Director Roman Polanski was a big fan of Hammer Films and, reportedly, one of the main reasons he made the dazzlingly macabre comedy The Fearless Vampire Killers was as a tribute to the British gothic horror maestros. It’s also the film where he began dating rising star (and future spouse) Sharon Tate who appears here as the innkeeper’s daughter whose whisked away by Count von Krolock (Ferdy Mane) to his snowbound mountain castle. The eccentric, elderly vampire hunter Professor Abronsius (Jack MacGowran) and awkward assistant Alfred (Polanski, doing double duty) are soon in hot pursuit to rescue the damsel-in-distress. Cinematographer Douglas Slocombe lensed the deep, saturated hues, capturing an ethereal nightmare fairyland. This was Polanski’s first film in color and scope, and the delirious original music was composed by Krzysztof Komeda (who did scores for Polanski’s Cul-de-Sac and Rosemary’s Baby).
“Funny and scary, this is vintage Polanski. A beautifully-designed, subtly subversive parody of the 1960s Hammer films.” – Kim Newman, Empire Magazine
