All Reviews

I enjoyed such a lot of this movie. First, the idea is great – and rare. Sustaining a narrative through hundreds of years is hard. You take it on, and do it in style. Cast and organisation is really good. So is choice of backdrops and sets, good. Ditto cinematography, special effects like the darker-encircled iris effect, the flying vampires pulling distortion, the Invisible Man, the pistol, the swordfight with sparks. Makeup is great, the Werewolf, the aforementioned IM, the vampires and their teeth, the skull etc – all really well done, showing detailed thought and loads of application and hard work. Really impressive, solid work.

And I believe you would have to do very little to make this film a really great and absorbing piece of storytelling.

First, take 130 minutes down to 90. Just do it. It’s too long. Much too long. Keep most shots if you like, but cut each by a quarter. Or cut a quarter of the shots. Instant, enormous improvement. Some of the running and transformation scenes (not the IM) last for … ever. Find the story within what you’ve got and show us. It won’t hurt.

I loved the bit in 1815 when they run forward with the coffin ready for the vampire. That one image tells us they’ve always had a vampire problem, it’s beautiful, we don’t need lots of exposition … and music.

Which brings me to the music. “Less is more”. The music was really boring, not because it was boring in itself, it was actually quite good, but because it went on … and on … and on. All the same. It didn’t obliterate dialogue but it dulled it. It sucked the life out of the story. It needed variation, silences. Did the boy’s mother tell him to hide? I don’t know, I was over-musicked. It told me what to feel. I just wanted to feel, not be told what I should feel, that I should be frightened, concerned, worried. Not being told is a lot more frightening. Surprise me! Shock me! Show me the story!

Less, or more paced, music would transform this film. In itself, in chunks, it sounded fine. Give us silences ... soft scary buildups ... bang! Music should run when the characters run. Major characters might have signature chords.

And then after 11 minutes – the title! In color! Thank you! But then we continue in black and white! Why? And with such a lot of picture – thus information – greyed out. A powerful but restricting effect overused diminishes everything else. Ridley Scott uses darkened sky in most exterior scenes of The Duellists – but not every scene, and he uses it to enhance, to add texture. Depriving us of picture (and color) in the end just leaves us deprived and reduces visual depth and range to the point of irritation – and then over-Gothics what we do see. Again, more variation is the key. No more shooting, just editing. Cut the length of shots, some of the chases and transformations, open up what we do see.

French graveyard scene – good, but sharpen it with cutting. Less music – silence is creepy! Where’s the shock and surprise? Too many wolf noises (not really, in France) and too much PoV lead-in. Relax us first, then bite us. Rurik’s tombstone is good, but the death scene goes on and on. Show much less, quicker.

The 1838 London Times looks very modern, and you do the old illustrated MSS later so well that this stands out as not very good. Saturday September 13 1838 was Thursday. The English dating system would write this 13 September 1838.

London – 18 mins, still in black and white!

“ … the man who’s pure in heart” – I think from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? Such a famous film makes the line a cliché.

Special effects excellent as always – for example the gunshot. Watch out fot cars at 18:50 though. The English accents work well enough.

20 mins – all this running and music and black-and-white is getting boring. The werewolf’s transformation goes on for whole minutes! 5 seconds would be much more powerful! I think your material is dominating you here. Grip it, squeeze it, entertain us.

25 mins – again, the action scenes are so longwinded they lose drama, action. Conceal more from us, choose what you reveal.

Good stick-throwing though.

28 mins – into the crypt. More tension! Don’t keep telling us we must be frightened! Frighten us! More characterisation (and silences).

1.02 – The swimming scene is good, but by now it all kind of looks the same.

1.09 – Good fiery torches. Very well done. But “My body aches for what my mind knows it cannot attain” – means what? Also works the other way round?

1.31 – beautiful low sun / forest effects.

1.41 – the illuminated MSS, very well done props.

2.02 – good makeup as always, and swordfight. I’m heartily sick of this blanket music and b&w by now.

2.06 – “Go now I will take care of this vile creature” – people don’t talk like this, even then. Sounds as wooden as Keanu Reeves in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Just a thought … what about end credits for all these people who did all this work? People maybe work for less for a mention.

Very impressive what you’ve achieved, in my opinion. I think if you did less, in length, music, and black and white, you’d improve your movie immensely for very little work compared to the enormous amount you’ve put into it.

I hope you find these comments useful, they’re meant to be. Good luck.