Release
Les Vampires was serialised French cinemas as ten episodes of differing length, the first two appearing on 13 November 1915 and the last on 30 June 1916. The film was first shown in Mexico on 24 May 1917 and made its début in the USA at the 1965 New York Film Festival.
Despite World War I limiting the audience for the film (unlike Feuillade's earlier work Fantômas) it was a huge success in France, massively outshining the original competition from Pathé and the serial The Mysteries of New York. Much of the films success is said to have been from the inclusion of Musidora as the antagonist Irma Vep, who fitted well with the archetypes of 'vamp' and 'femme fatale', often being compared to Theda Bara. The police force, however, condemned the series for its apparent glorification of crime and dubious morality. Some of the episodes were temporarily banned, but these bans were retracted after a personal appeal from Musidora.
A 7-volume novelization of Les Vampires by Feuillade and George Meirs was published in 1916 by Tallandier (as 4 paperbacks followed by 3 magazine-size issues).
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