Review: The Vampyr: A Soap Opera

The Vampyr: A Soap Opera, a miniseries which aired on BBC 2 in 1992, may prove difficult to track down, but it is an essential addition to the library of anyone interested in vampire fiction. Based on Heinrich Marschner's 1828 opera Der Vampyr (which is itself based on the short story "The Vampyre"), it features an updated story and lyrics by Charles Hart. adparams.getadspec('c_billboard1');

The story begins in the eighteenth century when Ripley, a vampire, is frozen in a block of ice. After he is accidentally revived in the modern day, he becomes a successful but corrupt businessman. But his long life and great success come with a price: he must kill three women within the next three days. One of the women he targets is Miranda, the secret lover of his protegee, Alex. Miranda's father has given her to Ripley in marriage in order to settle some business debts, and Alex, having discovered the vampire's nature, must fight to save her.

While the music and the new lyrics are sometimes incongruous, the music itself is incredibly effective for such story of terrifying seduction. The choice to use actual opera singers instead of television actors is not always ideal, as opera singers are trained as singers first and actors second. Here, however, the choice to cast opera singers in all of the main roles ensures a high-quality soundtrack, drawing well-deserved attention to a rarely performed opera without sacrificing musicality.

Omar Ebrahim, who sings the part of Ripley, steals the show from his first appearance. His rich, warm baritone makes his role as a seducer completely believable. He shows off his talents immediately with his first aria, "Blood, my life is in their blood," a frenzied and virtuosic description of what joy it is to kill women.

Moments such as these are exaggerated almost to the point of camp. There are points of even greater ridiculousness, such as the ending (which I will not reveal here). But The Vampyr never takes itself too seriously, and so we are able to take it in good humor. It has all the markings of a good cult classic in the vein of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Unfortunately the miniseries seems, like the opera before it, to have been mostly forgotten, not even attracting much of a cult following. The lack of a DVD release does not help matters (the only way to see the miniseries is to track down a used VHS tape on eBay or Amazon). Such a unique series deserves a wider audience, and will hopefully find due appreciation by fans of vampire literature and film as well as those who appreciate German Romantic music.