The Vampire of Ferato
A doctor is shocked when his beloved colleague Mima signs a contract with foreign car manufacturer Ferat as a rally-driver. A scientist convinces him that human blood is being used as fuel for Mima's ever winning car.
- Upír z Feratu
- Czechoslovakia 1981
- 91 min.
- 15+
Juraj Herz’s filmography is rich with horror stories. Furthermore, Upír
z Feratu (The Vampire of Ferato, 1981) is more of a science-fiction film than a
horror, founded around many irrational elements. The story is centred on the
Ferat racing car, which runs on human blood. Based on the story Upír po dvaceti
letech (A Vampire Twenty Years On) by author Josef Nesvadba (this author has
provided the inspiration for many Czechoslovak films), director Herz and
screenwriter Jan Fleischer adapted the work into an archetypal drama about the
self-destructive nature of human obsession.
The protagonist of The Vampire of Ferato is Mima Veberová, who satiates her
love of high-speed driving via her job as an ambulance driver, racing with
Doctor Marek to the scenes of countless accidents. But while at a racing rally,
and on hire to foreign firm Ferat, Mima is changed by a meeting with an old
acquaintance, trainer Kříž, and a former competitor, racer Luisa. While Mima
falls under the spell of the winning bloodsucking vehicle, Doctor Marek tries to
save her and unveil the nefarious goings-on at Ferat. This stylised film bubbles
with a horror-like atmosphere in part thanks to cinematographer Richard Valenta
and composer Petr Hapka – the two components fuse perfectly during the
film’s racing scenes, and also during Marek’s horrific nightmares. The
leading roles go to Jiří Menzel (Marek) and Dagmar Veškrnová (Mima). Trainer
Kříž is played by Petr Čepek, whose expressive acting style was previously
in evidence in Herz’s Petrolejové lampy (Oil Lamps, 1971). The director
himself has a small cameo in the film as a vampire in a silent film, reminding
audiences that the car firm Ferat is a deliberate evocation of the horror
classic Nosferatu, Eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922). Yet the real star of the
film is the car itself, designed by Theodor Pištěk (also responsible for the
film titles and costume design). The vehicle is an adaptation of the
never-produced prototype Škoda Supersport 724.
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