Note: This tenth entry in the stellar Allan Fish Bonanza Encore series was chosen by a former commentator and good friend, ‘Frederick’ who is tasteful cineaste. His choice was sent on to me by e mail. He hopes to comment again in the future.
by Allan Fish
(Czechoslovakia 1970 74m) DVD1/2
Aka. Valerie A Tyden Divu
Valerie the Vampire Slayer
p Jaromil Jires d Jaromil Jires w Jaromil Jires, Ester Krumachova story Viteslav Nezval ph Jan Curik ed Josef Vausiak m Lubos Fiser art Jan Oliva
Jaroslava Schallerova (Valerie), Jan Klusak (Gracian), Helena Anyzova, Petr Kopriva, Juiri Prymek,
Well, it’s certainly more of a mouthful than Buffy. And slayer probably isn’t quite the word either, but the idea of a young girl coming face to face with vampires was not just created by Joss Whedon; Jaromil Jires beat him to it by over twenty years. However, though vampires appear it isn’t a vampire movie at all, but rather a study in adolescence and female sexual discovery. It’s also the sort of film that could never, and indeed will never, be made in the US or even the UK, where it would outrage the moral majority.
Valerie is a thirteen year old redhead who has fantastic dreams and a rich imagination. She lives with her grandmother, a pale but youthful looking woman who has never been near a man since her seduction and impregnation with Valerie’s mother at seventeen. Valerie is warned by her grandmother not to wear her mother’s earrings, which seem to possess some sort of magical significance and, not doing so, finds herself in increasingly fantastic scenarios, involving witchcraft, vampirism and ghosts (even involving her dead parents) and at the same time, is beginning to explore her sexuality. (more…)