Still best known internationally for one of the pivotal films of the Czechoslovak New Wave, The Cremator, filmmaker Juraj Herz embraced the fantastique far more than most of his peers. That aspect of his work has made him very appealing to younger generations with films like Morgiana, Beauty and the Beast, and The Ninth Heart all easier to see now than ever before. One of the wildest entries from his later career, 1982's Ferat Vampire, boasts what seems like one of the greatest high concept ideas in movie history: a sleek high-end car that runs on human blood. Based on a short story ("Vampire Ltd.") by Josef Nesvadba, it's a disorienting mixture of social satire, anti-corporate statement, and eccentric horror that never quite goes where you think it will.

Austere, Diana Rigg-like company head Madame Ferat (Procházková) has introduced a great solution for the ongoing fossil fuel crisis: a vehicle that runs on... well, you know already. A collision involving the car, which is being primed to compete in rallies, has authorities debating what could have been at fault, with Dr. Marek (Closely Watched Trains director Jirí Menzel) and his ex, ambulance nurse and aspiring racer Mima (Havlová), getting tangled up in a mystery with wide-ranging ramifications.

While you might expect this film to operate in the same territory as something like Thirst, it's devoid of scenes of people being bled out into a hungry Audrey II-style car. The concept is what really, ahem, fuels the proceedings here, though you do get some grotesque highlights here like a very Cronenbergian nightmare sequence and a sexual encounter that takes an unexpected bloody detour. Though it obviously isn't endorsing Western capitalism in any form, the film ran into some censorship issues with the government at the time and barely got any theatrical distribution. It became something of a gray market curiosity once it hit VHS though, with a nice restoration eventually turning up on German Blu-ray and DVD in 2018 (as Der AutoVampir) with optional English subtitles for its Czech and German audio options (the latter with an alternate "retro" option if you don't want any noise reduction). There's also a German-language audio commentary by Lars Dreyer-Winkelmann, "The Iron Vampire" (11m8s) interviewing the engineer of the film's prototype, Stanislav Cinkl, "Ferat Vampir: Close Up" (2m42s) showing the present day car in detail, alternate TV credits, a 3m48s gallery, and some bonus trailers.

In 2025, Severin Films gave the film its first U.S. release of any kind as a Blu-ray special edition that easily marks the most impressive presentation to date. It's taken from the same excellent source at the German release, but they've done a tremendous amount of clean-up here for the frequent scratches, specks, and other flaws that were evident before. (See the frame grab comparisons below for an idea.) The DTS-HD MA 2.0 Czech mono audio sounds good as always and features optional English subtitles, with Dreyer-Winkelmann delivers an updated, English language version of his commentary with a deep dive into '80s Czech government and pop culture and a lot of welcome context for the various references and subtle jokes present in the film. You also get a completely new audio commentary by Michael Brooke, who's obviously a great choice to parse out the careers of Menzel and Herz, the various artistic and political strains that led to the creation of this film, the wordplay of the title that can't be translated into English, some relevant literary references and influences, and loads of other info that will help you appreciate a production that could easily fly right over your head. In "A Person Undergoing a Strange Sequence Of Events" (14m26s), Brezková chats about starting off in European theater, her own drama schooling, her earlier work with Menzel, her memories of working with Herz, and her thoughts on local horror versus the more common conceptions of the genre. Then in "Vampires Ltd." (12m19s), screenwriter Jan Fleischer recalls his work with Ivan Passer, the process of adapting the source story for this film, the political upheaval that informed his life and work, and his thoughts on the end result. The video essay "Eat Up The Road: Upir z Feratu and the Legend of the Blood Car" (19m35s) by filmmaker Stephen Broomer traces the film's ties to the rise of '50s car culture and fetishism, the appeal of car chases and hot rod imagery, the rise of road movies, and more. Also included are a collection of archival interview footage with Herz, Brezková, and Vit Olmer (19m26s) and the two car-centric featurettes from the German disc. A big new addition here is 1992's Strange Airlines (60m32s), a Czech shot-on-video TV movie based on another story by Nesvadba, "Mordair, " with Brejchová starring as an airline passenger whose traveling companion disappears going through customs. Her questioning leads her into a Kafkaesque situation with the very budget-conscious airline, which never seems to refuel at the airport and has a weirdly impeccable safety record apart from the odd disappearance here and there. This one has a very obvious thematic tie to the main feature and, though it ends on a less than satisfying note, is definitely worth a look. The release also comes with a booklet featuring the original short story and a new written intro by Czech sci-fi historian Ivan Adamovič.

Severin Blu-ray

Ostalgica Blu-ray

Reviewed on July 25, 2025