealed: he plans to turn both Abronsius and Alfred into vampires. He tells Abronsius that they will enjoy long evening discussions, being intellectual equals, and that Alfred will make an excellent companion for his son, who has told him of his fondness for the youth. The Count then locks them out on the turret to attend the ball, where Sarah will be presented as the next vampire victim. The hunters escape by firing a cannon at the door— substituting steam pressure for gunpowder—and come to the ball in disguise, where, although exposed by their reflections in a huge mirror, they are able to grab Sarah and escape. Fleeing in a horse-drawn sleigh, Abronsius and Alfred are unaware that Sarah had been transformed; she awakens in mid-flight as a vampire and bites Alfred while Abronsius is far too weak from the cold to help, thus allowing vampires to spread across the world.

Cast

Production

Roman Polanski talked about production difficulties in his autobiography, ''Roman'': "Our first month's outdoor filming became a series of ingenious improvisations, mainly because the last-minute switch from one location (

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

) to another (

Urtijëi Urtijëi (; ; ) is a town of 4,637 inhabitants in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It occupies the Val Gardena within the Dolomites, a mountain chain that is part of the Alps. Geography Urtijëi borders the following municipalities: Kastelruth, V ...

, an Italian ski resort in the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( ), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range in northeastern Italy. They form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Va ...

) had left us so little time to revise our shooting schedules. The fact that we were filming in Italy entailed the employment of a certain number of Italian technicians and that, in turn bred some international friction. Gene Gutowski (the film's European producer) rightly suspected that the Italians were robbing us blind." Cinematographer Douglas Slocombe said: "I think he

oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

put more of himself into ''Dance of the Vampires'' than into any other film. It brought to light the fairy-tale interest that he has. One was conscious all along when making the picture of a

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

an background to the story. Very few of the crew could see anything in it—they thought it old-fashioned nonsense. But I could see this background… I have a French background myself and could sense the Central European atmosphere that surrounds it. The figure of Alfred is very much like Roman himself—a slight figure, young and a little defenseless—a touch of

Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of real ...

. It is very much a personal statement of his own humor as he used to chuckle all the way through the scenes." This film was the source material for the European stage musical ''

Tanz der Vampire ''Dance of the Vampires'' is a musical adaptation of the 1967 Roman Polanski film (known as '' The Fearless Vampire Killers'' in the United States). Polanski also directed the musical’s original German-language production (titled ). The music wa ...

''. It is peppered with numerous references to King

Richard III of England Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosw ...

, who even appears in the ball scene. When the film was first released in the United States,

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

wanted to market it as a "farce". MGM head editor

Margaret Booth Margaret Booth (January 16, 1898 – October 28, 2002) was an American film editor. In a career lasting seven decades, Booth was most associated with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Born in Los Angeles, Margaret was the younger sister of actor E ...

and head of theatrical post-production Merle Chamberlain cut 12 minutes' worth of material, and along with adding the animated prologue among other changes, the character of Professor Abronsius was re-dubbed to give him a goofy, cartoony voice that would suit the "kooky" tone of the film. This version was slightly retitled as ''The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck''. This was the version most commonly seen in the US until it vanished from circulation in the mid-1970s. In the early 1980s, MGM unearthed a print of Roman Polanski's original cut and sent it to various repertory & revival houses for screenings. Polanski's cut has garnered new interest and reevaluated opinions from critics and fans of Polanski's work, who have previously bashed the film in its mutilated US cut. Since then, the original version of the film is the one more commonly available today and has been released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

LaserDisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

and

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

, and occasionally airs on TCM. ''The Fearless Vampire Killers'' was Polanski's first feature to be photographed in color using a widescreen 2.35:1

aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a geometry, geometric shape is the ratio of its sizes in different dimensions. For example, the aspect ratio of a rectangle is the ratio of its longer side to its shorter side—the ratio of width to height, when the rectangl ...

. The film is also notable in that it features Polanski's love of winter sports, particularly

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

. The score was provided by

Krzysztof Komeda Krzysztof Trzciński (27 April 1931 – 23 April 1969), known professionally as Krzysztof Komeda, was a Polish film score composer and jazz pianist widely regarded as one of the most influential Polish jazz musicians. He is best known for writin ...

, who also scored three other films for Polanski, ''

Knife in the Water A knife (: knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...

'' (1962), ''

Cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a ''cul-de-sac'' (; , ), a no-through road or a no-exit road, is a street with only one combined inlet and outlet. Dead ends are added to roads in urban planning designs to limit traffic in residential areas. Some d ...

'' (1966) and '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1968).

Animated opening sequence

;United States The sequence begins on a sunny day when a bird is minding his own business when the sun behind him sinks and the crescent moon rises in its place, starting the night. The bird becomes alarmed and speeds away. Zooming out, the camera reveals the setting of a graveyard where Professor Abronsius and Alfred bump into each other. The two shake hands and a green vampire pops out from a grave behind them. After the successful scare, the vampire laughs as the camera zooms in on him. This process is repeated twice. A bag falls from the sky; Abronsius reaches in and takes out a box containing garlic, which he and Alfred eat. They sneak up to the vampire (who has no idea where they are), tap his shoulder and breathe garlic breath on him, causing him to shrink and run off. The bag drops to them again and Alfred brings out a gold

crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

and gives it to Abronsius. They sneak up on the now plugged-nose vampire, show him the crucifix, and again he shrinks and runs off. He hides behind the tree and tries to scare them again, but the sun replaces the moon, signaling the vampire to run, and Abronsius and Alfred chase him to a coffin. The bag appears one last time and Abronsius takes out a mallet and a wooden stake. With Alfred's help, he kills the vampire, then places the lid on the coffin. In the pitch-black backdrop, Professor Abronsius and Alfred congratulate each other until the MGM logo appears, startling them. The lion in the logo roars as its fangs grow longer. Frightened, Abronsius and Alfred run away, and blood drips out of the lion's mouth. ;United Kingdom/Europe The comedy mask disappears and the MGM lion turns into a cartoon vampire with blood dripping from its mouth. From its older airings in some European countries, the MGM lion fades instead with a different-looking vampire design. This is found on the MGM/UA laserdisc of the film.

Release

Critical reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, ''The Fearless Vampire Killers'' holds an approval rating of 71% based on 34 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "This uneven but amiable 1967 vampire picture is part horror spoof, part central European epic, and 100 percent Roman Polanski, whose signature sensibility colors every frame."

Home media

''The Fearless Vampire Killers'' was issued on laserdisc in 1993 on MGM/UA, released to

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

on September 13, 2005, as a Region 1 widescreen DVD, and later in other territories. This version is Polanski's original cut bearing ''The Fearless Vampire Killers'' title card. A region-free Brazilian DVD was issued by Cinemagia that, while using a dated 4:3 letterbox master of the original cut, has the US prologue as a bonus feature. Outside of

16 mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 mm and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It ...

or 35 mm prints, no known official releases of the re-edited US cut exist. The film, using the same version as the 2005 DVD, was released by

in France on December 20, 2013. This Blu-ray is locked to Region B and does not play on most North American Blu-ray players. In September 2019, Warner Archive announced a US Blu-ray for ''The Fearless Vampire Killers''. Released two months later, it utilizes a new 2019 HD re-master of Polanski's original cut, along with the extras from the DVD release and the addition of the US animated prologue.

References

Bibliography

External links

* * *
''The Fearless Vampire Killers''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

"The Fearless Vampire Killers: A Tale of Two Versions" ''DVD Savant''

"The Fearless Vampire Killers Retrospective by Scott Hutchins" ''Film Scope''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fearless Vampire Killers, The 1967 films 1967 comedy horror films 1967 LGBTQ-related films 1960s American films 1960s British films 1960s English-language films 1960s supernatural horror films American comedy horror films American LGBTQ-related films American supernatural comedy films American supernatural horror films American vampire films British comedy horror films British LGBTQ-related films British supernatural horror films British vampire films English-language comedy horror films Films adapted into plays Films directed by Roman Polanski Films scored by Krzysztof Komeda Films set in castles Films set in country houses Films set in the 19th century Films set in Transylvania Films shot at Associated British Studios Films shot at MGM-British Studios Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films shot in Italy Films with screenplays by Gérard Brach Films with screenplays by Roman Polanski Filmways films LGBTQ-related comedy horror films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Vampire comedy films