Dirt In the Gate Movies // Arrow Video Presents: GRINDFEST – LOST FILM SPECIAL BBC’s LATE-NIGHT HORROR ‘NO SUCH THING AS A VAMPIRE’
1968 | 30m + Introduction | UK | (18) | 1.37:1
Long presumed wiped during the BBC’s routine tape‑erasure policies of the 1960s and 70s, “No Such Thing as a Vampire” has lived for decades as a rumour, a footnote, and a ghost story whispered among British television historians. Thanks to a recent discovery of a 16mm film recording print at The Regent and in association with Film Is Fabulous who implemented the restoration work, this screening resurrects a rare survivor from Late Night Horror, the BBC’s short‑lived but influential attempt to bring adult, after‑hours terror to the small screen.
Adapted from Richard Matheson’s taut psychological tale, the episode unfolds within the confines of a troubled household where fear, superstition, and manipulation intertwine. A woman becomes convinced she is being preyed upon by a vampire, while her husband insists on rational explanations. What follows is a tense, claustrophobic dance between belief and denial, where the threat may be supernatural — or may be something far more human. Even in fragmentary form, the story’s power lies in its ambiguity, its slow tightening of dread, and its refusal to offer easy answers.
As with much of British television from this era, the production was originally shot on videotape, giving it a distinctive immediacy — a sense of live theatre captured in close‑up. Seeing it now, after decades of absence, offers a rare glimpse into the BBC’s willingness to experiment with horror at a time when the genre was still considered transgressive for broadcast. The performances, staging, and atmosphere speak to a moment when television was discovering how to unsettle viewers not with spectacle, but with suggestion.
This screening is both a celebration and a reminder: a celebration of the archivists, collectors, and enthusiasts who keep lost media alive, and a reminder of how much cultural history vanished in the era of wiped tapes. No Such Thing as a Vampire stands as a testament to what survives — and what might still be out there, waiting to be found.
We’re delighted to bring this long-lost episode to GRINDFEST.
