an emissary to the king of France becomes lost on his journey, and finds himself at the surreal estate of a vampire and his family, where he begins to experience strange happenings.
I don’t really watch a lot of new movies but this is one I heard about recently and it sounded like exactly my kinda thing and I was not disappointed. it feels very very reminiscent of much older folk horror films, I absolutely loved this. the atmosphere is perfect, the writing is beautiful, and the main vampire is entirely done with puppetry which absolutely rules.
based on a folk story that long predates dracula, a vourdalak is a vampire who feeds on the undead subject’s former loved ones. normally I find horror movies that are about “trauma” or whatever to be a bit tired, but this one heavily deals with those kinds of themes and it never feels heavy-handed or hacky. it’s a film about patriarchy and abuse but it’s also totally just a folksy atmospheric vampire period piece. I loved it.
"My children. I am leaving. Wait for me six days. If after these six days, I have not returned, say a prayer in my memory — for then, I will have been killed in battle. But if ever, God forbid, I return after these six days have passed, I order you to forget that I was ever your father, and to deny me entry, whatever I may say or do, for then I would have become nothing but an accursed Vourdalak."
