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an emissary to the king of France becomes lost on his journey, and finds himself at the surreal estate of a vampire and his family, where he begins to experience strange happenings.
I don’t really watch a lot of new movies but this is one I heard about recently and it sounded like exactly my kinda thing and I was not disappointed. it feels very very reminiscent of much older folk horror films, I absolutely loved this. the atmosphere is perfect, the writing is beautiful, and the main vampire is entirely done with puppetry which absolutely rules.
based on a folk story that long predates dracula, a vourdalak is a vampire who feeds on the undead subject’s former loved ones. normally I find horror movies that are about “trauma” or whatever to be a bit tired, but this one heavily deals with those kinds of themes and it never feels heavy-handed or hacky. it’s a film about patriarchy and abuse but it’s also totally just a folksy atmospheric vampire period piece. I loved it.
"My children. I am leaving. Wait for me six days. If after these six days, I have not returned, say a prayer in my memory — for then, I will have been killed in battle. But if ever, God forbid, I return after these six days have passed, I order you to forget that I was ever your father, and to deny me entry, whatever I may say or do, for then I would have become nothing but an accursed Vourdalak."
Dec 7, 2024
Related Recs
I watched for the first time last night and I’m glad I bought it because I want to experience it again and again. I’m overall not a horror movie person, but this obviously is cinematic and haunting and intrigued me more than scared me. There were still certain parts that made me want to vomit (you can probably guess which ones), but they were necessary.
I’m not tuned into the discourse happening around this film, but I hope that people are recognizing LRD’s performance as one that is award worthy. She did that all herself- no cgi, no prosthetics. I’m usually kind of a nepo baby hater but you can’t deny talent.
Feb 2, 2025
this might be a bit of an odd choice for this question because it's not very extravagant visually and it doesn't entirely fit into the horror or romance genres (it does have themes of both though) but i still think it's great and worth recommending! it's not super scary but it's a fun modern take on the vampire theme and there is a strange family and a sweet storyline. so i think it's worth a watch regardless..
Oct 27, 2024
Top Recs from @bisonspider
oh golly oh gee... I’m honored that anyone here on PI.FYI even recognizes me!! how sweet to be thought of. uhhhh as for who I am and what I’m about: my name is Ethyn, I’m 22, I’m American (flyover state), cultural Catholic, my favorite color is purple, of a forgiving disposition
I’ve been using this app basically since launch (?) bc a tiktok mutual was clued in on the ground floor and I got the invite lol. I consider myself a very curious and open-minded person and something I love about this place is how committed it is to sincerity, such that I can no longer stand the casual cruelty and close-mindedness of almost all other social media. so PI.FYI is the only social media I’m active on anymore. I suppose the reason I’m more of a lurker is because I love getting to read recs from others (and I’m pretty liberal with the like button) but I feel strange reccing something if I’m not like 100% behind it lol. like there’s gonna be a test. I’ll also go two days or so without logging on and then I’ll catch up on all the recs I missed so it results in a spam for my mutuals <3
As far as interests, I generally consider myself to be an ooky and kooky type of person. I love art in all mediums, but especially films, books, paintings, and poetry. I’ve rec’d PLENTY of all four if you care to take a look :) I’ll make the occasional lifestyle rec but most of the stuff I talk about on here is art. Lol since the earliest days of this site I’ve kinda harped on the function of story as the thing that makes us human, and myth as manifestations of the collective unconscious. This is one of my most foundational beliefs and lenses for the world.
Another common theme you’ll see in my recs is my love for the classics. Classic movies, classic books, all of it!! I think if something is classic there’s almost always a reason, and I think it’s important to understand foundations of influence for art that comes after. Everything is in context!!!! Everything is interdependent!!!!
some of my favorite films: The Wicker Man (1973), Goodfellas (1990), Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010), Viy (1967), Nosferatu (1922), The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
some of my favorite literature: All of Edgar Allan Poe, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, the work of William S. Burroughs, the work of Yasunari Kawabata, and all world myth categorically.
I want to affirm becoming!!!! I want to exist in service of the liberation of the full breadth of human potential!!! I want to be ripped screaming and bloody from the womb!!!! I will incarnate just to touch the wound ten thousand more times!!!!
2d ago
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study the folklore and myth of your actual local region. live your daily life under the logic of fairytales. communicate as heavily as possible in proverbs and riddles. humans are a storytelling creature and there is a reason these archetypes and motifs appear to humans across times/cultures/places
Feb 13, 2024
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Substack that emails you the entirety of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in real time. since the novel is composed of diary entries, it sends you the diary entries day by day so you can read it on the same timeline in which it takes place. it started earlier this month but it’s not too late to catch up!! or you could wait until next may. classics can be intimidating but this gives you the opportunity to read it in daily segments in your email and follow along in an immersive way :)
May 20, 2024