Irma Vep was a leading agent and strategist of the mysterious gang that called themselves The Vampires. The Vampires were master thieves and assassins, skilled in fighting, infiltration and even hypnotism. They dressed in tight black leotards and ninja-like masks. They used poison, knockout gas, and conventional firearms in battle. The Vampires operated in Paris under the command of the Grand Vampire. Irma was hypnotized by Juan Moreno, a rival gangster, into killing the Grand Vampire, but later it was revealed that there was an even higher authority pulling the strings. After Irma was captured and sentenced to an Algerian penal colony, Satanas, “Lord of the Vampires,” used an electronic cannon to destroy the ship she was traveling on. Irma survived, escaped, and returned to Paris. After Satanas was captured, a man calling himself “Venomous” became the new Lord of the Vampires. Irma and Venemous were engaged to be married before Venemous was killed. Vep worked as a singer at the Howling Cat nightclub and demonstrated good acting ability by posing as a variety of characters, using such aliases as Juliette Barteaux and Aurelie Plateau. Notes: Irma Vep is an anagram for Vampire. Although a member of a group called “The Vampires,” Irma was a regular human, as were all the other members
Creators/Key Contributors Louis Feuillade, Musidora
First Appearance Les Vampires (Film, 1915)
First Publisher Gaumont Studios
Appearance List Irma Vep (cabaret programs) (1916–1920s) by Musidora, Nadja (1928) by André Breton — cites Musidora/Irma Vep as a surreal archetype of the uncanny feminine, Traité du style (1928) by Louis Aragon — calls Feuillade’s serial female characters emblems of cinematic modernity, Musidora, la dixième muse (1945, reissued 1963) by Musidora — Musidora’s memoirs, Histoire générale du cinéma Tome I: L’Avant-guerre (1946) by Georges Sadoul, Anthologie du cinéma: Louis Feuillade (1947) edited by Henri Langlois, Histoire du cinéma mondial (1949) by Georges Sadoul — situates Irma Vep as one of the central images of silent French cinema, Histoire du cinéma (1962) by Jean Mitry, Murnau (1964) by Lotte H. Eisner — about cinematic vamp archetypes, Écrits de cinéma (1965) by Henri Langlois, Histoire du cinéma: des origines à nos jours (1969) by René Jeanne & Charles Ford.
Description Irma Vep was a leading agent and strategist of the mysterious gang that called themselves The Vampires. The Vampires were master thieves and assassins, skilled in fighting, infiltration and even hypnotism. They dressed in tight black leotards and ninja-like masks. They used poison, knockout gas, and conventional firearms in battle. The Vampires operated in Paris under the command of the Grand Vampire. Irma was hypnotized by Juan Moreno, a rival gangster, into killing the Grand Vampire, but later it was revealed that there was an even higher authority pulling the strings. After Irma was captured and sentenced to an Algerian penal colony, Satanas, “Lord of the Vampires,” used an electronic cannon to destroy the ship she was traveling on. Irma survived, escaped, and returned to Paris. After Satanas was captured, a man calling himself “Venomous” became the new Lord of the Vampires. Irma and Venemous were engaged to be married before Venemous was killed. Vep worked as a singer at the Howling Cat nightclub and demonstrated good acting ability by posing as a variety of characters, using such aliases as Juliette Barteaux and Aurelie Plateau. Notes: Irma Vep is an anagram for Vampire. Although a member of a group called “The Vampires,” Irma was a regular human, as were all the other members
