JP Nunez
I haven’t known about The Vourdalak for very long, but from the moment I first saw that title, I knew I had to check this movie out. I correctly guessed that it was an adaptation of The Family of the Vourdalak, an A. K. Tolstoy novella that was previously brought to the big screen as a segment in Mario Bava’s classic anthology Black Sabbath, and that excited me to no end. Bava’s version is one of my favorite anthology segments of all time, so I couldn’t wait to see this story stretched out to feature length. I requested a screener as soon as I got the chance, and now that I’ve finally seen the film, I’m happy to report that it does not disappoint.
The Vourdalak was directed and co-written by Adrien Beau, and it stars Kacey Mottet Klein, Ariane Labed, Gregoire Colin, Claire Duburcq, Gabriel Pavie, and Vassili Schneider. It follows an 18th-century French noble named the Marquis d’Urfé who seeks refuge in a foreign land after being attacked on the road and finds it at a remote countryside manor. The family who live there gladly offer him the help he needs, but surprisingly, their elderly patriarch, a man named Gorcha, isn’t home.
He’s gone off to get revenge against a group of marauders who recently attacked their village, and his children, daughter-in-law, and grandson are anxiously awaiting his return. But when he finally gets back, he’s not the man they knew. Gorcha has been turned into a vourdalak, a daywalking vampire that feeds primarily on the people it loved in life, and he’s on the prowl.
I don’t know about you, but I find that premise super intriguing, and thankfully, The Vourdalak executes it to near perfection. For starters, this movie is a visual marvel. Just about everything in it, from the picture-perfect 18th-century costumes to the lush country setting, looks absolutely gorgeous, and almost every shot is framed to capture as much of that beauty as possible. In fact, this just might be the most beautiful-looking vampire film since Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre, and if you’re familiar with that masterpiece, you know how big a compliment that is.
On top of that, the acting in The Vourdalak is also top-notch. This entire cast is completely believable, so I could probably write an entire article praising just these performances. But I obviously don’t have the space for that, so I’ll just focus on two of them. To begin, we have Kacey Mottet Klein. He plays the Marquis, and he portrays the character as an unsure, almost skittish coward.
This guy is clearly not comfortable being in a lower-class household in a foreign country, and Kacey Mottet Klein completely nails that unease. He reminded me of a dog that’s been beaten so many times it instinctually shrinks back any time it sees a human hand move towards it, and that contrasts perfectly with Gorcha’s children.
They all have the kind of rough exterior you’d expect from peasants who’ve had to work hard to survive their entire lives, but hands down, the most abrasive of the bunch is Jegor, the oldest sibling. He’s played excellent by Gregoire Colin, and from the first moment this guy walks on screen, you can just feel that he’s the boss. He exudes a sense of unquestioned patriarchal authority whenever his father isn’t around, but after the old man returns, Jegor can also be quite loving. He’s a more complex character than you might expect at first, and thankfully, Gregoire Colin is totally up to the task.
Next, let’s talk about the horror in The Vourdalak. This movie isn’t packed to the brim with scares like Paranormal Activity or The Conjuring, and it doesn’t feature Evil Dead-level buckets of gore, so don’t go into it expecting any of that. Instead, The Vourdalak is more concerned with atmosphere and straight-up eeriness, and on that count, it’s an absolute win.
Director Adrien Beau masterfully manipulates darkness and sound to ramp the creepiness up to 11 when the horror comes to the fore, and there’s even a scene where he turns the dial up and down several times to create a super fun roller coaster ride. It involves Gorcha, his grandson, and the Marquis in the woods, and while I don’t want to give away any specifics, I can say that it’ll have you on the edge of your seat the entire time.
Last but not least, I want to say a few words about the story of The Vourdalak. On one level, this is a pretty standard vampire flick. A bloodsucking monster is on the loose, and the humans have to try to stop him before things get out of hand. But on another level, this is actually a really intriguing twist on that typical template.
Two of Gorcha’s children realize that the old man is a vourdalak, but Jegor and his wife are blind to the truth. In particular, Jegor vehemently denies that vourdalaks even exist, so this family finds itself torn apart from the inside. It’s a dynamic we don’t get too often in this subgenre (and if we do, it’s usually very watered down), so my eyes were completely glued to the screen as I watched this vampire destroy what should be unbreakable sibling bonds.
All that being said, I have to acknowledge that The Vourdalak isn’t a perfect film. There wasn’t much about it that I didn’t like, but the look of the titular monster rubbed me the wrong way. Gorcha is so pale and emaciated that he looks more like a skeleton than a living human being, and he seems to be brought to life by some sort of animatronics.
Now, I understand that this is clearly a stylistic choice on the part of the director, but that choice just didn’t work for me. It makes for some silly visuals that stick out like a sore thumb in this otherwise visually impeccable work of art, so whenever the camera gave me a good look at Gorcha, it took me out of the story a bit.
But in the grand scheme of things, that’s not nearly enough to ruin the experience. The gorgeous visuals, excellent performances, creepy horror, and compelling story far outweigh that one flaw, so The Vourdalak is still one of the absolute best horror movies I’ve seen all year. In fact, it’s one of the year’s best in any subgenre, so do yourself a favor and check this film out if you get the chance. You’ll be happy you did.
The Vourdalak is set to open exclusively in theaters on June 28 from Oscilloscope Laboratories.
