The Vourdalak ((free)) Jun 2026

The film is set in the 18th century, deep within the war-torn forests of Serbia. The story follows the Marquis Jacques Saturnin du Jupiter (played by Kacey Mottet Klein), a French emissary who becomes lost and seeks refuge at a secluded cottage. There, he finds a family in a state of anxious waiting. The patriarch, Gorcha, has gone off to fight the Turks, leaving his children with a dire warning: if he does not return in six days, they are to consider him dead and deny him entry.

This is the terror of the vourdalak: to kill one is to create another. Anyone who dies from a vourdalak’s bite—or even shows it love or pity after its return—will rise as a vourdalak themselves. They do not turn into bats or mist. They simply walk back into your home, looking like someone you loved, and ask for one small sign of affection. The Vourdalak

Shot on , the movie possesses a grainy, tactile quality that evokes the golden age of Euro-horror (think Mario Bava or Jean Rollin). The color palette is rich with mossy greens, deep shadows, and blood reds, creating an immersive world that feels ancient and isolated from time. The film is set in the 18th century,

Mikhail stayed the night. He dined with the family, and over the bread he told stories of cold pines and wolves as big as carts. Dmitri laughed and joined him, but sometimes his laughter ended too abruptly, as if he were listening to an answer no one else heard. The patriarch, Gorcha, has gone off to fight

The true horror of the Vourdalak lies not in fangs or coffins, but in the breakdown of the family. A Western vampire attacks strangers or lovers. A Vourdalak attacks the people who trust it most: its own children, spouse, and parents.