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The Fearless Vampire Killers

aka Dance of the Vampires

Poster of The Fearless Vampire Killers

Who says vampires are no laughing matter?

  • Often described as a spoof, Polanski’s enchanting reworking of his favourite Hammer movies is, in fact, an encounter between horror and crazy comedy set in the world of fairytales. The film is an astounding cinematic tour de force that is funny, chilling and intensely lyrical at the same time and shows that the generally accepted wisdom that horror shall either be played straight or become a comedy, is false since both jokes and anxiety are rooted in the same soil of unconscious desires and combine to generate the sense of the uncanny. The resulting movie is one of the very few perfectly achieved examples of the uncanny, delicately poised between the familiar and weird.

    Phil Hardy, The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: Horror (The Overlook Press, 1994)
  • Director Roman Polanski’s spoof of Hammer horror films boasts many strengths, including A-budget production values and gorgeous cinematography from future Oscar nominee Douglas Slocombe. But it lacks the one element essential to any comedy: Laughs.

    Mark Clark and Bryan Senn, Sixties Shockers: A Critical Filmography of Horror Cinema, 1960-1969 (McFarland, 2011)

Selected disc options for The Fearless Vampire Killers

Extras
Warner box art
Warner BD-ALL/US 2019
Warner box art
Warner BD-B/FR/OOP 2015
Warner box art
Warner DVD-1/US 2004
“The Fearless Vampire Killers”: Vampires 101 (1967, 10:21) has extra has extra
Interview with Director Roman Polanski (In French, 25:03) has extra
Interview with Producer Gene Gutowski (7:20) has extra
US Title Sequence as “Dance of the Vampires” (4:01) has extra
US Theatrical Trailer (2:13) has extra has extra
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Ultimate Edition

Combine the best digital presentation with a selection of choice extras for the ultimate edition.

Presentation Warner BD 2019
  • Video
    • File 1
      • Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
      • Resolution: 1080p
      • Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
  • Audio
    • File 1
      • Language: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono
  • Subtitles
    • English SDH
Warner BD 2015
  • Video
    • File 1
      • Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
      • Resolution: 1080i50
      • Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
  • Audio
    • File 1
      • Language: English DTS-HD MA 1.0
    • File 2
      • Language: French DTS-HD MA 1.0
  • Subtitles
    • French
Extras “The Fearless Vampire Killers”: Vampires 101 (1967, 10:21) Warner BD
Interview with Producer Gene Gutowski (7:20) Warner BD
US Title Sequence as “Dance of the Vampires” (4:01) Warner BD
US Theatrical Trailer (2:13) Warner BD