A 1915-1916 film serial in 10 parts. These vary greatly in length, from 15 to 60 minutes, making it one of the longest films ever made
. 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. Considered one of the most iconic films ever made, it is notable for introducing Irma Vep, who became a legacy character portrayed by other actresses over the years.
All told, it is about 24,000 seconds (6 hours 40 minutes) long.
See also Irma Vep, which is about an attempted remake of this film serial.
Les Tropes:
- Aside Glance: On multiple occasions, Mazamette looks right into the camera with a very pointed look on his face to highlight the oddity of the situation. Notably, he and his son are the only characters to do so.
- Banging for Help: Irma in episode 9 when she is tied up and gagged while Philippe and Mazamette are waiting for Venomous, she keeps honking a car horn to alert Venomous to her presence.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Satanos kills himself while in custody, as he's sure to be executed, and has pre-written orders for his subordinates to assist him in the endeavor.
- Brainwashed and Crazy:
- Irma is hypnotized by Moreno into killing her own cohorts.
- Augustine is hypnotized into letting the Vampires into the house.
- Bound and Gagged: In episode 6 Irma is briefly gagged when Moreno takes her into a room. In episode 9 she is tied up by Philippe and then gagged by Philippe. In the finale episode Augustine is bound and gagged by the Vampires when they enter the house. When the Vampires escape their base she is captured by them and gagged again.
- Chase Scene: In episode 9 after Irma is released by Venomous.
- Comic Relief: Mazamette, in spades; the film would be a lot darker if he wasn't there to lighten the mood.
- Cool Old Lady: Philippe's mother, who stops herself from being a Damsel in Distress by killing her captor.
- Damsel in Distress: Irma is a villainous example. She's chloroformed and captured by Moreno, then held hostage for ransom; arrested and requiring rescue from Satanas; and captured again by Philippe and Mazamette.
- Disc-One Final Boss: The Grand Vampire is established as the biggest antagonist from the first episode, up until the end of episode six when Moreno commands a hypnotized Irma to kill him. Then it's revealed that he's actually a subordinate, and the real Grand Vampire is himself, Satanas.
- Distressed Dude: Philippe is captured a number of times by the Vampires, most notably when they lasso him out from his own second-floor window. Unlike Irma, however, he tends to either rescue himself or get lucky thanks to the Vampire's incompetence with killing him.
- Deadly Gas: In episode 10 the Vampires attempt to kill Philippe this way.
- Destruction Equals Off-Switch: In episode 9, pulling a light switch off plunges the room in the dark.
- The Determinator: Philippe never gives up trying to take down the Vampires, despite the considerable peril he finds himself under.
- Evil Versus Evil: The Vampires spend some time fighting other criminals.
- Fanservice: Irma Vep. So much so that she seems to have become the film's most well known character.
- Hypnotic Eyes: Moreno, who hypnotises several characters using only his gaze.
- Instant Sedation: Irma when chloroform is used on her by Moreno.
- Intrepid Reporter: The hero Philippe Guérande is a journalist who investigates and actively tries to stop the titular criminal group.
- Left Hanging: The Grand Inquisitor of the Vampires turns out to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, suggesting a conspiracy of corruption among the higher powers in Paris, but it's never brought up again after that episode.
- Killed Offscreen: Moreno is executed offscreen after his capture.
- Master of Disguise: The Grand Vampire has a number of identities and disguises that make him a formidable opponent.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Venomous, who is also a poisoner, and Satanas, the first Grand Vampire.
- Not Quite Dead: Moreno fakes his death to escape from prison.
- Not What It Looks Like: When Philippe discovers Metadier's dead body in Moreno's safe, he insists that he didn't kill the old man.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Unlike the masterful disguises of Moreno, Satanas, the Grand Vampire, and even Philippe himself, Irma tends to infiltrate situations while looking no different than she always does. Much of the time, Philippe becomes alerted to Vampire activity simply because he notices a conspicuous Irma nearby.
- Police Are Useless: The police seem to get absolutely nothing done without Philippe, and when he does call on them for help, they either arrive too late or lose the criminals that they get into their custody.
- Running Gag: Mazamette and his sons. The first few episodes involve him taking up numerous criminal enterprises because he needs to fund their education, and in a later episode, one is brought back for bad behavior.
- Sacrificial Lamb: Marfa, who is innocent, uninvolved with the investigation and has no financial motivation to the Vampires, is murdered to establish their threat of doing whatever it takes to discourage Philippe from investigating them.
- Sacrificial Lion: The threat of the Vampires is established in the first episode, where it's noted that the agent in charge of investigating the gang was found decapitated, and it's later revealed that they've been keeping his severed head in a box.
- Significant Anagram: Irma Vep is an anagram of Vampire.
- Spy Catsuit: Irma Vep, who has become quite iconic for this. Very possibly the Ur-Example for films.
- Stockholm Syndrome: Irma becomes Moreno's lover on her own volition, even after he kidnaps her, hypnotizes her, and forces her to kill her boss.
- Stuffed in the Fridge: Marfa, Philippe's presumptive fiancee, is murdered onstage by the Vampires as a threat to Philippe.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: After escaping the prison ship, Irma pretends to be a scorned lover nearly Driven to Suicide in order to play up sympathies of local townspeople and get food, shelter, and money.
