[MOVIE SUMMARY] Les Vampires (1915)

[B J Kuehl]

LES VAMPIRES
1915

cast
Philippe Guerande ................... Eduoard Mathe
Oscar-Cloud Mazamette ............ Marcell Levesque
Mme Guerande ....................... Delphine Renot
Mrs Margaret Simpson .................. Rita Herlor
Dr Nox/Le Grand Vampire ................. Jean Ayme

Synopsis
Despite the title, 'Les Vampires' is not about vampires. It's a
10 episode French serial from 1915 where the 'Vampires' are actually
a gang of bandits and murderers terrorizing Paris in 1915. Philippe
Guerande, crack reporter of the 'Paris Chronicle', and his sidekick,
Oscar-Cloud Mazamette, spend each of the episodes hunting down the
Vampires. Sometimes they are successful, sometimes not. I shall
heretofore present a summary of each of the episodes in cliffhanger
form, just as the episodes were presented.

Episode 1: The Severed Head
Someone has stolen Philippe's files regarding the Vampires.
Philippe accuses Mazamette, which proves to be true when Philippe
pulls the files from Mazamette's coat. But Mazamette has a reason. He
cannot afford to pay the child care he owes for his three sons.

At the moment, however, Philippe has bigger worries when he gets
a notice that the body of security agent Durtal, in charge of the
Vampire investigations, has been found with his head missing in a
swamp near Saint-Clement-sur-Cher. Philippe's mother remembers that
her deceased husband's father's childhood friend, Dr Nox, owns Castle
Chesnay near there, so Philippe decides to pay him a visit at the
same time that Mrs Margaret Simpson, an American multimillionaire,
has decided to purchase the castle.

The first night there, Mrs Simpson's jewels are stolen.
Suspicion falls upon Philippe. Philippe contacts the local magistrate
with the news that he found a highly suspicious sliding panel in his
room at the castle. While Mrs Simpson and Dr Nox wait in the
magistrate's office, the magistrate and Philippe check the sliding
panel in Philippe's room. Behind the panel they find the head of M
Durtal. Even more grueling, when they return to the magistrate's
office, they find 1) that Mrs Simpson has been murdered, and 2) that
Dr Nox left a note saying: "I murdered the real Dr Nox and assumed
his identity. Do not ever try to find me. I am the Grand Vampire!


TO BE CONTINUED IN EPISODE 2

[B J Kuehl]

Episode 2: The Ring That Kills

cast
Philippe Guerande ................... Eduoard Mathe
Oscar-Cloud Mazamette ............ Marcell Levesque
Le Grand Vampire/Count de Noirmoutier ... Jean Ayme
Marfa Koutiloff ............... Stacia Napierkowska

The gossip column in the Paris Chronicle leaks the news that
Philippe Guerande is engaged to ballerina Marfa Koutiloff who is
performing in the stage production of "Les Vampires." In actuality,
Marfa has agreed to reveal to Philippe the secrets of the Vampires.
To stop her from talking, the Count de Noirmoutier presents her with
a ring, knowing that the smallest scratch will be fatal. Of course,
Marfa pricks herself and, as she dances (wearing a cool bat costume),
she topples over dead.

Philippe recognizes Count de Noirmoutier as Dr Nox/the Grand
Vampire and follows him to an old fort. However, Philippe is captured
by the Vampires and held prisoner. Their intent is to have the Grand
Inquisitor of the Vampires interrogate him and, at dawn, to execute
Philippe in the presence of the Black Committee.

Philippe is left alone in the cellar, guarded by only one
Vampire, who takes off his black hood to reveal himself as Mazamette.
Mazamette again shows Philippe the photo of his sons plus a note:

M Mazamette:
If you cannot pay back room and board very soon,
I shall no longer be able to keep your three sons
in our boarding school.
With all my regards, Honore Loupierre, Principal.

Mazamette releases Philippe and, when the Grand Inquisitor
arrives, they bind him with a rope and hood, then Philippe and
Mazamette escape. When the Black Committee arrives to witness the
execution, the cops raid them. The Vampires shoot and kill he whom
they believe to be Guerande, but the prisoner turns out to be
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

[B J Kuehl]

Episode 3: The Red Codebook

cast
Philippe Guerande ................... Eduoard Mathe
Oscar-Cloud Mazamette ............ Marcell Levesque
Irma Vep ................................. Musidora
Mme Guerande ....................... Delphine Renot
Le Grand Vampire ........................ Jean Ayme
Father Silence ....................... Louis Leubas


Philippe comes into possession of a red codebook lifted from the
Grand Inquisitor, and the Vampires want it back. In disguise,
Philippe goes to the Howling Cat nightclub, a rowdy gathering place
of the Vampires. Performing there is the sexy and sinister Irma Vep
(Vampire).

As luck would have it, the Guerandes' maid is suddenly called
home to her father's deathbed and Philippe's mother receives a
telegram from her brother, informing her that he has been in a
serious accident. Mme Guerande rushes to her brother's house and the
employment agency sends over a substitute maid who turns out to be
Irma Vep. Philippe recognizes her immediately, so he's wise to her
when she tries to exchange his nightcap for poison and again when she
searches his room, looking for the red codebook. Philippe takes a few
shots at Irma but, when he returns from calling the police, she is
gone because she had replaced the bullets with blanks.

Meanwhile, Mme Guerande is in a bit of a predicament herself.
When she arrived at her brother's house, the maid denied that he had
been in any accident and was, in fact, at the theater. Then, on her
way back home, Mme Guerande is kidnapped by a deaf-mute who calls
himself Father Silence. He forces Mme Guerande to write a note to her
son saying: "If you want to see me return alive, bring the book to
driver 113 at the North Station. If you do not, I will be killed one
hour after you receive this letter."

Unfortunately, the pen doesn't work, so Mme Guerande loans him a
pen that Philippe got from Mazamette and gave to his mother just
before she left for her brother's house. The pen contains poisoned
ink, some of which spills on Silence's hand, killing him. Mme
Guerande escapes and returns home. When Irma and the Grand Vampire
find Silence dead, the Grand Vampire recognizes the pen.

"There is a traitor among us, and I will find him," he vows.

TO BE CONTINUED IN EPISODE 4: The Spectre

[B J Kuehl]

~
Episode 4: The Spectre

cast

Philippe Guerande ................... Eduoard Mathe
Mazamette ........................ Marcell Levesque
Irma Vep/Juliette Berteaux ............... Musidora
Le Grand Vampire/Mr Treps ............... Jean Ayme
Juan-Jose Moreno/Metadier ........ Fernand Herrmann


Posing as a real estate broker named Mr Treps, the Grand Vampire
rents a room to Juan-Jose Moreno, who is adamant that the apartment
have a safe. It does, although Moreno doesn't know that the back of
the safe opens into another room where Irma Vep is hiding. When
Moreno hides a bag in the safe, Irma and the Grand Vampire check it
out only to find the same black clothes and hood that all the
Vampires wear. Apparently, Moreno is one of them.

Irma and the Grand Vampire have a plan to rob the Renoux-Duval
Bank of 300,000 francs by having Irma take a job there as a
secretary and arrange for bank employee Metadier to carry the money
to a branch in Rouen. The intent, however, is to kill Metadier and
have Irma take his place and then make off with the money.

All goes as planned until the dead Metadier shows up at the bank
to transport the money. Irma is stunned. Who is this Metadier, when
she knows that the Vampires murdered him just last night? Of course,
the money never makes it to the branch in Rouen, because the spectre
Metadier is Juan-Jose Moreno in disguise.

Disquised as a repairman, Philippe Guerande goes to the bank. He
recognizes Irma Vep impersonating secretary Juliette Berteaux. From a
note on the bulletin board, Philippe gets her address, sneaks into
her house, and hides under the bed. Irma and the Grand Vampire come
home to check out Moreno's safe. There, they find the real Metadier's
body, along with an envelope containing the 300,000 francs. After a
tussle in which Irma and The Grand Vampire escape and Philippe calls
the police, Moreno is arrested and taken away.

TO BE CONTINUED IN EPISODE 5: Dead Man's Escape

[B J Kuehl]

~
Episode 5: Dead Man's Escape

cast

Philippe Guerande ................... Eduoard Mathe
Mazamette ........................ Marcell Levesque
Irma Vep ................................. Musidora
Le Grand Vampire/Baron de Mortesalgues .. Jean Ayme
Juan-Jose Moreno .................. Fernand Herrman


Moreno escapes from prison by feigning death. Suffering from
insomnia, the reformed Mazamette sits at his window and notices
Moreno entering a warehouse.

A rock is thrown through Philippe's window. He pokes his head
out to see what it is, and he is noosed and kidnapped by the Vampires.
They put Philippe in a large basket and drive away. While being
unloaded, the basket tumbles down some stairs and is found by two
passersby. They release Philippe, who is dazed but unharmed. He looks
over the basket. The label reads "Pugenc Costumer, 13".

The next day, Philippe goes to see Pugenc the costumer and he
learns that basket 13 was used to deliver a set of costumes for a
theatrical event that evening at the manor of Baron de Mortesalgues.
Hatching a crooked scheme, Moreno was also at Pugenc's, looking to
rent police uniforms for himself and his accomplices. Moreno takes
this opportunity to kidnap Philippe.

Meanwhile, having made a mold of the key to the warehouse,
Mazamette lets himself in, just in time to see Moreno and Philippe
arrive. Moreno intends to hang Philippe but has a change of heart.
"Give me the means to revenge myself on the Vampires and you will be
saved," Moreno says. Philippe tells him that Baron de Mortesalgues is
really the Grand Vampire.

That evening the Parisian aristocracy attended the reception
Baron de Mortesalgues was giving for his niece's (Irma) birthday. At
midnight, a delicate perfume floats through the ballroom. Soon all
the guests begin to faint. While the guests lay indisposed, the
Vampires come around and remove their jewelry, wallets, and handbags.

Thanks to Philippe's tip, however, Moreno was hiding on the top
of the Vampires' getaway car. As they drive off, Moreno tosses off
the boxes containing the stolen jewels, then he jumps off, too, and
collects the boxes. Mazamette is disgusted that Moreno got away, and
with a large fortune to boot. Not to be daunted, however, Philippe
assures Mazamette that it is the end that counts.

TO BE CONTINUED IN EPISODE 6: Hypnotic Eyes

[B J Kuehl]

cast

Philippe Guerande ................... Eduoard Mathe
Mazamette ........................ Marcell Levesque
Irma Vep/Viscount Guy..................... Musidora
Le Grand Vampire/Count Kerlor............ Jean Ayme
Juan-Jose Moreno ................. Fernand Herrmann

There has been a murder in the Fontainbleau Forest, and
suspicion has fallen on the Vampires. Philippe and Mazamette take
their bikes and go to investigate. While on the road, they see a
horse and rider galloping by. Suspecting something fishy, Mazamette
watches to see where the rider goes. He appears to be hiding
something between some rocks. After he leaves, Philippe and Mazamette
check it out and find a box filled with money.

The Grand Vampire and Irma Vep are staying at the Royal Hunt
Hotel in Fontainbleau under the names of Count Kerlor and son, the
Viscount Guy. Also at the hotel are two American tourists, Mr and Mrs
Horatio Werner, who are really Raphael Norton and Ethel Florid, two
crooks who embezzled $200,000 from the American millionnaire, George
Baldwin, or so The Grand Vampire suspects. The Grand Vampire wants
that money.

As "Count Kerlor" entertains the hotel guests by reading to them
from a manuscript, Irma searches the Werners' room, where she finds a
map. Unfortunately for Irma, Juan-Jose Moreno and his maid Laura are
also staying at the hotel. While sneaking down the hall, Irma is
surprised by Moreno, who pulls her into his room, takes off her mask,
knocks her out with chloroform, looks at the map, and then
substitutes his hypnotized maid Laura for Irma and tosses Irma out
the window where she is caught and spirited away by his colleagues.

Pretending to be Irma, Laura delivers the map to the Grand
Vampire. It's a map to the spot where the Werners are hiding the
money they embezzled. The Grand Vampire sends one of his Vampires
posing as "Countess Kerlor" to find it, but all she finds is a note
reading: "Philippe Guerande has discovered at this spot an iron chest
filled with bank notes, which he holds for their legal owner upon
proof of ownership." As if that wasn't bad enough, "Countess Kerlor"
is captured by Moreno and forced to take a ransom note to the Grand
Vampire saying that Moreno is holding Irma Vep.

The next morning, the police raid the hotel. They take away the
Werners, but the "Kerlors" have already left. "Count Kerlor" goes to
see Moreno to get back Irma Vep, but Moreno has fallen in love with
Irma and hypnotized her. When the Grand Vampire enters the room, Irma
shoots and kills him.

George Baldwin allows Mazamette to keep the money as a reward
for capturing the embezzlers, and Mazamette is now living the life of
luxury. "Vice is seldom punished," he says to his admirers, "but
virtue is always rewarded."

TO BE CONTINUED IN EPISODE 7: Satanas

[B J Kuehl]

~ Episode 7: Satanas

cast

Philippe Guerande ................... Eduoard Mathe
Mazamette ........................ Marcell Levesque
Irma Vep ................................. Musidora
Juan-Jose Moreno ................. Fernand Herrmann
Satanas/Claude Dupont-Verdier ........ Louis Leubas
George Baldwin .................................. ?
Lily Flower/Henriette de Grandville ............. ?

Moreno and Irma are packing the body of the Grand Vampire in a
trunk, later to be tossed into the Seine, when the doorbell rings. A
man pushes his way into the house. The first thing he does is
paralyze Moreno with a pin hidden in the palm of his glove. Then he
introduces himself as Claude Dupont-Verdier, the true Grand Vampire.

Mazamette, living the life of luxury, is drinking and carousing
with the women at the 'Happy Shack' cabaret, which also happens to be
the gathering place for Moreno and his group. Moreno receives a note
from Satanas, warning him that he will see proof of his power at two
o'clock. It is now 1:50. At 2:00, a large explosion rocks the 'Happy
Shack'.

The next morning, Moreno and Irma come to Satanas' home to
surrender, but they wind up concocting a plan together to rob George
Baldwin, the American millionaire. The 'Paris Chronicle has an
article about him. It mentions that he is staying at the Park Hotel
and that he speaks no French but has learned this phrase: 'Parisian
women are the most charming I've ever seen.'

First step in the plan is to get Baldwin's signature. Moreno's
accomplice Lily Flower, disguised as Henriette de Grandville of
'Modern Woman' magazine, pays Baldwin a visit. She tells him that her
magazine publishes a celebrity's autograph in every issue and asks
for his. Happy to comply, Baldwin writes: Parisian women are the most
charming I've ever seen. He dates it Paris: 10 November 1915 and
signs it Geo Baldwin.

Second step is to get a recording of his voice. Irma, disguised
as Marie Bossier de la Compagne Universelle des Phonographes, pays a
visit. She tells Baldwin that her company records the voices of
celebrities passing through Paris, so Baldwin records for her his
famous sentence: Parisian women are the most charming women I've ever
seen, all right!

Third step is for Moreno to forge a check from Baldwin to Lily
Flower in the sum of $100,000. Fourth step is to kidnap the Park Hotel
switchboard operator and get them to accept Irma alias Noemie Patoche
as a replacement. When Lily attempts to cash the forged check and the
bank manager calls the hotel for verification, Irma is there to play
him George Baldwin's recorded voice. Good enough for the bank manager,
he counts out Lily's money.

At that moment, Mazamette enters the bank with a few checks to
cash. He recognizes Lily as his "squeeze" from the Happy Shack and
becomes suspicious. He follows her and sees her hand the moneybag to
Moreno who takes it back to Satanas. Satanas, nice Vampire that he
is, rewards Moreno by giving him the money.

But Mazamette is no dope. He and Philippe pay a visit to Lily's
house. They tie her up, hold a gun to her head, and threaten to hand
her over to the police unless she telephones Moreno and Irma and asks
them to come over. When Irma and Moreno arrive, the police are
waiting to take them away.

[B J Kuehl]

~ Episode 8: The Thunder Master

cast

Philippe Guerande ..................... Eduoard Mathe
Mazamette .......................... Marcell Levesque
Irma Vep ................................... Musidora
Satanas/Father Joachim/Jacques Bretal .. Louis Leubas
Eustache Mazamette ..... Rene Royen (aka Bout de Zan)
Venenos ...................................... Moriss

Sentenced to life, Irma Vep is being sent to the Sidi-Ovedzem
penal colony in Algeria. Juan-Jose Moreno, who didn't fare quite as
well, has been executed. Realizing that he must save Irma, Satanas
assumes the disguise of Father Joachim on his way to his mission
church in Africa and travels to Port Vendres, where Irma's ship is
soon to leave. While there, Fr Joachim brings some religious comfort
to the 'wretched women' about to be sent to the penal colony. He
passes out fliers that read: Place your trust in He who sees us all.
When He calls you before His tribunal, THE TRUTH WILL BE REVEALED.

The phrase 'The truth will be revealed' (French: La verite sera
a nu) is actually a secret message to Irma. Transformed, it reads 'Le
navire sautera' (The ship will blow up). In another note to Irma, Fr
Joachim instructs her: Fake a sprain when you embark. You will be
sent to the infirmary in the stern. The explosion will take place at
the bow. If you survive, come to Paris. Otherwise, death will be
better than perpetual detention.

As the prison ship prepares to leave the harbor, Satanas fires
his cannon at it. The ship blows to pieces. When Philippe and
Mazamette hear about the explosion and read that there are no
survivors, Philippe pulls out his red codebook and determines that
the cannon that launched the shell should be in Montmartre, and
Mazamette vows to find it. In the meantime, however, Mazamette gets a
surprise. His son Eustache is sent home from school because of his
laziness and 'irresistable penchant for practical jokes of the
foulest nature'. Together, Mazamette and son search Montmartre. While
afoot, they notice someone moving into an apartment in the rue St
Eleuthere. Nosing through the boxes piled on the sidewalk, Eustache
finds one containing a cannon shell. They have found the residence of
the Grand Vampire.

When Satanas hears about the explosion and reads that there were
no survivors, he disguises himself as Jacques Bretal, Civil Engineer,
arms himself with a bomb inside his hat and his paralyzing pin in his
glove, and pays a visit to Philippe. While Philippe is paralyzed,
Satanas pins a note to his jacket, saying: Philippe Guerande has been
condemned to die by the Vampires to avenge the death of Irma Vep. 'In
5 minutes,' he says to Philippe, 'the house will blow up and this
note will be found on your cadaver.' Then he leaves, just as
Mazamette and Eustache arrive. Mazamette hears the bomb ticking in
Satanas' hat. He tosses it out the window just in time.

Philippe goes off to inform the police while Mazamette and
Eustache pay a visit to Satanas' new apartment. Posing as a
rag-picker, Eustache searches through Satanas' things and sneaks his
father into the house, hiding him in a chest. Eustache doesn't know
that he's being watched by Satanas. Satanas calls Eustache's bluff
and opens the chest. Just as Mazamette stands up, Eustache fires off
a bullet at Satanas but hits his father's nose instead.

Meanwhile, Irma is trying to make her way back to Paris by
hitching rides under trains. When she is discovered lying on the
tracks, she concocts a story about a lover, and the station staff and
police all chip in to buy her some food, clothes, and a train ticket
back to Paris. She returns to the Howling Cat cabaret where the crowd
cheers when they realize she is still alive. One of the Vampires,
Venenos (Venomous) the chemist, announces that Satanas has been
captured by the police and that he (Venenos) is now the new chief. In
his first act as the new Grand Vampire, Venenos posts a letter to
Satanas in prison. When Satanas receives the letter, he immediately
eats it and dies.

When Mazamette reads the news that Satanas, Moreno, and Irma are
all dead, Mazamette tells Eustache, 'This is how people end up if
they're bad at school.'

[B J Kuehl]

~ Episode 9: The Poisoner

cast

Philippe Guerande ..................... Eduoard Mathe
Mazamette .......................... Marcell Levesque
Irma Vep/Aurelie Plateau ................... Musidora
Venenos ...................................... Moriss
Jane Bremontier ..................... Louise Legrange
Mme Guerande ......................... Delphine Renot
Mme Bremontier ................. Jeanne Marie-Laurent

When Venenos and Irma learn that Philippe is engaged to Jane
Bremontier and that there is a vacant apartment for rent right above
hers, Irma (disguised as Aurelie Plateau) takes the apartment. With
her, she brings her maid Hortense. In chatting with the Bremontiers'
maid, Hortense learns that Jane's mother has ordered the engagment
dinner be catered by Bechamel House. She even gets a copy of the menu
(cream of frog soup with port, rabbit aspic with pepper sauce, and
snails with garlic sauce).

Hatching a plan to finally get rid of the meddlesome Philippe
Guerande, Venenos cancels the Bremontiers' order at the Bechamel
House. On the day of the party, however, the food arrives as
scheduled, along with Venenos posing as the caterer. The guests have
arrived. The table is set. Dinner is served.

Feeling generous, Mme Bremontier gives a bottle of the champagne
to the concierge and his wife in order to drink to the happy couple's
health. While the guests dine slowly, putting up with an interminable
toast by the tipsy Mazamette, the concierge and his wife open the
bottle of champagne as they eat their dinner. After taking a sip, the
concierge collapses on the floor, dead of poisoning. The concierge's
wife runs upstairs to the Bremontiers' apartment and warns them not
to drink the poisoned champagne. In the melee that follows, the
Vampires escape over the roof.

Fearing another attack on his fiancee, Philippe has moved her to
a safe retreat at the Villa of the Roses at Chailly, near
Fontainebleau. That night, Irma and Hortense pay a visit to the
Bremontiers' apartment, intending to kill everyone with a poison
spray concocted by Venenos. The Bremontiers and Mme Guerande,
however, are planning to slip away quietly to Fontainebleau. As Irma
and Hortense sneak downstairs, they hear a car arrive and go to
investigate. Mazamette recognizes Irma and tries to catch her, but
she sprays him in the face with the poison. While Hortense carries
Mazamette's body around the corner, Irma hides in an empty trunk
attached to the car. In this way, Irma finds out where Philippe
and Jane are hiding.

Meanwhile, the police take Mazamette to their station, assuming
him drunk. When they discover from his calling card that the drunk is
the famous Mazamette, they attempt to revive him, but Mazamette falls
back into stupor and doesn't awaken until dawn.

Also at dawn, the Bremontiers and Mme Guerande arrive in
Fontainebleau. When Philippe goes to carry the trunk into the house,
he receives a telephone call from Mazamette who tells him that he
was attacked by Irma Vep. By the time Philippe gets back outside,
the car has left, leaving the trunk behind. Philippe opens the trunk
to find only a few bobbypins and realizes that Irma must have been
hiding in it.

Irma has escaped and gone to a cafe where she telephones
Venenos, telling him to meet her at the Piramide Hotel in the
Fontainebleau Forest. Riding his bike to meet Mazamette, who is on
the way to Fontainebleau, Philippe happens to stop at the Piramide
restaurant and notices Irma sitting there. Philippe captures Irma
just as Mazamette arrives, and they tie her to Mazamette's car just
as Venenos arrives in his.

Philippe and Mazamette go back into the Piramide. With guns
drawn, they wait for Venenos to come in. But Irma Vep has an idea.
Although bound and gagged, she manages to use her head (literally) to
press on the car horn. Venenos goes to investigate, releases Irma and
they speed away in Mazamette's car. Mazamette and Philippe follow in
Venenos's car. Knowing escape is impossible, Venenos jumps out of the
car. Mazamette and Philippe follow him, their guns a-blazing. Venenos
jumps over a bridge onto a train. Philippe follows. A few shots
follow, they wrestle, and Philippe falls off the train.

Mazamette becomes angry with the police, who arrived just in
time to keep him from also leaping on the train. Mazamette strikes
one of the policemen, who then carts Mazamette down to the police
station...again. This time, the arresting officer isn't so impressed
by Mazamette's fame and books him for striking a law officer in the
line of duty.

Philippe arrives to bail out Mazamette. Philippe makes a joke
out of Mazamette's arrest, striking Mazamette in jest, and the police
break out into laughter. The arresting officer rips up the arrest
sheet.

[B J Kuehl]

~ Episode 10: The Terrible Wedding

cast

Philippe Guerande ..................... Eduoard Mathe
Mazamette .......................... Marcell Levesque
Irma Vep ................................... Musidora
Venenos ...................................... Moriss
Jane Bremontier ..................... Louise Legrange
Mme Bremontier ................. Jeanne Marie-Laurent
Augustine Charlet .................... Germaine Rouer

Several months have passed since the engagement celebration of
Philippe Guerande and Jane Bremontier ended tragically with the death
of concierge Leon Charlet, poisoned by the Vampires. Philippe and
Jane are now married. But they know that happiness cannot be theirs
with the menace of the Vampires hanging over them.

The Guerandes have employed Augustine Charlet, widow of the
concierge, as a chambermaid. Mazamette has fallen in love with her,
but she is preoccupied with trying to find her husband's murderers.
She's already consulted her tarot cards to no avail, so when a note
arrives telling her to go "in greatest secrecy" to Madame d'Alba at
13 Avenue Jonot, she asks for the afternoon off so that she can make
the trip. She is unaware, however, that Mazamette is watching her.

Mme d'Alba calls up the "spirits" of the criminals--Irma Vep,
Lily Flower, and the Grand Vampire, who appear behind a curtain and
then disappear when the curtain is reopened. Mme d'Alba then
hypnotizes Augustine and orders her to open the doors to the
Guerande's apartment that night at 2 AM. Augustine does as commanded
and admits Irma Vep, Venenos, and Lily Flower, who immediately tie
her up. Then they start pumping gas into the house. Fortunately,
Mazamette was hiding behind the curtains, pining for Augustine, and
sees what is happening. Philippe awakens, and he and Mazamette chase
the Vampires, but they escape.

Mazamette tells Philippe about Augustine's visit to Mme d'Alba,
and the three of them--Mazamette, Philippe, and Augustine--go to the
police station to report the events. Accompanied by the police, they
go to Mme d'Alba's house, but no one answers the door. In the coolest
escape scene ever, Irma has tied a long length of rope around her
waist. She jumps out a window and, as the rope unfurls, she drops the
six stories to the ground. Augustine, standing on the sidewalk, sees
Irma drop. Irma and Venenos kidnap Augustine. Mazamette runs behind
their escape car, but he slips on some oil, and they get away.

Meanwhile, Jane has been kidnapped by the Vampires. When
Philippe finds his wife missing, Mazamette tells him about the leaky
oil. The trail of oil leads to a large house where Augustine and Jane
are being held while the Vampires are having a wild celebration of
Irma Vep's wedding to Venenos. Philippe can hear Jane and Augustine
sobbing but can't get to them. He finds a small hole and lowers a gun
to Jane, then he goes for the police.

Carloads of police arrive. They surround the house and raid the
party. The Vampires try to escape but the balcony collapses under
their weight, and the police easily round them up. Irma sneaks down
to the cellar where Augustine and Jane are still being held. Jane
shoots Irma. As Irma lay dying on the ground, Philippe and Mazamette
enter and save their beloveds.

It's now a few days later. Jane is recounting the story to her
mother when Mazamette arrives with the news that he is going to ask
Augustine to marry him. Augustine accepts.

The End