Yours portly has been on a bit of a foreign film kick, especially weird horror films.  Particularly, it seems that French-language films have been turning up quite a bit in my Shudder feed.

International horror—at least, the stuff that gets to us—tends to be pretty good, but I’ve never been too terribly impressed with the French material on Shudder.  But this week’s film, The Vourdalak (2023), is a delightful exception.

The Vourdalak is based on the gothic novelle La Familie due Vourdalak (The Family of the Vourdalak) by Russian writer Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy.  A “vourdalak” is essentially an Eastern European vampire/revenant, which feeds on the blood of its family members.

In this adaptation, a young French marquis is traveling somewhere in Eastern Europe on a diplomatic mission when he is robbed by bandits.  He seeks aid from a man named Gorcha.  Gorcha, however, is off fighting the Turks, and has told his family that he will return in six day.  If he returns after six days, though, he will be a vourdalak, and his family should destroy him.

The various members of the family believe in vourdalaks to varying degrees.  Naturally, right as six days has expired, Gorcha is found collapsed in a heap on the edge of the rest.  He is clearly some kind of Count Orlok-ian creature of the night, but the eldest son insists it is their father, and that vourdalaks do not exist.  It makes for a comedic (I think intentionally) scene in which the Gorcha-vourdalak—portrayed by an emaciated puppet (seriously!)—sits down for dinner with his family, his grandson laughing at his antics.

Gradually, the Gorcha-vourdalak begins claiming victims, and the family attempts various cleansing and protection rituals, while also trying to do so while avoiding the scrutiny of the eldest son.  The French marquis is caught awkwardly amid what is clearly a lot of family drama and history with a vampire now tossed into the mix.  He tries (unsuccessfully) to seduce the Sdenka, the sultry gypsy-esque daughter, only to later find his dreams fulfilled in a horrifying way.

This film is one that kept me watching intently, especially to see such a clearly monstrous figure walking around like Yoda while gaslighting his family.  It’s spooky at points, but also charmingly campy and comedic, especially with the puppeteering of the Gorcha-vourdalak.

Definitely a weird one.  Check it out.