THEY don't come much sillier than The Fearless Vampire Killers (World, 11.45pm). This is a Roman Polanski spoof which doesn't quite come off. On the other hand, no film which has a screen credit reading, 'fangs by Dr Ludwig Von Krankheit' can be all bad.
Polanski, who stars with Sharon Tate, who would later be murdered by Charles Manson in the Helter Skelter killings, does pull off some gems. Like the very Jewish monster menaced with a crucifix who cheerfully gloats: 'You got the wrong vampire, girl!' Other pluses include attractive sets, eye-popping camerawork, the bat-winged musical score and a marvellous sequence at the great vampire ball, in which the guests rise from their graves to embark on a stately minuet that ends in front of a vast mirror reflecting only three human interlopers.
Despite its faults, The Fearless Vampire Killers - also known as Dance Of The Vampire and intriguingly subtitled Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are In My Neck - is an engaging oddity.
The story, which is secondary to the stupidity, sees the great bumbling idiot team of Professor Abronsius (Polanski) and assistant Alfred attempt to destroy a family of Slovonic vampires. The British will recognise Alfie Bass.
IN a film of outstanding performances, Edward G Robinson deserves special praise for his role in Key Largo (Pearl, 1.55pm), the minor classic of 1940s Hollywood which John Huston successfully adapted from a theatrical original.
Robinson, who had grown weary of endlessly repeating the gangster persona he established in Little Caesar resurrected his gangster image for Key Largo as a final major statement on the genre that brought him stardom.
Humphrey Bogart is also in command of his material, playing a disillusioned World War II veteran who travels to a run-down hotel in Florida to pay his respects to the family of a buddy killed in the war. The hotel is run by the father of the deceased (Lionel Barrymore) and the widowed Nora Temple (Lauren Bacall).
