The Cinémathèque française is dedicating a cross-cultural exhibition to the influence of vampires in the arts and literature. It is the ideal opportunity to rediscover the legendary figure of horror cinema through the lenses of some of the greatest directors.

"“There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights.” Bram Stoker, Dracula

Published in 1897, the famous Gothic novel marked the beginning of a widespread fascination with the figure of the vampire, and introduced its most famous portrayal to the world. The first vampire references go back to ancestral myths such as that of Lilith, and to popular beliefs of central Europe in the Middle Ages, but it is literature and cinema that continue to feed our incessant fascination for this half human half zombie figure that manages to be simultaneously elegant, bestial, dismal and erotic. The vampire figure and all the intrigue that comes with it has become so popular that it has infiltrated the spheres of university research, and is studied at the same level as B movies.

Max Schreck in Nosferatu the vampire (1922) by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau © Tirage argentique d’époque Paris, La Cinémathèque française Collection Centre national du cinéma © Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Stiftung

An exhibition that is just in time for Halloween

For the month of Halloween, the Cinémathèque de Paris has dedicated itself to the legendary cinematic icon: Dracula. The institution will host an exhibition and a series of screenings that retrace a hundred years of horror, comedy and eroticism. "Dracula is just one of many on-screen vampires, just like Edward Cullen in Twilight, or Lestat de Lioncourt in Interview with the Vampire", says Matthieu Orléan, curator of the exhibition. "They all haunt our screens as they emerge from the shadows of society, and whenever they tremble, our ideologies break down." From Nosferatu, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's vampire from the eponymous film that was released in 1922, to the many TV series that he features in such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the deeply analyzed series uses the figure of the vampire as a metaphor for cinema itself, as an instrument of societal criticism, and as a pure exercise in style to which the greatest directors have lent themselves. At the exhibition, you will be able to rediscover the most famous vampires in the history of cinema, starting with the various interpretations of Dracula on the silver screen such as Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee in the Hammer films, Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker's Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola, the delusional visions of Roman Polanski in The Fearless Vampire Killers, Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk till Dawn, and Vampires by John Carpenter. For the night of Halloween, the exhibition has a special tour planned which includes a virtual reality experience, and a night of projections and entertainment.

Daughters of Darkness, Harry Kümel, 1971 © Virginia Haggard Leirens / Tous droits réservés

The Hunger, Tony Scott, 1983 © Warner

Vampires, from Dracula to Buffy, from October 9 2019 until January 19 2020 at the Cinémathèque française, 51 rue de Bercy 75012 Paris

Screenings not to be missed:

Nosferatu, October 9 at 8pm, Dracula by Terence Fisher, October 11 at 9pm, Bram Stoker's Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola, October 13 at 8:15pm, The Fearless Vampire Killers by Roman Polanski, October 24 at 7pm, Interview with the Vampire by Neil Jordan, October 17 at 7:30pm

Translated by Anushka Shah