Superimpositions and Vampires in Jess Franco’s Cinema

Abstract

Within fantastic and horror cinema, the technique of superimposing images has played a fundamental role since its inception when it comes to representing the supernatural. In this text we will focus on the adaptations of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in a range of vampire films, which, starting with Murnau’s Nosferatu (Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens, 1922), have their own peculiarities in the use of superimposition as a visual effect. To delve into the effectiveness and narrative uses of the technique, we will compare two films that adapt the novel from very different times and perspectives: Count Dracula (El conde Drácula, 1969) and Vampire Blues (Los blues del vampiro, 1999), both directed by Jesús “Jess” Franco. We will distinguish the superimposition made in 35mm and the technique that digital video allows today, and we will analyze the technical and rhetorical functions that this device performs in the narrative levels of the story and the discourse of both titles.