Saturday, July 30, 2011

Honourable Mention: Nachts in den Karpaten

This was a lovely looking short animation, directed by Kai Blisch and Adrian Marhoffer and released in 2007. A German production, the title in English is A Night at the Carpathians. It was a narrated piece with narration courtesy of Meik Spallek.

feeling threatened
It sees a cold, snowy night as Sarah (Nina Göldner) happens upon a castle. Freezing, she enters the castle but the door closes behind her and she is left face to face with the Count (Karsten Harz). He ushers her into a living room and she picks up a book. As she reads we discover it is a book of erotica. The Count comes behind her and makes a grab for her and she runs, leaving him with cloak in hand.

Sarah
She is pursued through the castle. She finds the bones of a professor, stake in hand and a bag of vampire killing tools at his side. The temptation, of course, is to think that the professor might have been Van Helsing but with his top hat still in place upon the skull he brought to mind Professor Abronsius from the Fearless Vampire Killers. She takes the anti-vampire tools but in pulling the stake she makes the bones clatter and gives her position away.

frozen by the cross
As she is chased she pulls something, in a handkerchief, from the bag. She places it on a plinth, the covering flutters away, revealing a cross that freezes the Count in place. Sarah turns back and… here I will spoil the ending because it is so glorious. She approaches with her hand over her eyes, peeking between fingers, and then tips the cross off the plinth, freeing the Count from its influence. He reaches her and they return to their coffin… they are a vampire husband and wife and this was all a role play of ‘victim comes to the castle’ played to spice up their love life… Absolutely brilliant. And, all in all, a fine little short.

The imdb page is here.
;)Q

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