User reviews

It's evidently based on an Italian comic of the same name (I'd never heard of it.) Fans of the comic will probably get more out of it than casual viewers. Dampyr is essentially a superhero origin story: developing the protagonist and defining his powers, introducing his allies; and giving him a dopey mid-tier villain as an initial test while more formidable antagonists wait in the wings.

The movie makes good use of an apparently small budget. The 1992 Yugoslav war is a perfect setting for a modern vampire movie. The two main supporting performances are quite good. Everything else about the production is hit-or-miss. The dialogue goes from snappy to banal and back in a single conversation; the character development and world-building are sometimes sharply economical and other times either bloated or non-existent; and the main actor's performance is wobbly - he has some snarky charisma but he doesn't have the gravitas to carry big moments.

Overall it's an enjoyable mid-tier popcorn flick. Turn your brain off and have fun with it.

It's 1992 in the Balkans. Emil Kurjak (Stuart Martin) and his soldiers find a town ravaged by vampires led by Tesla Dubcek (Frida Gustavsson). Meanwhile, Harlan Draka (Wade Briggs) and his sidekick Yuri travel from town to town. He performs as the Dampyr, a vampire hunter. It seems to be a fake performance until Emil puts him to the test. He has to take down Gorka, Master of the Night (David Morrissey).

I like the first half. I like the premise of Harlan and Yuri as traveling snake oil salesmen although I would keep their act more as a fake scam in the beginning. I would cut out all the early reveals of vampires. I want Harlan to have a fun shocking reveal. I like all the characters stuck in that small town. I definitely do not want Harlan to be separated from Yuri. I don't buy Tesla's turn. I don't like expanding the movie out into the bigger world and I definitely don't like the setup to an interconnected cinematic franchise universe. Let's see how this movie does first before we pile on a whole new franchise series.

I wanted to like this, I really did. The movies starts off interesting, giving the viewer a nice backdrop of the story.....then it happened....the other 80 minutes of the movie.

First thing noticed is the action scenes where you cannot tell the good guys from the bad guys. There are people shooting and other people falling down and you do not know who is who...or care.

Secondly, the dialogue is on the level of a high school play...junior high.

Third, not many good decisions, actually there was only one good decision(actually great) and everything else is a bed decision to push the story forward.

Last...when you see your enemy that you have ben trying to kill all movie...just kill them. Do not do some STUPID monologue that does little to propel the story and only makes it easier for your enemy to get you. This happened multiple times on both sides, the good and the bad. Just stupid.

When i saw the trailer for this movie it got me intrigued. Its the kind of movies i enjoy in general. Vampire theme, fight scenes and such. But when these movies are made outside of the United States and release VOD, usually they are kinda cheap and it show.

But this one actually came out pretty decent. Yes the sets are mostly old eastern europe rural areas so nothing too fancy and the costumes, guns etc ain't exactly the best looking i ever saw, but the action is well filmed and the CGI effects are not overused. The french dub version gave some decent acting in general and the characters altough not particulary complex were fine.

The movie does not take too much time establishing itself and altough its set in some war set-up, i have no idea what actual war it is and even the movie use more as a pretext to have characters there rather than be important to the plot.

Overall for a saturday night movie with a few beers during Halloween season, it does the job pretty fine.

It's the 21th century and you want to make a high concept, low budget movie. In other words, you aim to play in the same league of Spider-Man and Jurassic World, but spending one tenth of the money. It may look like a mission impossible - yeah, pun intended - but you still can do it, if you balance your lack of means with fine writing and a cascade of explosive ideas.

Dampyr, well, doesn't.

I'm not a SFX fanatic and I don't care about the visual effects looking cheap, as long as the script is surprising and the characters are well crafted and the dialogues are brilliant. Unfortunately, in Dampyr there's none of this. In fact there's nothing at all: think of one of those action-horror flicks which were a trend a couple of decades ago - Blade, Hellboy, Underworld - then strip it of anything that makes it interesting and you'll have Dampyr.

Dishonorable mention for the villain: we end up knowing nothing about his plans or his background or his personality, he's a funhouse prop which pops up now and then just to show how much he's scary.

I'm giving two stars instead of one just for the Balkanic setup, which at least is quite unusual for this kind of film.

I loved this film. It had the feel of an old school vampire film. Hopefully people will judge for themselves so maybe they can make another one. It has some really great actors in it. It is also english speaking. The story line is good. I feel like if they make more we will get more of the story. If your favorite horror sub genre is Vampires like mine than you should check this film out. David Morrissey played a great wicked vampire. Dampyr did not disappoint as far as I'm concerned. This is also has the lead from the new spin off series viking Valhalla in it. Don't miss out on this dark fantasy.

Stumbling upon this 2022 fantasy horror movie here in 2023, by random chance, and seeing it is a vampire movie of sorts, then of course I opted to sit down and watch what director Riccardo Chemello had to offer.

Turns out that this movie was a swing and a miss in terms of entertaining me. I am really surprised with how writers Mauro Boselli, Giovanni Masi, Alberto Ostini and Mauro Uzzeo collectively could manage to come up with something so bland, devoid of entertainment value and just downright boring. This was without a doubt one of the most pointless vampire-based movies I have sat through in a long, long time.

The storyline in "Dampyr" fell through entirely, and I found nothing worthwhile or wholesome throughout the course of the 109 minutes that the ordeal lasted for. The only thing that made me cling on with my teeth and nails were the special effects.

Not only was the storyline lacking appeal to me, but the character gallery as well, and that just made it even more difficult to get submerged into the narrative and take the movie serious.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, and having just looked through the listing here on IMDb, I am very surprised to see that it was the Governor himself, actor David Morrissey, that played Gorka.

Truth be told, then the movie's cover was actually the best thing about the entire ordeal.

My rating of director Riccardo Chemello's 2022 movie "Dampyr" lands on a very generous two out of ten stars.

This movie is yet another tedious cover of all the vpure movies of the past, the most obvious being John Csrpenter's Vampires. This movie follows that plot almost scene for scene.

That would be fine if there was some meat to chew on, so to speak, but this movie is all bare bones. The acting is - as do many of these entries into the vampire world - dead. The action is just plain dumb. For example, the protagonist charges towards the villain (a vampire) 3 or 4 times, only to be hurled back 50 feet. And what does he do when he gets on his feet again? Yup. He charges at the vampire AGAIN. No matter it didn't work the previous 4 times. And you have the usual humans-encountering-vampires fight. Humans fire their machine guns, the vampires laugh. Well, you can figure out what happens next.

And one can easily predict the dialogue, or the following scene. It drones on and on. The trajectory resembles the recently launched rocket that flew 500 feet towards space - and promptly exploded. If it was an ekg, it would be a flatline. My husband watched, while I just listened. I asked four times how it was, and his response was "bad." There is no genuine tension or climax in the movie. How anyone could get this at 10 is beyond me. I can understand being entertained (and even that is questionable), but objectively? A poorly done film with little plot, bad acting, endlessly derivative. This is a 5 at best. A 3 is a fair rating. Keep in mind, I'm not the demographic for this, whom I would imagine to be 18 year olds who like to watch things explode, or guns firing endlessly. For the rest, this will not cut the mustard.

Dampyr impresses with its low-budget charm, featuring commendable acting and well-coordinated direction. The script and dialogue strike a pleasing balance, complemented by seamless scene cuts. The actors deliver smooth, natural performances, creating a comfortable and engaging viewing experience. The set design, enhanced by green screen and special effects, adds an equally satisfying dimension to the film. Dampyr exudes a Marvel Comics Blade vibe, placing its superhero in a thrilling war zone. The film's narrative and atmosphere evoke the intense, action-packed essence reminiscent of the iconic Blade series, offering a captivating experience for fans of the genre.

For fans of the genre, it's pretty much a mishmash of other stories. Hints of Blade, Vampire Hunter D, so on with maybe a touch of Constantine. Definitely scripted to be the start of a series, but would be surprised if someone sprung for the desired sequels. Does meet Netflix criteria, however - Cheap to make. Production quality is fine for the Eastern European origins (on par with Blade 1). Worth the watch if nothing else catches your eye, but don't expect an Oscar quality script or performance. I'm sure any plot holes (big enough to drive a truck through) will be filled in its intended sequels or possibly filled in by its comic book origins.

This movie seemingly came out of nowhere and I added it to my watchlist and since it was quite popular on the IMDb page I thought I'd give it a try. I do enjoy vampire movies as long as they are not just Romance and there are some nice horror aspects. This movie does have some horror in it, however for me it was still too tame. The production value was good and the movie definitely looked better than I anticipated but these generic cardboard characters that we are supposed to root for where boring and predictable. The story however was still rather interesting but it also suffered from its generic approach. I think the movie still has some franchise potential and the overall result was better than I thought it would be but it is definitely not groundbreaking. [5,7/10]

This is a story about vampires ,, And that was all , folks , its a story about vampires, since its on Netflix we already figure out the level on this movie also, its a low budget movie about vampires on Netflix

Its not complete trash, acting is good and direction aswell, lots of action cause the vampires are armed to the teeth with guns, so yes its not total demented garbage, but the story goes nowhere and its like they have no ideas or material either for a movie, it was boring even when things were happends , if you are a bit younger and like action this might work out for you, otherwise this is nothing more than a story about vampires.

A vampire with a D ... in front that is. There are other words that start with a D one could use I reckon. That said, the low budget effort is I reckon quite nice, if you are into that sort of movie. I like smaller movies and genre movies that try something different are also something to behold and to encourage.

At least that is how I see it. "Acting" is ok I reckon, effects are ok too. Story is quite thin, but I did not expect anything else. Also quite predictable and with the already mentioned money restrictions. Be aware what you are about to watch and set your expectations accordingly - nothing more, nothing less.

Dampir is an interesting film, although not spectacular at all.

As far as I understand from the Italian director, the action is related to Serbs, who in some sense are rarely portrayed positively in films (by uniform and names).

Dampir, Kurjak (it's another name for wolf in Serbian) and the vampire Tesla are also Serbs.

Tesla is an exclusively Serbian surname.

I admit that I was not familiar with this comic book character "Dampir", although I found on the net that he has a larger audience and greater popularity.

The main characters; both positive and negative, they are great in their acting, as well as the direction itself.

Plot as plot, it's chewed over too much, and the actors pretty much pulled out the dynamics of the film.

The film is not a classic horror, but a kind of action sf that leans towards the theme of horror, except that there is nothing scary.

Personally, I am disgusted by the use of violent conversion of victims in this type of films, because without the consent of free will in anything, there is no essential determination.

I would also add that deviating from the basic principle that the devil and his servants fear the Cross and God, the meaning of the distinction between good and evil is lost.

Vampires vs. Vampires and witches, ... who cares about that nonsense on the evil side.

It's like if normal people were bombarded with narratives about the struggle of mafia clans and cartels.

I want to say that we are not interested in the internal struggles of criminals and that this information scares us.

Analogously, the wars that are waged in movies between vampires and demons are dull and boring.

The script is often stupid.

In this film, it can pass that it is well based on human nature, however, the film itself is shallow in terms of script.

Once again, congratulations to the actors.

I rarely watch Subtitled movies, as I tend to multi task and miss bits. But this was a bit special, and had my attention all the way through. For me it had echoes of John Carpenters Vampires, 30 Days of Night and another Russian movie, Night Watch. The acting is top notch, and I liked the way the story developed. A few people have commented it is a bit slow, and lacks bite. But for me, the character and story development helps build the atmosphere. I have watched a lot of Vampire movies, and this is definitely up there. The cinematography was superb, with lots of atmospheric scenes, dark woods and swirling fog. All in all a very enjoyable watch.

I've never read the comic series but I've seen my fair share of vampire movies. This was good enough with plot line and acting and graphics. Somewhat cheesy in the way the 90s Buffy the Vampire Slayer was but definitely entertaining and now I want a sequel. They definitely leave the ending setup for a possible 2nd film but it seems like for now there's no movement on that. My biggest gripe is the villain is so cheesy in his greasy long hair and old man garb. Not sure why they wanted to go that route. He wasn't very intimidating - just gross in that exhausted old vampire trope. They should've given him a different look.

Dampyr is a B-movie that wears its B-movieness with pride. It is solidly in the category of "so bad it's good", with every possible cliche and Godzilla-sized plot holes.

At first, I had high hopes for the 1990s Yugoslavia war setting hoping to see a blend of history and fantasy, but 10 minutes later, it became clear that whoever wrote the script, had a very vague idea about history, Slavic names, how human beings talk, or how to write a script. Were the soldiers Serbs? Croats? Who knows, and none of them wore uniforms, nor indicated who they were fighting for nor the actual country they were in. The war is a vague event with a bunch of plainclothes fashion models drive around in Al Qaeda-style pickup trucks with big guns and kewl 1970s music, occasionally shooting a surviving civilian. What, you didn't know? War is hell.

But once you stop expecting any semblance of logic and assume it's a parody, it turns out to be a tolerable experience. Commander Dolce & Gabbana (background: requisite dead family) and a vampire slayer (background: Jesus with a drinking problem; never asked himself why he's been alive for hundreds of years without aging) are joined by a hot blonde vampire (background: hot; blonde; vampire) to take on a bad vampire. That's it. The rest is what you'd expect it to be, plus plot holes. Turn off your brain, watch, and enjoy, with an optional drinking game for cliches and plot holes.

Harlan's mother died giving birth to him. His Dad, Gorka, is a powerful vampire. Midwifes who assisted Harlan's mother refused to give the child to Gorka, and protected themselves against him with a spell.

Years later, Harlan - together with his 'manager' friend, Yuri - travel to villages as con artists, making villagers believe they can banish evil. When a group of soldiers lead by Commander Kurjak settle in a village, they are attacked by vampires. With their bullets useless against their enemy, they realize there is only one person who can help them: Harlan - or Dampyr as he came to be known.

Taking Dampyr into their custody, they use him as bait to lure the vampires. One of the vampires, Tesla, is captured, and she agrees to help them so she can be freed from Gorka. Kurjak doesn't trust her and there's constant tension between these two characters. I rather enjoyed this friction and also Tesla's unpredictability, as it was never clear whether her intentions were true.

Although an interesting enough watch, 'Dampyr' felt a bit generic - like I've seen everything here before. It offered nothing new to the genre - not story or character-wise. Another issue for me was Gorka, the film's antagonist. He appears briefly in the very beginning, and then only returns again for a showdown with Harlan during the finale. Throughout the film he is not really a force to be reckoned with, and from a villain point of view, he was absent for far too long during the movie. I also didn't find David Morrissey believable enough portraying this character. I didn't find him strong enough as Gorka.

Wade Briggs was ok as Harlan, but the best casting call by far was Stuart Martin as Kurjak, who - for me - was a stronger protagonist as Harlan. He reminded me of Sean Pertwee's character, Wells, from 'Dog Soldiers'.

Despite some flaws, sit back, relax and enjoy the movie for what it is. It surely was entertaining enough. And the film ends so ready for a sequel...