A short history of the Chinese hopping vampires

And more…

And now for some amusing history. I like to believe that the world is full of interesting tales, histories, people and events. Yet many of these things are hidden from view. It’s treated as just some arcane knowledge that lies hidden in an attic trunk, or the garage of a long dead relative. Just waiting there, so that one day, an inquisitive young ten year old (boy or girl) would venture into that dusty realm and explore and discover treasures worth appreciation.

My curiosity was sparked by this vintage advertisement. Which makes me wonder if future historians will believe that everyone in the 1970’s wore swimming clothes when they operated a computer.

And speaking of the past. Have you ever wondered what modern Russian people think of the KGB and the days of the fading Soviet Union? We, it’s interesting, they think about it a lot. And there are some interesting meme’s floating around. Like this one…

An Anzio 20mm rifle. They’re legal to own in the US

For when you really need to take down an armored vehicle. Legal to own in most States.

Good Debt vs. Bad Debt

Good debt: you buy a house. You now own the bank $300,000 and after your loan term you end up paying the bank $400,000 after interest. It took 30 years to pay that debt but since houses went up in price your initial $400k spent is now worth $500k.

Bad debt: you see this nice new TV at best buy. It costs $3k, but its top of the line. Now, you don’t have $3k to drop on a TV, so you put it on the credit card. It takes you ~3 years to pay it off @ 20% interest. In the end you will pay about $4k for the TV, and in 3 years time that TV will most likely be worth 1/10 of what was paid.

The idea that you need to avoid all debts is not practical to most people and not really good financial advice. The exception are people who can’t handle the responsibility of credit (which tend to be the people who get this advice, and tend to be younger people) or people who have jobs that are too inconsistent to keep up with regular payments (which tend to be poorer people).

Johnny Depp was in a wedding band back in 1982

Well, we all have to start somewhere.

What I really wanted when I was a boy

I didn’t get it though. Sigh.

A totally cool floor

Well, at least I think so. Anyways.

Married with Children

One of my favorite television shows of the 1980’s.

A Stop at Willoughby

The Twilight Zone is known for the weird, the macabe and the dark. However, this episode isn’t so black and white. Well, the show’s physically still in black and white, but in the case of Gart Williams, a tired and overworked advertising executive, life is a nightmare and The Twilight Zone offers relief every evening on his train ride home. Williams pictures an idyllic society, one that he feels at ease in. “A Stop at Willoughby” is about man’s search for paradise. Some call it heaven, Williams calls it Willoughby.

The OTS-135 12.7mm Revolver: For when you need to blow a hole through Neptune’s rings

A bit over-kill. I would like to see the holster fro this monster.

Enjoy this little adventure.

From HERE.

The Hopping Vampires (jiang shi) are a type of undead creature found in Chinese folklore. Although its Chinese name is often translated as ‘Chinese hopping vampire / zombie / ghost), its literal meaning is ‘stiff corpse’. These creatures may be identified by their attire – the uniform of a Qing Dynasty official. Additionally, the jiang shi is recognizable by its posture and movement. The arms of these creatures are permanently outstretched, apparently due to rigor mortis, and they hop, rather than walk.

As a result of the stiffness in their bodies, there are many ways to turn a corpse into a jiang shi, and as many ways to defeat them. These undead creatures appear in quite a number of Chinese films.

What are Jiang Shi?

While most jiang shi share the same type of attire, bodily posture, and mode of movement, variations also exist among these creatures. For example, some of these beings look like normal humans, while others are a little more decomposed as a result of being dead for a longer period of time. Yet others have been depicted with sharp teeth, long nails, and emitting a green phosphorescent glow. In some versions of the story, jiang shi are said to be able to grow stronger, thus allowing them to acquire skills such as flying and transforming into wolves.

How a Jiang Shi is Created

There are apparently many ways for a dead body to turn into a jiang shi. For instance, according to one version of the myth, a jiang shi is created when a person suffers a violent death, for instance, suicide, hanging or drowning. Such deaths cause the soul to be unable to leave the body, thus resulting in a reanimated corpse.

Another belief is that a corpse may become a jiang shi if it is not given a proper burial. For instance, if a burial was postponed after death, a dead body may become restless, and return to haunt the living. Another supposed way of a corpse turning into a jiang shi is that it fails to decompose even after burial. Corpses that have been struck by a bolt of lightning or hopped over by an animal (particularly cats) are also said to turn into this undead creature.

Some Truth to the Story?

Stories about the jiang shi are not entirely without basis in fact. During the Qing Dynasty, efforts were made to return the bodies of Chinese workers who died far away from home back to their place of birth. This was done so that their spirits would not grow homesick.

It seems that there were those who specialized in this trade and handled the transportation of the corpses back to their ancestral homes. These ‘corpse drivers’, as they are called, are said to have transported the dead at night. The coffins were attached to bamboo poles that rested on the shoulders of two men. As they went on their journey, the bamboo poles would flex. Viewed from afar, this would look as is the dead were bouncing on their own accord.

It is from here that rumors about reanimated corpses began. Initially, it was speculated that the ‘corpse drivers’ were necromancers who were able to magically reanimate the corpses of the dead. Under the supervision of the ‘corpse drivers’, the dead would hop back home.

This was done overnight to minimize the decay of the body. Additionally, travelling at night meant that there would be a lower chance of encountering the living, and meeting the dead is considered bad luck. For added measure, a priest with a bell is said to lead the procession, thus warning people of their approach.

How to Defeat a Hopping Vampire

The jiang shi are commonly said to come out at night. To sustain themselves, as well as to grow more powerful, the jiang shi would steal the qi (life force) of living victims. The living, however, are not entirely defenseless against these creatures. There seems to be several ways to defeat a jiang shi, these include:

the blood of a black dog
glutinous rice
showing it a mirror because it fears its reflection
chicken eggs
throwing money on the floor (they’ll stop to count it)
the urine of a virgin boy
holding one’s breath
sticking a Taoist talisman on its forehead
a rooster’s crowing

During the 1980s, the jiang shi was a popular subject in the film industry of Hong Kong. While these undead were often featured as antagonists, they have sometimes been depicted as more human-like, and at times even served as comic relief!

…

Now that was fun huh? Well, we’re on a roll. Let’s keep a rolling.

Selected Alternative Media

The art of Electronics (full PDF – FREE)

This is the complete PDF of chapter 9 of the amazing work “The art of electronics”. It is provided free with no encumbrances. No registration. No credit card “to verify if you are human” and other bullshit methods to squeeze money from you. It’s presented here for fellow geeks and mad scientists to enjoy.

PDF of Chapter 9 ; VOLTAGE REGULATION AND
POWER CONVERSION. HERE.

Thoughts In The Middle Of An Economic Collapse?

From Busted Knuckles…

It’s being done intentionally in case anyone was wondering.

I see Gold and Silver are trying to break out.

There’s a sign all is not well in Koo Koo land right there.

Inflation is killing us, eating at our buying power.

I saw an article last night that I am too lazy to find at the moment showing that Shadow Stats compared what the official inflation rate is compared to how they used to calculate it back in the 80’s and it would be right about 15%.

Anyone who has recently bought groceries or fuel of any kind has seen that with their own eyes.

I also saw where Homeland Security is still pushing the Domestic Terrorism button.

Standing on it actually.

TPTB would love nothing better for someone to snap and start shooting the place up so they could start with the Purge they already have unwrapped and sitting on the table waiting.

People are quitting and getting fired left and right over the horse shit OSHA enforced Vaxx Mandate that we are all waiting to see some Black Robed Nazgul’s say is perfectly legal when anyone with a lick of sense can see through like cellophane.

It’s either because [1] the Government is incompetent beyond rational understanding, or [2] they are criminally complicit in trying to destroy the lives and families of Americans. Either way, the USA is very toxic right now.

Other comments…

Just seeing a few holes in the grocery shelves, but nothing serious.  Gas is just under $4/gal (premium), and ammunition is outrageous when you can find it.  Help wanted signs everywhere with some restaurants short-staffed to the point of drive-thru only.  If Waffle House can only have one server and one cook, shit is baaad.  Same staffing shortages in retail as well.  It’s like 10% of the population just left the planet.  Just wish our local government retards would vanish.   New residential developments left and right.  Wondering who is going to pay those high prices for a house.  I’m hoping the asshole turning a corn field into a subdivision about 1/2 mile from me loses his ass.  Life seems to be normal, but even the wife senses “tension” (her word) when she’s out and about for provisioning.  I’m too old to wait too long, so whatever is going to happen I wish it would pop so I can have a little fun with it.

And…

Great vid that explains quite a bit fer the simple minded like me:

https://rumble.com/vn7lf5-monopoly-who-owns-the-world-must-see.html

Absurd

But cool.

Some Geo-politic stuff

From HERE. Interesting website.

The fight in Donbass is one of the major world’s flash points alongside Syria and Taiwan—where U.S. provocations threaten a major war with China.

If the West forces a military confrontation with Russia in Ukraine, it can be sure it will face one with China over Taiwan simultaneously, neither of which it has any chance of winning.

The Russians and Chinese have forged a partnership against Western, primarily U.S. aggression in the political, economic, and military spheres.

“Idiots in the Pentagon Are Pushing the U.S. into a Military Confrontation with China over Nothing,” Says Former Top Policy Adviser

From HERE.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley claimed last week that China was close to a “sputnik moment” due to its successful test of a hypersonic missile. 

However, U.S. space-based early warning systems can detect hypersonic missiles, marking them as no threat at all.

General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff warned on Wednesday, October 27^th, that China’s development of a hypersonic missile system is “very concerning,” calling it “very close” to a “sputnik moment” that triggered the space race during the Cold War.

“What we saw was a very significant event of a test of a hypersonic weapon system. And it is very concerning,” Milley said during an interview with “The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations” on Bloomberg Television. “I don’t know if it’s quite a Sputnik moment, but I think it’s very close to that. It has all of our attention.”

Sputnik was the first artificial satellite launched into low Earth orbit in 1957 by the Soviet Union, which sparked the space race between the U.S. and USSR.

Theodore Postol, professor emeritus of Science, Technology, and International Security at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a former top policy adviser to the Chief of Naval Operations, says that the Sputnik analogy advanced by General Milley is off base.

“The launching of Sputnik,” Postol said in an interview with CAM, “signaled at the time that the Soviet Union was able to compete with the U.S. in space and had been a surprise.” However, in the case of China and the testing of a hypersonic missile, U.S. intelligence agencies were “already aware about it and knew that China is very advanced in science and technology.”

The hypersonic missile, furthermore, “does not threaten the U.S. population in any way or provide China any military-technological edge.”

This is because the U.S. has “extraordinary space-based early warning infrared systems with the ability to detect hypersonic vehicles as they descend into the atmosphere and become heated to very high temperatures.”

General Milley’s statement, according to Postol, reflects how “idiots in the Pentagon” and political appointees are trying to “push us [the U.S.] into military confrontation with China over nothing.”

“Pushing us into military confrontation over nothing”

Launched via rocket, the hypersonic missile can travel over 6,000 miles at five times the speed of sound (3,836 mph). It runs parallel to the earth’s surface and can skip off it like a rock before reaching its destination after heating up to a very high temperature.

The space-based early warning system can see the hot spots of the hypersonic missile that’s moving when it dips into the boundary between space and the upper atmosphere. The exhaust from the hypersonic vehicle would also be recognizable.

According to Postol, a more real threat to U.S. national security are ballistic missiles—that Russia and China both possess—which are more accurate and launch balloons in space that radar cannot peer through and detect. The balloons are decoys which in frictionless outer space are very hard to distinguish from the actual warhead.

The U.S. military also cannot defend against cruise missiles that the Russians and Chinese have in their arsenals.

Testing the hypersonic missile, according to Postol, may provide “a statement from China that they are a technological competitor to the U.S.,” but it will “have little or no meaning in terms of adding significant nuclear-strike capabilities.”

“Someone gave Milley false information”

Postol says that he “does not think that Milley is a liar, but believes that he was provided false information from someone within the U.S. military or intelligence agencies and didn’t know any better.”

According to Postol, “Milley is both an unsophisticated consumer of intelligence and someone who is easily manipulated.”

In October, “when a drone strike in Kabul killed ten civilians, Milley stated that the attack was just”—though later acknowledged it had been a mistake.

“A dysfunctional system” and culture that “hypes threats”

Trained as a nuclear engineer at MIT, Postol said that his experience as a scientific policy adviser to the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Jim Watkins, from 1982 to 1984, “left him with a low regard for the accuracy of information provided by high-level government employees.”

This low regard has only intensified with time.

When Colin Powell gave his infamous speech at the UN in February 2003 about Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in Iraq, Postol—then a Pentagon adviser—knew right away that every line in the speech was wrong and that Powell himself knew this.

Recipient of the Leo Szilard Prize in 1990 from the American Physical Society for “incisive technical analysis of national security issues that [have] been vital for informing the public policy debate” and Norbert Weiner Award from Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility for “uncovering numerous and important false claims about missile defenses,” Postol earned the ire of the Bush I administration when he challenged the efficacy of the Patriot missile system—which had reputedly intercepted Scud missiles launched against Israel by Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein during the first Persian Gulf War.

Since that time, Postol has been highly critical of the tearing up of arms control agreements like the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia reducing cruise missiles, and U.S. government investment in ineffective weapons systems that waste taxpayer dollars.

In Postol’s view, the intelligence agencies have some good people working for them, but have developed into “rigid, dysfunctional bureaucracies with weak leaders who are often politicized.”

Those who gain promotion “have their own motivations” and “do not always provide the best information.” They are “part of a culture that hypes threats,” and “provides higher ups with a storyline that is useful to the larger agenda which is to get more money from Congress.”

By amplifying threats, the intelligence agencies want to “scare people” so they will “sanction huge military budgets” and big-ticket “defense projects that often add little to national security.”

Syrian chemical gas hoax

According to Postol, the intelligence agencies deliberately deceived the American public when they claimed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad carried out chemical weapon attacks against his own people—a claim that was adopted as a pretext for military strikes against Syria.

Postol reviewed key evidence about alleged attacks in August 2013 in the Ghouta district of Damascus and in April 2017 in the town of Khan Shaykhun in the Idlib Governate of Syria.

In the case of Ghouta, Postol said that the Obama White House presented a false intelligence report like in the Gulf of Tonkin incident that could have caused the nation to go to war.

According to Postol, what shows that the White House was lying is simple: The rockets that delivered the Sarin gas had a range of about two kilometers, roughly four to five times shorter than what was needed to execute the attack from Syrian-government controlled areas according to the White House map.

In the case of the attack on Khan Shaykhun, Postol said that the Syrian air force bombed a building—a meeting place for extremist leaders—with a supply store in its basement that stored pesticides and other chemicals which released toxic materials when it was struck.

The crater in the building had to have been caused by artillery rockets, and the scene was later staged to make it look like it was the target of a sarin nerve gas attack by Assad.

Jeffrey St. Clair wrote in Counterpunch that “China’s successful hypersonic missile test insures that over the next decade trillions will be diverted from health care, climate change, education and infrastructure budgets into a bottomless Pentagon slush fund for developing, testing and deploying missiles that by definition (or at least according to the logic of MAD theory) can never be used.”

This is how much food you can get for the cost of a pack of cigarettes in Australia

Part of Australian social engineering.

This all-female football tournament in Pakistan might have the best backdrop in the world

Pakistan is truly a beautiful place.

A cabbage farm kinda looks like a field of alien pods waiting to hatch

It does, doesn’t it?

Some video time

I would like to throw forth some videos now…

Show some love… video

Come on, ya gotta give out some love if you are ever going to expect to receive any. video

In China, people work together. In China, people take the time to make the world a better place. I like to believe that this aspect of the Chinese people is very much a human aspect that has been bleached out of many people because their societies have become evil, corrupted by the greedy. Start now. Take charge of your life. Start now, clean up your little part of the world. Start now and make the difference.

Stop waiting on others to do things. Instead, you go forth and do them yourself. video.

Please be the Rufus. Help others. Take action when it is needed. Do not fear anything. Go forth and go great things. Video

Show some humanity. Show some understanding. Show some kindness. Be the Rufus. Make a difference in the world around you. VIDEO.

Help others. Be kind. Go out of your way to do nice and helpful things. Do not be afraid about being late for work, or getting sued, or what others will think. Take the initiative and be the Rufus… video

Be the Rufus. Seriously. Be the Rufus. Like this cab driver does… video

Or like this cab driver does…

Video

Do you want more?

I have more posts like this in my Happiness Index here…

Life & Happiness

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A Fun Movie; The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967).

As I stay inside my apartment while the coronavirus wrecks havoc all through China, I have little else to do but watch movies. Now, for various reasons, I have taken a shine to the older 1960’s and 1970’s movies. And in this case, a relatively unknown vampire-comedy. And this one is simply amazing!

I well remember watching it on television with my father. He was a big Sharon Tate fan, and now that I am older I can well understand why. But more than that, I loved how it carred me away and sucked me into the movie with the “atmosphere”, and the story line.

My most memorable scene is where they are locked inside the parapet tower.

Brilliant movie - beautifully shot and with Polanski's eye for detail.  Very funny/quirky and atmospheric. I loaned it to a work colleague who  thought Polanski only made horror films like 'Rosemary's Baby', she was  amazed when confronted with this one. 

She thought it was great. 

Everyone  is always very impressed with the ballroom scene with all the mirrors  and the vampires dancing. The colours are fabulous and the outside  scenes remind one of s Christmas card. 

If it's ever on t.v. it's always  on around midnight or after, so I had to buy the DVD. Definitely one to  watch late at night when you're alone!! It took me years to find it on  DVD. I think the one I eventually bought was an import. 

- funnybunny-7

Scene from the Fearless Vampire Killers. It's a great flick and does help to carry you away to another time and place. It is, thus, great escapist viewing. — Scene from the Fearless Vampire Killers. It’s a great flick and does help to carry you away to another time and place. It is, thus, great escapist viewing.

Today, being much older, I have come to love Roman Polanski’s “The Fearless Vampire Killers,” which is surprising to me now because for most of my life I thought it was so-so.

You see, I missed the original release back in 1967, but I was only nine years old then. And the version released in the U.S. was a truncated travesty of what Polanski intended. It was a remake for American audiences by a jack-ass who thought that all Americans were simpletons bumpkins.

No shit!

 When I think about R.Polanski the first thing coming to my mind is -  "the master of fear and horror", and I knew it that "Fearless vampire  Killers" is rare example of comedy by this great director. Yeah, I was  worried before seeing this movie, not as much about "geting it", but  more so about simple thing - could this movie be entertaining for "21st  Century Boy".

First thing that striked me was beautiful music by  Komeda. I was in total awe. The music was scary, but at the same time so  light and funny - just like for a good fair story. And then the  beautiful winter scenery that was so fake - almost cartooning. Few  minutes into the movie, and I could say "that's what I call movie  poetry". 

The story is so simple. The old bat researcher,  professor Abronsius and his assistant, Alfred, go to a remote  Transylvanian village looking for vampires. They stay in house where no  one speaks about vampires, but the garlic is hanging everywhere.

Simplistic story is so right for this movie, because acting, scenery,  music, cinematography are all in top shape here. For composition I think  this is one of the best movie done by Polanski, next to "Tenant" for  sure.

And this movie is also a rare occasion to see Polanski in  comedic role. He and Brach make unforgettable duo. I was totally  entertain when in came to comedy in this movie, but the thing that  surprise me the most was the action factor. There is one scene that is  great example of that - when Polanski character is looking through  keyhole and is so scared of what he see that his face is screaming  "terror". It's sure funny, but in a way mad-scary too. And when I think  about this movie - this scene sums it up for me.

Its very funny,  but little outdated movie. For me one a few really cinematic fairy  tales, that keeps magic all the way to the end. Its up there with  Repulsion, Tenant, and Tess when in comes to greatest work of this  director. 

And just think about brilliant ending, so funny, so  mad. It's a shame Polanski hasn't made another comedy. Don't get me  started with Pirates - the most unfunny movie in history. But "Fearless  Vampire Killers " is movie magic - pure and simple. 

- fidomax

And, I am not the only person that was upset with the hack-job on this movie.

I’ve read that the movie was considered an almost complete fiasco because the executive producer, Martin Ransohoff, best known for “The Beverly Hillbillies,” wanted a very different film.

Yeah.

He wanted to change the film. He wanted to “improve” it to fit the bumpkin American mentality that he envisioned all Americans had.

So, in short order, he [1] cut 16 minutes out of Polanski’s 107 minute cut (Just under 1/5 of the entire movie.), and [2] inserted a short screwy cartoon before the titles (so people would know it was supposed to be a comedy…)

Ransohoff thought Polanski botched it that badly, and [3] even re-dubbed some of the actors. You know, so that they would sound more “American”. I’m sure that he wanted thick “bumpkin” Southern drawls and accents. He also [4] added the awful tag line to the title, “Or, Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck.”

This must have been the version I saw on TV in the early seventies that I thought was so terrible.

Thankfully this abomination doesn’t seem to be in circulation anymore. Good thing. Let the rats in the film vault feat on that monstrosity.

However, despite its flaws “The Fearless Vampire Killers” gained a cult following over the years, partially due to the morbid fascination with the murder of Sharon Tate, but also because the movie is really very, very good.

Paramount’s Robert Evans recognized this back in ’67 and thought Polanski the right director for “Rosemary’s Baby.”

He was right and the success of that film showed Hollywood what a master of the language of film Polanski actually is.

This is a wonderfully fun movie. It's got a lot of good stuff in it, and the critics can go try to make own luck at vampire comedy. — This is a wonderfully fun movie. It’s got a lot of good stuff in it, and the critics can go try to make own luck at vampire comedy.

When I first saw this film on TV in the early 70s, I thought it was so  cheesy I gave it very little attention.  

Then in the early 90s it was  released on laserdisc in a letterboxed version and I bought it on a  lark. After I viewed in the first time I still didn't think much of it  and thought maybe I wasted my money.  

But then, as the years passed, I  would look at it every so often and now I love the film.  

It is an  acquired taste.  

You first have to love vampire films -- the  old-fashioned, Gothic kind.  Next, you need to appreciate Polanski's  style and his understated approach.  It's also best to watch this film  late at night with the lights off, and especially with a snow storm  outside.  Give it a chance and this film will creep up on you. Hopefully  it will come to DVD soon. 

- stew100

Now, let’s be honest. This isn’t the best horror/comedy movie. The truth be told that Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein holds that position.

However, second place has just got to go to this one, and there’s no shame in being second here.

I don’t know too much about Roman Polanski’s career (I think I know more about his personal life): I’ve seen Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown, and this movie is the third of his that I know about that I’ve seen. maybe there were others, but I cannot recall them at the top of my head.

I would never have imagined from those two movies that he could direct comedy. Because of that I came into FVK very skeptical. At first, I thought that the laughs were few and far between. I kind of took it as a light-hearted serious movie.

I also thought that Polanski’s direction was too showy for a comedy.

But as the film went on, the comic moments began to build. And the showy direction ceased seeming showy and began to seem wonderful. If you find yourself not laughing a lot, it’s understandable.

Just sit back and enjoy Polanski’s amazing direction. And the laughs, although, to many, they may seem too few, those that there are are enormous.

I’d also like to praise the actors, including Roman Polanski himself. The set design, especially in the castle, is more than amazing. It’s simply beautiful.

The title "fearless vampire killers" it's not  so good as "Dance of the Vampires",outside U.S. this is the original title

I  always will remember this film as "Dance of the Vampires"  ALSO,CONGRATULATIONS to Mr Polanski for the Palme D' Or, he deserves  it(without him  just cinema "boring")

I enjoyed poetic scenes  such as like moment in Sarah's bath comparing the textures of first soap  bubbles, then falling snowflakes, and finally crimson blood. when  Alfred(Polanski) carries his master across the castle battlements remind  me of Polanski early short films.

Krystov Komeda's music has been  acclaimed as "the most innovative and haunting score ever devised for a  horror movie" by the heavyweight Aurum Film Encyclopedia. 

Krystof  Komeda's wondrous music, with its weird choral effects and little  melodies Komeda's score communicates the Kafka-like isolation of the  setting and the characters

Polanski chose some of the finest  English cinema craft artists to work on the film: cameraman Douglas  Slocombe, production designer Wilfrid Shingleton Polanski engaged noted  choreographer Tutte Lemkow, who played the actual Fiddler in FIDDLER ON  THE ROOF, for the film's climactic Danse Macabre minuet.

Sharon Tate as Sarah was delightful(we should remember her in a good way,as a decent actress and person,her scene with Polanski  is really cool ,especially "the bite scene") Jack MacGowran as  Professor Abronsius is  just great Polanski's films often deal in contrasts of master and  servant, the empowered and the powerless. The supposedly benign  Abronsius  bullies Alfred for his own purposes, just as the vampires  consider all of humankind a resource to be harvested.

The  character called Shagal got the best lines in the movie,when A woman  thrusts a crucifix in his face, only for Shagal - a Jewish rather than a  Christian vampire - to go "Oy-yoy! You got the wrong vampire" and bite  her anyway Count Von Krolock  (Ferdy Mayne, who plays the Count)he looks  really as a Nosferatu or a man that needs Transfusion!.

Also  funny is Herbert, the openly gay vampire who is interested in Alfred  rather than Sara, the sexual deviations implicit in early Hammer films  like The Brides of Dracula (1960) and Kiss of the Vampire (1964) are  brought out. 

- patita-1

Right from the main title sequence this film is really quite wonderful.

Christopher Komeda’s score is weird and haunting.

The day-for-night shots of the snowy countryside are a bit distracting, but you know they kind of fit the fairy tale quality of the film’s isolated, late 19th century Transylvanian winter never land.

The movie is extremely well-mounted with wonderful sets, especially the vampires’ castle.

All the performances are excellent. Jack MacGowran’s Professor Abronsius is an absolutely incredible characterization, unlike anything else MacGowran ever did on film.

The same is true of Alfie Bass’ Yoine Shagal, possibly the world’s first Jewish vampire, and a terrible lecher.

Sharon Tate was probably never lovelier than in this movie, and Roman Polanski is very good as Alfred, in fact amazing when you consider he was also directing.

It is a tour de force on his part.

Finally, Ferdy Mayne’s Count Von Krolock is a king vampire equal to any screen Dracula, while Iain Quarrier is also appropriately creepy as his gay vampire son, Herbert.

Well, what is this movie about? To begin with: although the vampire was best popularized in the modern era by English writers, it is really a myth of Eastern European Roman Catholicism. (I could explain that better - and why the English so well co-opted it - but obviously not here.)

This type of Catholicism (which finally produced a Pope in John Paul II) now only thrives (and none too well) in Poland - Polanski's home country.

During the Second World War, Poland was utterly decimated.

First, a large portion of its wealthiest citizens, who happened to be Jewish, were exterminated.

The Polish catholics themselves were split radically between anti-semitic nationalists (who also, mistakenly, thought the Nazis would save them from the Russians) and pro-Communists who, mistakenly, thought the Russians would save them from the Nazis.

Obviously, this was a no-win situation for the Poles.

And yet the first cinematic impression of this disaster arrived in the form of - a comedy - Ernst Lubitsch's "To Be Or Not To Be" (later remade by Mel Brooks).

Does the reader really need to know all this to appreciate this movie? actually, yes. This film is laughter at death's door.

The funniest and most memorable line in the film is from the Jewish vampire, responding to a threatened crucifix: "Oy vey, have you got the wrong vampire!" Funny? - Hilarious. Unfortunately, if this Vampire had any grandchildren, they all died in Auschwitz.

Why am I playing such a heavy hand here? Because this really is a great horror-comedy, far better and far more important than the studio hacks at MGM who released this film (after chopping it up) could ever have understood.

There is unfortunately no rumor that there's a director's cut in the vaults; it is well to remember that Polanski nearly disowned this film on release, and really only reclaimed it after the brutal slaying of his wife, who plays such an important role in the film.

But even as shredded as it is (pay especially close attention to the discontinuities involving the Professor), this is still marvelously written, directed, and photographed - truly frightening at moments, utterly hilarious at others, but always grounded in a particularly Polish sensibility which is now, alas, a thing of the past; - the preservation of a culture that, at its best, was among the best in Europe.

- winner55

Like the drinking of blood (I would imagine!), appreciation of “The Fearless Vampire Killers” is very much an acquired taste.

I don’t know what to say to those that don’t like it except, Why don’t you try watching it again? It might grow on you as it did me.

This movie also has one of the best one-sheet posters from the sixties, with art by Frank Frazetta.

All in all, this is a great movie, and I cannot praise it enough.

It's sad to say, whenever people ask me for a good vampire movie, one I  do recommend is The Fearless Vampire Killers, they always look at me and  ask "What's that?". 

But the 3 people I've shown it too loved it and I  think that has got to say something about this great vampire classic.  

Writer, director and co-star Roman Polanski made the first real vampire  spoof and what a great movie! 

If you think about today's spoofs,  everything is always a reference to something that's in pop culture.  This movie is just pure comedy, taking what was so typical at the time  of the weary travelers who happen upon a creepy castle with the even  creepier host, yet act completely oblivious when strange things happen.

The ballroom scene is amazing. It is just one of the great things that I really enjoy about this movie.

Instead, how about we have two vampire slayers, one who is calm and  experienced vs. the inexperienced and nervous? While we're at it, why  not add a ball into the mix? Dancing vampires, it just doesn't get any  better than this.

In the heart of Transylvania Professor  Abronsius and his apprentice Alfred are on the hunt for vampires.  Abronsius is old and withering and barely able to survive the cold ride  through the wintry forests, while Alfred is bumbling and introverted.  

The two hunters come to a small Eastern European town seemingly at the  end of a long search for signs of vampires. 

The two stay at a local inn,  full of angst-ridden townspeople who perform strange rituals to fend  off an unseen evil. Whilst staying at the inn, Alfred develops a  fondness for Sarah, the daughter of the tavern keeper Yoine Shagal.

The environment is amazing, and can take you away to another time and place. You can feel the cold wind on your face, and the pack of wolves snapping at your heels.

After witnessing Sarah being kidnapped by the local vampire lord, Count  von Krolock, the two follow his snow trail, leading them to Krolock's  ominous castle in the snow-blanketed hills nearby. 

They break into the  castle, but are trapped by the Count's hunchback servant, Koukol.  Despite misgivings, Abronsius and Alfred accept the Count's invitation  to stay in his ramshackle Gothic castle, where Alfred spends the night  fitfully. 

After finding Sarah the next day, they come up with a plan to  destroy the count and save Sarah, but with a midnight ball in the mix of  vampires, the plans might be a bit harder than they realized.

I  think one of the funniest scenes in film history is when Roman Polanski  is being chased by Count Krolock's feminine vampire son, Herbert.

Frozen stiff. Poor fellow, but then again it's actually pretty funny in a dark comedic sort of way. — Frozen stiff. Poor fellow, but then again it’s actually pretty funny in a dark comedic sort of way.

The  seduction scene before that was too funny, but let's add Roman running  around in a circle oblivious that he did just go around in a circle and  runs right back into Herbert! 

The comedic timing was just gold! 

Sharon  Tate is also in this film and she is just beautiful, you could see how  Roman would fall in love with her on and off screen so easily. It's  really sad that we lost her so young and so tragically, you see the  talent that could have been. 

I also love Jack MacGowran, he's calm  exterior to Roman's scaredy cat routine was the perfect balance the film  needed. 

I nearly die laughing each time I see the scene where they are  in the Count's bedroom about to stake him, but Jack gets stuck in the  window and Roman chickens out on killing the count. 

He has to go around  the castle to pull Jack out but gets distracted by Sharon Tate and when  he finally realizes that he left Jack in the same room with blood  sucking vampires, he just reeks with the "Oops!" face. 

The ballroom  scene is so memorable, again, the comedic timing is great. Another thing  about this film is that it also has some great scares in it too, some  great make up effects with the Count. 

I highly recommend this film; I've  been watching it since I was a little girl, I still love watching it  all these years later and can't wait to show it to others as well. 

- Smells_Like_Cheese

Conclusion

This movie is a bit dusty and not something that you would turn to automatically. However, it is a great little gem of a movie and well worth a nice visit. It will carry you away to a different time and place and it is rather charming in it’s own sinister comic way.

For me, it took me away for the germ warfare, the masks and goggles, and the latex gloves. It took me away from the disinfecting and the isolation and being cooped inside as the beautiful day with blue skies and lush green trees beckoned to me outside.

I am sure that it will take you too to a nice place far away from your normal life.

I hope that you enjoyed this post. I have other posts regarding movies and you can view them in my movie index here…

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