The Essential Watchlist that Capture the Essence of Vendémiaire: Cult Guide

Dir: Louis Feuillade

Inspector Juve is tasked to capture the infamous criminal genius Fantômas who, ruthless and particularly elusive, changes his appearance and holds Paris' high society in a crippling grasp.

Dir: Louis Feuillade

Is a continuation of the film series "Judex" the masked fighter for justice.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The New Mission of Judex perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Louis Feuillade

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Louis Feuillade

The press as well as the general public opinion suggest that Inspector Juve may in fact be Fantômas, the very criminal mastermind he tries to capture. But as Juve is imprisoned, the actual Fantômas schemes to keep him behind bars forever.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of L'orpheline perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Louis Feuillade

A cine-roman following the fates of a Portuguese nobleman, a Carmelite nun, and a mysterious lookalike.

Dir: Louis Feuillade

An intrepid reporter and his loyal friend battle a bizarre secret society of criminals known as The Vampires.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Fantomas: The Mysterious Finger Print perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Louis Feuillade

Satanas, having committed suicide in prison, Venenos becomes the head of the Vampires. He learns that Philip is engaged to be married and orders Irma Vep to take an apartment in the same building and watch the girl. Irma learns that the betrothal dinner is soon to be celebrated. Venenos is advised and tells the caterer that the dinner has been postponed one day. The Vampires impersonate the caterer and his assistants. They poison the wine, and the janitor, who has been given some, drinks it and dies. His wife rushes into the banquet just in time to save the guests, who are about to drink to Philip and the girl. The Vampires switch off the lights and escape. Philip writes in code to his fiancée and tells her to go with her mother to a villa at Chailly. Irma Vep, accompanied by her maid, lies in wait for the limousine. It arrives with a wardrobe trunk strapped upright on the running board. Irma is at work spraying the interior of the automobile with a powerful anesthetic when Normandin steps out of the trunk. The women overpower him and Irma hides in the trunk. On arrival at Chailly, Irma telephones to Venenos, and is afterward captured by Philip Guard, who is soon joined by Normandin, who has escaped from the Vampires. Venenos rescues Irma and the pair escape in an automobile and escapes as the men continue after Venenos, who jumps from a bridge to a moving train and elude Philip and Normandin.

Dir: Louis Feuillade

As a token of his esteem for Captain George Cooper's prospective father-in-law, Lord Peters, the Rajah of Palakotta presents the captain with a casket of precious jewels. Cooper writes to his fiancée, telling her of this gift he will give her on his return. The notorious cracksman, Clement Rocca, robs the mail-train and reads the letter. He determines to steal the casket. He goes to the English hotel where the colonel and his daughter are staying. He meets them. At the same hotel is detective Harry Derwent. His suspicions are stirred by the action of Rocca. A telegram from Captain Cooper tells the time that his father and himself will arrive. The colonel and his daughter accept Rocca's invitation to join him in a shooting trip on an island off the coast. On arriving at the island, the criminal, on a pretext, leaves his guests. He returns to the mainland, knowing when the tide rises the island will be completely submerged. Not all his own way, however, is the criminal going to conduct his nefarious schemes, for Derwent is on the alert. On the previous night he had seen through a hole bored in the floor separating their rooms that Rocca is supplied with disguises. He had also learned of secret meetings with a man in an out-of-the-way cave, which is accessible only by a dangerous footpath. Capt. Cooper and his father duly arrive and the casket is deposited in the hotel safe. Captain Cooper goes for a walk on the cliffs. Half an hour later he is found insensible. The receipt for the casket has been stolen from the captain's pocketbook. It is Rocca's work. An accomplice, disguised as an orderly, goes to the hotel and is handed the casket on the strength of having the receipt. Cooper and the detective, arriving at the hotel, find that the box is gone. The captain gives chase to an automobile disappearing down the road. The detective hastens to keep watch over the cave. He hides behind a projecting piece of rock. In the interior, Rocca's accomplice hands over the casket. Derwent cautiously proceeds to the mouth of the cave, revolver in hand. He encounters Rocca. Before the latter recovers from the surprise Derwent snatches the precious package from him. There is a struggle. The thief loses his hold on the slippery rocks and staggers back over the edge, into the sea, disappearing forever. The colonel and his daughter, marooned on Bird's Island, have to swim for it when the tide rises. They keep afloat until they are picked up by a fishing smack. They don dry clothes loaned them by sailors and are soon back at the hotel. Captain Cooper returns from the unsuccessful pursuit of the casket. A happy reunion takes place when Detective Derwent enters with the jewels.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Parisette perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Louis Feuillade

A twelve-part serial following the adventures of the masked vigilante Judex as he fights against criminals led by the corrupt banker Favrauxom.

Dir: Louis Feuillade

After Phil Guard and Normandin capture two Vampires, Irma Vep and Moreno, the latter is guillotined and the woman is condemned to life imprisonment. The authorities as well as Philip, good reporter that he was, were lulled into security, thinking the Vampires were now powerless. They did not even know about Satanas, who was now leader of the band. Before her incarceration for life, Irma Vep is sent by the authorities to Algeria to testify regarding a crime committed there. Before leaving the detention home to board the vessel, she receives comforting information from a priest. The man is really Satanas in disguise. Satanas tells her that once on shipboard she must feign illness and be sent to the infirmary near the stern of the vessel, with his wonderful electric gun Satanas will destroy the ship, the projectile striking near the bow. Thus Irma will have a chance to regain her liberty. Even if she dies, that will be better than a life spent in prison. The ship is destroyed and Irma Vep is saved. She does not find Satanas, being afraid to disclose her identity in Algeria. She works her way back to Paris, whither Satanas has also returned. The head of the Vampires plans to destroy Philip Guard. The reporter is bound and gagged in his room and left to wait for the explosion of a bomb which will destroy him and those dear to him. Fortunately Normandin arrives, hears the clock-work tick of the infernal machine, and throws it into the garden just in time to save Philip. Satanas is living as a wealthy man in a new apartment, but the faithful Normandin penetrates his disguise and finds one of the shells for the electric gun. Normandin is accompanied by his son who enters the apartment upon a pretext. When he thinks he is alone he admits his father. Normandin hides in a chest, a fact known to Satanas, who has been watching through a mask on the wall, which is really a peep-hole from another room. The boy and Satanas struggle, after the former sees the chest locked and fears that his father is to be smothered. The fight is going in favor of the Vampire, despite his young adversary's revolver, when the door is broken and Philip and the police enter. Satanas is overcome and Normandin is released. He is suffering from a slight wound. His own son has shot him, grazing his big nose! The Vampires hold a meeting to discuss the capture of their chief. Irma Vep appears for the first time after her return and is loudly welcomed by the band. Venenos, the "man of poisons," takes from his pocket directions Satanas left with him in case he was captured. The request is for a certain letter to be smuggled to him in prison. This is done. Satanas chews the letter into a pulp and drops dead. The paper has been steeped in a deadly poison.