Long before Shaun of the Dead mixed horror and comedy, and just a few years before Young Frankenstein perfected it, Roman Polanski made The Fearless Vampire Killers. The main joke is the title itself. The titular 19th century monster hunters are neither fearless, nor experienced extinguishers of evil. One is the bumbling, red-bulb-nosed, half-senile Professor Abronsius. Alfred is his timid apprentice, played by Polanski. Both are harmless twigs of men, hardly able to withstand the weather, much less the powers of the undead. Their target resides in the hills of a peasant town where the men are overweight oafs and the women are (mostly) beautiful young goddesses. Alfred falls smitten with Sarah, a red-headed lass played by Sharon Tate. She’s abducted by lead vampire Count von Krolock, and so the adventure begins. It’s slapstick with wooden stakes, but not overly done. There are the expected parodies of vampire lore, involving inventive uses of garlic and mirrors. The biggest laughs come from two unlikely villains: the Count’s effeminate son, and a Jewish blood-sucker that has no weakness for the crucifix. The rest is a tribute to both silent physical comedy and Hammer horror productions.

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