VAMPIR (UK-Serbian film) at Raindance in London – Friday, 5th November 2021

Director Branko Tomovic United Kingdom / Serbia 2021- 90 minutes
November 5, 2021 at 8:30 pm

Tickets – Film ticket includes Q&A with Director Branko Tomovic

After witnessing a crime in London and looking for a place to hide for a while, a man comes to a small remote village in Serbia to take care of the cemetery. He starts to have nightmarish visions and suspects that the friendly villagers have sinister intentions with him.

Review: Avoiding a dangerous situation in London, Arnaut travels to Serbia, to work as a cemetery caretaker. Once there, reality blurs with nightmare as he is plagued by terrifying visions and unwanted visitors in the night.

This atmospheric, stylish folk horror is set in a picturesque Serbian village, with an eerie, wooded roadside cemetery to die for. The lack of English subtitles over the Serbian spoken by the sinister and pale-looking villagers enhances Arnaut’s sense of isolation as he struggles to comprehend what is happening to him.

The film creeps along relentlessly, punctuated by some truly gory scenes. Arnaut the hapless Brit abroad is played by Branko Tomovic, who also writes and directs this – his debut feature. Fans of British crime drama might recognise him from The Bill, A Touch of Frost, Whitechapel and Silent Witness.

Harping back to a time before vampires sported body glitter, and rendered all the more chilling through being inspired by the superstitions surrounding “real vampire cases” in eighteenth-century Serbia, Vampir is a beautiful and frightening journey towards a destiny as unavoidable as it is bleak.

Abounding with creepy triplets and dribbling crones, you’ll never look at a headscarf-wearing granny the same way again!

Anna Taborska

Cast: Branko Tomovic, Gorica Regodic, Joakim Tasic, Eva Ras
Writer: Branko Tomovic; Producer: Jean-Louis Alexandre, Dina Vickermann, Milos Z. Vuckovic, Branko Tomovic; Editor: Abolfazl Talooni; Music: Mark Ashworth