Les Vampires (1915)

Les Vampires is a 1915–16 French silent crime serial film written and directed by Louis Feuillade. Set in Paris, it stars Édouard Mathé, Musidora and Marcel Lévesque.

Amazon.com: Les Vampires: Musidora, Édouard Mathé, Marcel Lévesque, Jean Aymé, Fernand Herrmann, Stacia Napierkowska, Renée Carl, Suzanne Delvé, Georgette Faraboni, Jacques Feyder, Fridolin, Rita Herlor, Manichoux, Louis Feuillade: Movies & TV

Louis Feuillade's pioneering silent serial -- whose ten episodes weigh in at nearly eight hours -- concerns Guèrande (Edouard Mathé), a journalist who is trying to uncover the truth about a mysterious society of anarchist gangsters who call themselves Les Vampires. While they don't drink the blood of the living, Les Vampires are the uncrowned monarchs of the criminal underworld, and as Guèrande struggles to learn the full extent of their lawless activities and the true identity of leaders the Grand Vampire (Jean Aymé) and Irma Vep (Juliet Musidora), he learns a tremendous amount about their intelligence, their cunning, and their treachery. A runaway hit in its initial release, which proved to be a major influence on the work of Fritz Lang and Alfred Hitchcock, Les Vampires also inspired Olivier Assayas' revisionist look at the film's leading lady, Irma Vep. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The Silent Era Films

Les Vampires is a 1915–16 French silent crime serial film written and directed by Louis Feuillade. Set in Paris, it stars Édouard Mathé, Musidora and Marcel Lévesque. The main characters are a journalist and his friend who become involved in trying to uncover and stop a bizarre underground Apache gang, known as The Vampires (who are not the mythological beings their name suggests). The serial consists of ten episodes, which vary greatly in length. Being roughly 7 hours long, it is considered one of the longest films ever made.

No actual vampirism is involved in this serial, it’s about a criminal gang called the Vampires and their attempts to… well, I’m not really sure what. Kill people and break things, I guess. We also …

Louis Feuillade, 1915

Directed by Louis Feuillade. With Musidora, Édouard Mathé, Marcel Lévesque, Jean Aymé. An intrepid reporter and his loyal friend battle a bizarre secret society of criminals known as The Vampires.