‘The Vourdalak’ Review: Blood Relations

Patriarchy first enslaves, then noisily devours in “The Vourdalak,” a gloomy Gothic folk tale with a robust literary and cinematic provenance.

Adapting an 1839 novella by A.K. Tolstoy, the director, Adrien Beau, and Hadrien Bouvier have concocted a quaintly comic throwback to the vampire movies of yesteryear. Traversing a war-ravaged Eastern Europe, an effete French nobleman, the Marquis d’Urfé (Kacey Mottet-Klein), is set upon by bandits and forced to seek shelter in a forbidding manor house. The family inside is welcoming, if oddly secretive, anxiously awaiting the return of their father, Gorcha, who left to fight marauding Turks. There’s a domineering elder brother (Grégoire Colin), his cross-dressing sibling (Vassili Schneider), and their beautiful, lovelorn sister (Ariane Labed) who likes to eat worms and haunt the edge of a nearby cliff. The Marquis is instantly smitten.

Viewed through the horrified eyes of our powdered and painted hero, the return of Gorcha — who is now clearly, terrifyingly nonhuman — is irresistibly funny. Far from the niceties of the French court, the Marquis is ill-equipped to process his hosts’ rough peculiarities and baffled by their meek subservience to Gorcha’s commands. They know what their father has become, but, trapped by love and filial duty, they seem incapable of fleeing their ghastly fates.

Washed in a mood of misery and unease, this bizarre debut feature gains heft from David Chizallet’s often lovely photography and a sound design that prioritizes slurping and chomping. The actors are above reproach; but the movie’s star is inarguably the cadaverous marionette, voiced by Beau, that plays Gorcha. Its creepily insinuating presence — and hilarious involvement in a cringe-inducing sex scene — cements “The Vourdalak” as an endearing oddity. Surrender to its vintage vibe and its emotional kick may surprise you.

The Vourdalak
Not rated. In French, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes. In theaters.