Vampirism in/as Family: Filmic Avatars of the Vourdalak

Philippe Met

Abstract


Through the diachronic survey of Italian, French and late-Soviet era screen adaptations of Count A. K. Tolstoy’s 19thc. French-language novella introducing the Slavic vampiric figure of the “vourdalak,” whose trademark is to feed on its loved ones, this study shows how the disintegration and/or reconfiguration of the family structure is diversely treated in terms in diegetic, thematic, stylistic and sociohistorical terms.


Keywords


Vampirism; vourdalak; family; European film

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References


Bibliography

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Filmography

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Beau, Adrien. The Vourdalak (Le Vourdalak), 2023.

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Tales from the Crypt (HBO series created by William Gaines & Steven Dodd), 1989-1996.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/kh.2026.0.69-83
Date of publication: 2026-10-20 13:44:14
Date of submission: 2026-04-06 09:57:23


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