'Dance of the Vampires': Polański’s Twisted Take on Horror & Fate

polanski roman przeglad toronto 5_6530083.jpg, small, Frame from ‘Bal wampirów’ directed by Roman Polański, 1967, photo: Museum of Cinematography in Łódź

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While filming his ‘eerie and adventure-filled tale’ about vampires, Roman Polański understood that many clichés about the mythical bloodsuckers were born of stereotypes about Eastern Europe. From the time of Bram Stoker’s novels, a belief took hold that somewhere on the frontiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire lay a savage, primeval expanse which was untouched by civilization and where an evil force dwelt. 'Bal wampirów' (Dance of the Vampires) gave the director an excellent opportunity to mock this myth to his heart’s content. Vladimir Gromov discusses Polański’s first colour film.

Roman Polański makes all sorts of movies. He feels equally confident in the genres of absurdist comedy, family drama, horror and dramas about the Holocaust. That being said, his films are generally about one and the same thing: about the fate of a man who is not heard. Even a happy ending in a Polański picture – a fairly rare occurrence – leaves an oppressive feeling. The director’s movies are inextricably connected with his own life. After all, he himself survived a genuine tragedy.

You cannot help but recall this when watching Dance of the Vampires (1967). But what does this film – thoroughly parodic and filled with jokes in the style of Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers – have to do with the director’s fate? By analysing this movie and knowing what happened after the filming, you realise that the relationship is direct. In Dance of the Vampires, Polański inadvertently predicted some of the events of his own life.

Polański did not profess to any cinematic breakthroughs in undertaking this vampire comedy. He simply wanted to make a movie. When his criminal thriller Cul-de-sac came out in 1966, the young emigrant from Poland definitively established himself as a talented professional. His absurdist film for some strange reason caught the interest of American distributers. Martin Ransohoff, a representative of one of the large Hollywood studios, agreed to help Polański with shooting his next film. However, he set the condition that the producers could, at their own discretion, re-edit the finished picture for American distribution. The director, who did not understand Hollywood all that well at the time, agreed and got to work.

He wanted to make an ‘un-real’ vampire film. Dance of the Vampires, or The Fearless Vampire Killers (as the scenario, and later the film, was called in its American release), was its own kind of absurdist reimagining of the genre, a dig at long-standing clichés. It was no coincidence that this idea came to the director: the 1960s were the time of a new renaissance of horror films, among other things about vampires. All of this was due to the efforts of Hammer, a British movie studio, which in a short period of time managed to shoot dozens of good-quality and truly terrifying pictures, filled with horrifying details, unexpected plot twists and vivid characters. Among Hammer’s productions were classic films about Dracula and the Mummy, as well as original movies. That being said, everything that Hammer made was notable for its deliberate gravity and gloom. It is unsurprising that Polański with his love for the theatre of the absurd, clearly demonstrated in Cul-de-sac, wanted to one-up such horror films, showing all their lunacy, implausibility and comic nature.

Besides, Polański understood very well that many clichés about vampires arose from stereotypes about Eastern Europe. From the time of Bram Stoker’s novels, it was universally believed that somewhere on the frontiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire a savage, primeval expanse began, untouched by civilization and inhabited by an evil power. Dance of the Vampires turned out to be a perfect opportunity to showcase this myth in all its beauty, giving it a sarcastic interpretation.

The film tells the story of the eccentric Professor Abronsius (Jack MacGowran) and his trusty assistant Alfred (Roman Polański), who in the search for real vampires stumbled into a snow-covered and desolate corner of Transylvania. While staying at a village inn kept by a man named Shagal (Alfie Bass), they realize that they have reached their goal. Everyone here is on the lookout for vampires and afraid of them. The grim mission, however, does not prevent Alfred from falling in love with Sarah (Sharon Tate), Shagal’s daughter. Unfortunately, a mysterious visitor soon appears at the inn: Count von Krolock (Ferdy Mayne), lord of the local castle and, by all appearances, the chief vampire. The count kidnaps Sarah, and the innkeeper, who tries to stop him, is transformed into a bloodsucker. Unable to thwart the count, Abronsius and Alfred set off to rescue Sarah. They survive an array of insane adventures and wind up at a ball that von Krolock organized for his subjects, pulled up from the grave for this occasion and assembled to partake of fresh blood.

Sharon Tate & Roman Polański in ‘Bal wampirów’, photo: Mary Evans Picture Library / Forum

The professor and his assistant are surprisingly ridiculous and distracted, and Alfred is additionally quite the coward. Though the title claims that they are ‘fearless vampire killers’, they didn’t manage to finish off a single evil spirit. Moreover, they unleashed a terrible evil onto the world by liberating evil with their ‘mission’. At the end, the rescued Sarah digs her teeth into Alfred’s neck: during her imprisonment, she herself had turned into a vampire. Unfortunately, the professor, who was driving the sleigh that carried the lovers away from von Krolock’s castle, does not see or know about this. He confidently drives them back to civilization.

While watching the finished film, the producers decided that the movie in front of them was some kind of bad joke. Not only did the heroes look like bumbling oafs and was the ending dark, but the style of the film seemed altogether strange. Professor Abronsius, who’s appearance resembled Einstein, was in an inactive state for half the film, and then he desperately tries to accomplish something or other but to little purpose. His assistant contorts his face in strange ways and more gesticulates than speaks, although he was seemingly not mute. Sarah sits in a bathtub splashing in suds in almost every scene. Her father, Shagal, appears to be a real caricature of the stereotypical Jewish innkeeper: having become a vampire, he searches for the warmest and most comfortable spot for his grave. As for Count von Krolock, he is found to have a homosexual son and an entire castle of reanimated corpses, who are organizing a costume party.

Ransohoff did not know what to do with this movie, which, he was convinced, American audiences would not understand. He decided that all of the ambiguities should be removed from Dance of the Vampires, and it should be made to resemble a childish comedy of horrors as much as possible. As a result, twenty minutes of run-time were cut from the final version in order to add an animated prologue which breaks down the specifics of the plot. The voices of the main characters were re-recorded, the soundtrack was changed, and, what’s more, the title was replaced with The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me, but Your Teeth Are in My Neck. When Polański watched the new version of the picture, a scandal broke out. The director wanted to remove his name from the credits, but, according to his contract, he didn’t have right to do so. The original version of the movie played in theatres in Europe, but everyone knew that it was meant for American distribution. Polański was not able to release his own version of the film in the United States until several years later. Only then did the movie acquire its cult-classic status.

But what exactly is Dance of the Vampires about? In the opinion of some critics, it is a sarcastic story about the relationship a scientist has with evil. Professor Abronsius sincerely wants to find out if there are vampires in the world and then strongly desires to annihilate them, but as a result he unleashes evil forces into the world, like a genie from a bottle. His resemblance to Einstein, who’s discoveries eventually led to the creation of nuclear weapons, is not at all simply an amusing caricature without cause. Others thought the movie was about how evil as such is ephemeral: there aren’t any vampires, only collective insanity.

Be that as it may, there is a strange and deep gloom in this ‘fantasy comedy’. Those who are fighting against evil turn out to be powerless against it. It wins in the most unexpected way, while taking on the appearance not of a revived corpse but of a beautiful young woman.

Roman Polański in ‘Bal wampirów’, photo: Museum of Cinematography in Łódź

Many will find it to be amusing that the awkward Alfred, the almost always inarticulate assistant to Abronsius, was played by Polański himself. He looks so natural in this role, and this is also not by chance. The director probably saw himself that way – fainthearted, uncoordinated, almost resembling a teenager, perpetually getting embroiled in dangerous games with destiny. The authenticity of this role is added to by the fact that the on-screen relationship between Alfred and Sarah turned into the real thing. According to the wishes of the producers, the young rising American star Sharon Tate was cast as Sarah. The director became very fond of the beautiful and unorthodox actress. Their romance began during filming: it’s clear on screen that the feelings of the performers are real. Polański and Tate were married soon after finishing work on the film. It seemed that reality had refuted the terrible ending of Dance of the Vampires, where evil is victorious. But not long afterwards, Charles Manson’s gang broke into Polański’s Beverly Hills home. They chose this house randomly: they simply wanted to kill rich people, considering their crimes to be ideological actions. Polański had left for a film shoot in London, but Tate, who was nine months pregnant, was in the house along with some family friends. The murderers cruelly disposed of everyone, not even taking pity on a pregnant woman.

And now, when watching Dance of the Vampires, this strange gothic comedy with a dismal ending, it is difficult to shake off the sensation that you are watching the beginning of a story that would turn into a nightmare in reality. The injustice of fate, the victory of evil did not become main themes in Polański’s works coincidentally – as his own life would seem to confirm.

Written in Russian by Vladimir Gromov

Translated by culture.pl

Language English

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