MovieChat Forums > Vampyr (1934) Discussion > (more than) 20 questions

(more than) 20 questions

posted 11 years ago by gribfritz2
3 replies | jump to latest

Maybe some are obvious and I'm just missing it. Definitely some are very subjective with no right/wrong answer. Mostly, I'm overthinking it trying to make sense of everything. But if anyone has any logical answers, please share. Some of the details may be fuzzy because I saw it last week and just jotted down quick notes.

1. Any purpose to the guy with the scythe taking the ferry? Just a means to remind us of death? Actually supposed to BE death?

2. What was up with that freak that comes down the stairs of the inn? Nothing but shock value?

3. How did Der Schlossherr get into Allan's room?

4. Why was Der Schlossherr even at the inn in the first place?

5. Why is the package not to be opened until his death? Why not just tell him all about the vampires right now (or better yet, tell your own servant since he is later shown to believe and ends up being more useful than Allan)?

6. Why does the one shadow shovel backwards?

7. Why does the limping man's shadow roam around freely?

8. Do the other shadows belong to living people as well (dancers, musicians, digger) or are they shadows with no body?

9. Did you hear that? Yes, the child. The child? All I heard was the damn bird (and possibly the dogs). Was there actually a child's sound?

10. There are no dogs or children here. Good night, whoever you are Mr. trespasser.

10a. Why does he lie (I'm assuming) about there being dogs/children there?

10b. Why are there dogs/children there?

10c. Why does the doctor not care that some random guy is there asking questions?

11. Father gives Allan some heart charm before he dies. Any significance? Did we ever see it again?

12. Didn't you hear a scream? No. Why is everyone hearing things? Is this related to #10?

13. Later, the doctor climbs a staircase and we hear a scream. Who screams and is this related to #12?

14. Skeleton has poison. Last I saw the doctor put it on a shelf. WTF? Or was that just in Allan's dream? Who used the poison?

15. Why would the doctor (or whoever) poison the person the vampire is feeding on? The book says the vampire drives people to suicide specifically so the soul is lost. Poisoning is not suicide unless she takes it to die. Wasn't it administered to her

16. Two Allan's on the bench. Is it a dream, his ghost, or an out-of-body experience? He hurts his leg, but the second Allan does not limp so perhaps a clue.

17. Second Allan now see's himself in a coffin. But he left First Allan on the bench. So it is a dream then because how else could he be there since he is on the bench? He's in pajamas? Another clue?

18. The people carrying the coffin vanish and First Allan "wakes up". Explain.

19. Vampyr is dead and the curse is broken. However, the curse doesn't seem to be broken for her henchman. Instead they see her creepy face, doctor runs into a room, crazy shadows fly, including a distinctively odd bird-shaped one, followed by a laugh and a yell, and the limping man falls down stairs. I assume the laugh is vampyr and scream is the limping man. It sounds like the scream in #13. Who killed the limping man? It seems like vampyr did it, but we then inexplicably see someone there so I assume it was that person. We later see the old servant there so he killed the limping man AND the doctor then?

20. When Allan moves the piece of fence, is it made of shadow or are my eyes playing tricks on me?

[–] McQualude 11 years ago

You should watch the commentary but mostly there are no solid answers, only interpretations.

|Statistics show that 100% of people bitten by a snake were close to it.|

[–] gribfritz2 11 years ago

I watched on TCM, so there's no commentary. Unless you count the half-truths they often utter before and after the film :/

[–] BrianAdamsID 11 years ago

gribfritz2,

I also had lots of questions after seeing this movie. The versions now available are incomplete, so that might explain some of the apparent meaninglessness of different parts of the movie. Still, I get the feeling this is one of those stories that just isn't coherent. Some people like that sort of thing, but for me weird does not equal scary and incoherence does not make some worth watching. I just watched this once. I did not listen to any commentary. From what I understand, Allan has a dream about a skeleton holding the poison. Then, in reality, Léone drinks the poison in order to kill herself. The book that the old servant reads says something like vampires try to encourage their victims to commit suicide. Léone, as the book says is true of vampire victims, is afraid of her new desire to drink blood. The village doctor, who is the vampire's servant, places the poison near Léone, and presumably hopes that she will use it to commit suicide.

Also, later in the movie, I believe Allan is dreaming throughout the sequence where he is in the coffin.