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This very cool, very weird movie surprised me with its cleverness and depth, and how entertaining and often hilarious it is. That's the nutshell. Now I'm going to get a bit heady.

They Have Changed Their Face is not going for subtlety, and in fact assiduously avoids it. One of its strengths is how intentionally, unabashedly on the nose it is with its core analogy and themes. The script compares vampirism so closely with capitalism and consumerism from the opening minutes that the analogy is almost erased, with the two represented things being almost literally one in the same. The movie's "Dracula" figure is an oligarch, owner of a vast network of companies and puppet master of a global network of politicians, artists, and religious leaders. He is also a fascist, which, especially combined with the hypercapitalism dimension, makes the movie even more anti-conformist.

It's a sad commentary on the current state of humanity how well this movie has aged. It perfectly foreshadowed the rise of 21st century fascism and late-stage capitalism, and even the current social and individual psychosis of "mass narcissism" demonstrated on social media platforms, through so-called reality shows, and in a certain president and among his sycophants (not to mention, you know, the whole fascism thing), etc. Mass narcissism is the actual term used by the oligarch-vampire, whose name is hilariously literal: Mr. Nosferatu. A speech, or maybe more accurately, sales pitch, he gives our Johanthan Harker figure earlier in the movie about the masses, and his plans for them-is practically the dictionary definition of fascism. Those plans include fomenting that mass narcissism by, among other things, manipulating and compelling consumers to buy what he wants them to buy. We even learn in the opening minutes of the movie that Van Helsing has sold out and works for Mr. Nosferatu. That is sooo dark and savvy, and reflects the level of astute satire at work here.

That astuteness and directness is also evident during a business gathering filled with overlapping conversations. Among others, we catch this moment: "Bergman and Godard are slaves! The only free cinema is advertising. Advertising cinema is cinema vérité." So, it turns out that what we're watching, while ostensibly a "horror" movie-it certainly has some elements of horror-is closer to European art cinema, including the particular kind of social and political satire we see in some of the films of that era.

They Have Changed Their Face is also well-paced for the most part, has a good score, and is genuinely entertaining on the fundamental level of story, with a bit of conspiracy plot and a decent amount of suspense.

Two shortcomings I would mention: There are ways in which the story, plot, and directing could have brought in some additional traditional horror and vampire elements, which I think would have been a strength and not a distraction with respect to the art film ethos and themes (e.g., fate vs choice) of the film. In addition, the ending, while adequate, felt like a couple of shots-not even necessarily scenes-were left on the cutting room floor which could have clarified in just a few seconds of screen time some plot points and main themes.

That said, this film fits the definition of a hidden gem. It's pretty well-rated on IMDb and Letterboxd, but is nonetheless underrated. I've never seen it included in any lists of overlooked flicks, top vampire movies, and the like, and as far as I've seen it's never included in discussions of vampire movies. While utterly different from vampire floicks like Dracula's Daughter (1936), The Vampire's Ghost (1945), Curse of the Undead (1959), Blacula (1972), Ganja & Hess (1973), and Let the Right One In (2008), I would include They Have Changed Their Face among those as one of the most unusual vampire movies out there.

As of July 2025, They Have Changed Their Face is available to stream for free on Tubi.

Side note re. The capitalism theme: The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) has the count posing as a property developer in modern London, but the movie does nothing particularly interesting with that odd idea.

As adapter and director of Sheridan Le Fanu's story, "Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter," Leslie Megahey does absolutely nothing to invest the proceedings with an ounce of suspense, while managing to avoid nearly every opportunity to build a sense of creepiness, atmosphere, mystery, or even effective drama. Le Fanu's story has some of each of these elements. The adapted script simply misses it all, and Megahey's work on the set does nothing to compensate. His failure might be reflected in the fact that, at least judging from his IMDb profile information, Megahey appears to have had a lot of interest in painting, documentaries, and other nonfiction or non-narrative modes, but very little experience directing fictional stories. At over an hour, this tedious adaptation is literally 35 minutes longer than it ought to be. It's incredible to me that it has 7/10 stars on IMDb and 3.5 on Letterboxd. Goes on my list of stupidly overrated shows/movies.

Very unusual Japanese horror movie, especially when considered alongside the classic J-horror cycle. As rooted in grudges and revenge as many movies from that cycle were, Best Wishes to All takes that cynicism to a whole new level and sets it amid an outright pessimism I don't remember being a part of any of those movies. The story goes that there is only so much happiness to go around, and the residents of a rural Japanese community have figured out how to get more than their fair share. Thematically, the horror in this movie conveys anxiety over the exodus of young people from rural Japan as they move into city centers, the related rapid decline of economic opportunities in those rural communities, combined with their aging population. This movie does not try to be subtle, which is part of its effectiveness. Along with that theme is another pertaining to parasitic self-centeredness which emerges later in the plot. It's not so much a universal theme, per se, as global, being nearly analogous to a pandemic.

There are some creepy moments in Best Wishes to All, largely reflected in the idiosyncratic behavior of some of the characters, but the real horror mostly stems from the appalling lengths they are willing to go to to achieve what they have convinced themselves to be "happiness."

This is a very effective horror movie, but it is so dark that I doubt I would be able to watch it again. Nonetheless, any fan of Japanese or horror writ large should consider it a must-see.