After a look at some strange creatures, the narrator and camera take us to the Chaco forest, on the borders of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil, where a vampire bat lives, desmodus rotondus, attacking wildlife and domesticated creatures, killing small ones by draining all their blood and killing large ones by leaving a parasite in their bloodstream. Four inches long, with a 12-inch wingspread, we see it walk, approach a victim, pull out a patch of fur large enough for it to engage its teeth, then lap six or seven ounces of blood. Its saliva may be an anesthetic keeping its victims from waking. A stub nose and harelip contribute to its efficiency and its hideous look.
Cinematography
Microscopic bat close-ups that haunt decades later.
Direction
Painlevé turns nature footage into surrealist horror poetry.
Editing
Jarring cuts between real bats and Schreck's iconic silhouette.
Director
Jean Painlevé
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Painlevé was a surrealist who made over 200 science films, often scoring them with jazz musicians like Duke Ellington.
This short influenced generations of nature filmmakers who realized horror techniques made audiences actually pay attention to science.
FR
