Honourable Mention: First Bite

Films using the vampire panics are depressingly few and far between, which is why this short animation by Drew Christie and narrated by Timo Sämann was most welcome. It was created for the New York Times Op-Ed series and takes its source from the case of Petar Blagojevjić (also spelt Peter Plogojowitz).

This was one of the earliest cases from the vampire panics, Petar died in 1725 and the film uses the detail presented by Paul Barber in his excellent book Vampires, Burial, and Death where he outlines the report filed on the incident by Kameralprovisor Frombald, who was pressed by the locals to be present when they unearthed Petar’s body after nine people died within a week of him – some of them claiming that Petar had visited and attacked them.

This is a short animation but well worth your time watching: