Édouard Mathé

Nearly two years have passed since Jacques D'Athys and Placide left for India and the time of their return is near.

If you’re already familiar with Louis Feuillade, his little-known opus Vendémiaire may come as a surprise. Unlike the bulk of his work which was characterised as ‘Fantastic Realism’, Vendémiaire is wonderfully down-to-earth realism – or down-to-French-earth realism to be specific. The film itself is divided into four chapters, the titles of which suggest that this is a movie about the cultivation and consumption of wine. But as the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that the cultivation and consumption of wine is an allegory for French culture and French land as a whole, and the real purpose of the film is to persuade the director’s fellow citizens to defend that spirit and those lands at all costs. It’s September 1918 and the war is coming to an end, but here on the Castelviel estate in the south of France the news has not yet arrived and everyone is busy with the grape harvest....

Paris is prey to an invisible terror against which the police can do nothing: a sinister organization that sows chaos and death. The intrepid journalist Philippe Guérande and his partner embark on a long crusade to put an end to the crimes of the Great Vampire and Irma Vep, his dangerous accomplice. (A ten episode movie serial.)

When an unscrupulous banker ruins his family, a young man swears to bring him to justice, so he adopts a new identity, the mysterious Judex, and ominously disguised and sunk into the muddy path of vengeance, punishes the crooks and protects the innocents. (Originally a twelve-part epic serial.)

Jacques d'Athys, a French adventurer, returns to his home in Nice after an expedition to Indochina where he has picked up a Eurasian fiancée and a book that, unbeknownst to him, contains a coded message revealing the whereabouts of both secret treasures and sensitive government intelligence. This makes him the target of foreign spies, including a Marquise of mysterious Latin origin, a Hindu hypnotist and an evil German doctor, who will stop at nothing to obtain the book.

Le Grand Vampire, in disguise as Count de Noirmoutier, reads that ballerina Marfa Koutiloff, who is engaged to Philipe, will perform a ballet called The Vampires. To prevent her from publicizing the Vampires’ activities and to deter Philipe, he gives Marfa a poisoned ring before her performance.

Rudolph Strelitz, known as 'Barrabas', is the leader of a brutal underground gang causing chaos and destruction in the lives of civilized people. A lawyer, Claude Varèse, is strongly determined to bring Strelitz to justice for the purpose of revenge, after his father was unjustly guillotined for the murder of Laure d'Hérigny, the mistress of an American millionaire. Later, the sister of Claude Varèse, Françoise, is kidnapped by Dr Lucius, one of the henchmen of Barrabas. Serialised over 12 chapters.

Following a series of unfortunate accidents, the eminently respectable Séraphin, the meticulous and correct manager in an insurance company, finds himself trouserless in the middle of the street.