I'm glad this color tinted version is here, as it is not available this way any more. It is available in better quality on a couple of different sources, as recently as 2011, in b/w. I always have to chuckle at the b/w purists, who refuse to watch a great looking movie, colorized or color tinted, I guess because they never found the color knob on their TVs haha.

I first happened upon this serial while @ Meijer with a friend who is an avid film fan. It was in the 1001 movies book and it peaked my interest.
First of all, I must say this IS one series you must see, at least, while you're still alive! Great effects, perfect atmosphere, semi-stream-of-conciousness plot, but still one of the exceptional silent serials still around.

As another reviewer observed, an absorbing, cogent, easily comprehensible serial that really pulls you in. Clearly illustrates the near-universality of non-verbal communication across western European cultures.

Using gestures, expressions and subtle glances, the actors make most scenes come alive without using the spoken word. Thus, a film made in France is clearly understood by any western European audience, including the descendants of those audiences in the 21st Century USA.

All to be found at the Internet Archive from the comfort of my home PC - amazing!

It's amazing to think this French serial comes from 1915, as it holds my attention far better than much of what you'll find on television in 2009. In LES VAMPIRES you see the root of today's cliffhanger shows such as "24".

All in all just a fantastic ten part serial from the silent age. And I quite like the tinting, and it was done for a specific reason, to make watchchable an otherwise problematic print and it works, in my opinion, brilliantly.

If people took half as much time to research as they do to complain, they'd perhaps realize how invalid their complaints are.

And if you still want a better print you can buy the Artificial Eye PAL DVD for about $40. It's a remastered version with no tinting. I'm actually going to purchase a copy myself.

Thank you very much to the person who uploaded this. You've made me aware of a film I otherwise would not have sought out, and made a DVD sale for one of the companies selling versions of this.

Please post more great serials! Thanks.

What a great pity some thoughtless person has tinted this historic black and white film? I can find no reference to this film being tinted when it was made. This is a valuable historic document and nobody has the right to deface it in this way.