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If one was to have a vampire month, how can one ignore the most famous vampire story of all time? Bram Stoker’s Dracula is probably the most read horror story in history (or so I like to think), but it’s definitely the most well-known and most frequently adapted, with the character’s downfall dramatized by the likes of Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee and Gary Oldman. Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary is slightly different from the pack in that it was first an adaptation by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet—Canada’s oldest ballet company.

Originally filmed by Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin in 2002 as a television project for the Canadian network CBC, the critical and commercial acclaim for it led to a limited theatrical release in the US the following year. Maddin’s connection to the company is obvious; Winnipeg is his hometown, and his last feature (My Winnipeg) was a memorable ode to the town.

Being a ballet performance, much of the novel’s iconic scenes are reinterpreted as dance numbers with very little use of dialogue—or none at all. This partly works because the context of these scenes are so well-known, and partly because, as ballet is meant to be, the dancers can convey the emotions being exchanged just from movement. Just from the intimacy in Lucy’s duet with Dracula, we understand that she’s deep in his sway.

Anyone familiar with Guy Maddin’s other films would know his affection for silent and early talky cinema, which he’d recreated in movies like The Saddest Music in the World and Brand Upon the Brain! Dracula is no different, even if it doesn’t share those two’s ingenious visual architecture. Also typical of Maddin is how rigorously it pretends to be an old-fashioned movie—even down to the hand-crank recreation and the vaseline-smeared-on-lens blur trick—and yet the way he shoots and edits are very much contemporary and not at all lumbering.

The style is obviously perfect for how physical the material is. What little dialogue kept are presented in title cards. The film is in monochrome colors (mostly black-and-white), but occasionally special effects are used to color specific objects like Dracula’s green mist, red cape, and of course, blood.

A filmed stage performance often doesn’t translate to a compelling watch on a screen. Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary averts that stiff concern by filming the performance with a distinctly recognizable style. He doesn’t let the choreography dictate the filmmaking. He would even deliberately obscure the dance to create a feverish effect that suits the intention of the scene.

But the best part about the film is probably the music, which takes the classic compositions by Gustav Mahler and not only marries it with the dance, but also Maddin’s fever dream editing, resulting in this lulling kind of horror film that’s more impressionistic than narrative.

Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary is available on DVD from Zeitgeist Films, and it’s also currently streaming on Netflix’s Instant Watch.

Watch Out! is a feature on JustPressPlay where Arya Ponto showcases lesser-known, lesser-appreciated and often bizarre small films that are cool and deserve to get some attention. Venture here to see all previous entries.