Dance Of The Vampires

aka The Fearless Vampire Killers UK 1967, d Roman Polanski

Having blazed a new trail for the horror film with Repulsion, Polanski's third British film was a much more traditional genre piece. Overtly parodying the then-ubiquitous costume dramas on which Hammer had staked its reputation over the previous decade, it gleefully spoofs conventions such as the crucifix being a surefire vampire repellent - "Boy, have you got the wrong vampire!" chortles an unmistakably Jewish Shagal (Alfie Bass).

It was written as a vehicle for Jack MacGowran, the only Cul-de-sac actor that Polanski remained friends with after shooting finished. He plays Professor Abronsius, a batty old vampire hunter clearly modelled on Van Helsing, while Polanski himself plays his incompetent assistant Alfred. His future spouse Sharon Tate is Sarah, the daughter of the aforementioned innkeeper Shagal, and the trio ends up at a lavish vampire ball hosted by Count von Krolock, Abronsius' nemesis.

Sadly, Polanski's first big-budget film suffered post-production studio interference, and was initially released in the US in a drastically mutilated version whose title Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are In My Neck says it all. Polanski expected it to flop, and it did, but in the meantime he had wisely started pre-production on a little project called Rosemary's Baby...