Therapy for a Vampire

David Ruehm's Austrian horror comedy begins with a great premise: in 1932 Vienna, Count Geza von Közsnöm (Tobias Moretti)—a gloomy vampire unhappy with his undead existence—turns to Dr. Sigmund Freud (Karl Fischer) for advice. The set-up offers almost endless satirical possibilities, which are—unfortunately—completely ignored by a script that instead opts for a tedious romantic roundelay in which the Count, whose depression stems from irritation with his nagging wife Elsa (Jeanette Hain), finds a reason to “live” again when he meets Lucy (Cornelia Ivancan), a spunky waitress who looks just like the one true love who sacrificed herself for him centuries ago. Meanwhile, Elsa falls for Lucy's lover, Viktor (Dominic Oley), a painter she approached to do her portrait so that she can see herself (mirrors, of course, being of no use). Freud plays a peripheral role in all of this until the final reel, when he returns to exhibit professional befuddlement as the couplings are sorted out. Therapy for a Vampire features a few amusing sight gags (such as when the Count levitates while lying on Freud's couch), but the verbal humor is sophomoric, and the pacing is downright phlegmatic. Optional. (F. Swietek)