Ghouls (2019) (a.k.a. Vamps)

Sometimes called Vamps (2019) the original Russian title isVurdalaki.

A Russian attempt at making a vampire film? I shouldn’t say that, because this can’t be their first attempt… even if it certainly looks like it! I wonder if the director, Sergei Ginzburg, did his best or was just having a laugh.

No, Vamps is not a good film, as you might expect! Not to be confused with Vamps, the American vampire film starring Alicia Silverstone and Krysten Ritter.

I would have loved to be able to say something like, ‘A very good film, the vampires are well portrayed in an era full of superstition and the actors are really good.’ But… alas, I must always be honest, as always!

In this film, we see a couple kissing with the camera circling around them. We hear the famous line from Fright Night (1985): ‘You have to have faith for a crucifix to work against a vampire!’ We have the hero’s servant, as in The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967).

We are dealing with a romantic horror story from the old world, long before technology. We have an interesting story unfolding, and it can be enjoyable if you are a good audience. The graphics are quite fun, but I was hoping for more exciting events. After all, Europe has so many stories, and they didn’t need to build certain sets when there are so many things still standing today just waiting for their stories and those of others to be told through their facades.

Our actors played their characters well, in the style of a B-movie. I wouldn’t say that the actors are mediocre, as some of them have good charisma, but the characters aren’t really endearing, which doesn’t help to improve the quality of the plot, which is uninteresting even if you like vampire films… which, incidentally, I don’t!

Vamps/Vurdalaki is worth watching if you like old romantic horror stories and are very forgiving. This feature film is reminiscent of those kitsch period films that are too well-behaved and clean to be credible. This loose adaptation of Aleksei Tolstoy’s novel ‘The Family of the Vourdalak’ (which had already been adapted by Mario Bava in ‘Three Faces of Fear’) centres on the young and beautiful Milena, who arouses the lust of a vampire who has returned to the living and has three days to kidnap her in order to perform an important ritual on the day of the full moon. With the help of newcomer Andrej and the people at the monastery, the young woman and her friends must face a horde of vampires determined to change the course of humanity.

To date, without wishing to be unkind, I have yet to see an excellent Russian film. However, this film is convincing in form, but much less so in substance. The superb natural setting, the sets and costumes, and even the special effects are well crafted and quite pleasing to the eye. On the other hand, the story is not great and difficult to follow. The issues are very poorly exploited and developed, so for us, what happens is irrelevant. There are also a lot of longueurs and unnecessary elements, such as the pointless romance. There are a few cool clashes and fights, but nothing really entertaining. This film is really not a great success. Unfortunately, it is mainly boring.

An unoriginal title that has the merit of indicating what this story set in 18th-century Russia will be about. This production is, in fact, just like its title and, in my opinion, not even average.

It’s quite incredible that films like this are still being made today. There’s not much that works, starting with the continuity. Yes, it’s riddled with continuity errors, as if they filmed one take a day and decided to take the easy way out!

Let’s not even talk about the dialogue: there’s nothing particularly interesting about it. The script is dull and unengaging. And the story doesn’t hold up! I get the impression that quite a few explanatory scenes were cut, so sometimes a character finds themselves in a different place without knowing how they got there or understanding why.

And the ending is relatively sloppy and disastrous!
It’s like a film from 1823.
Yes, of course it’s humour!!