The main characters are a journalist and his friend who become involved in trying to uncover and stop a bizarre underground Apaches criminal gang, known as the Vampires (who are not the mythical beings their name might suggest).

Upon its initial release Les Vampires was given negative reviews by critics for its dubious morality and its lack of cinematic techniques compared to other films.

It is recognised for developing thriller techniques, adopted by Alfred Hitchcock and Fritz Lang,[6] and avant-garde cinema, inspiring Luis Buñuel,[7] Henri Langlois, Alain Resnais, and André Breton.

He receives a telegram at work stating that the decapitated body of the national security agent in charge of the Vampire investigations, Inspector Durtal, has been found in the swamps near Saint-Clement-Sur-Cher, with the head missing.

After being turned down by the local magistrate, he spends the night in a nearby castle owned by Dr. Nox, an old friend of his father, along with Mrs. Simpson, an American multimillionairess who wants to buy the property.

To prevent her from publicising the Vampires' activities and to deter Philippe, he gives Marfa a poisoned ring before her performance, which kills her onstage.

The Vampires escape, but as they flee they mistakenly execute their own Grand Inquisitor, who turns out to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

In a shack in the slums, Philippe's mother is held by Father Silence, a deaf-mute, and is forced to sign a ransom note, but she kills him with Mazamette's poison pen and escapes.

The Grand Vampire, under the alias of a real estate broker "Treps", meets Juan-José Moréno, a businessman, who asks for an apartment with a safe.

Moréno is revealed to be another criminal in disguise, and claims not to have killed Metadier, but to have found his body by the train tracks where the Vampires had dumped it.

Philippe opens a book of La Fontaine's Fables and points to the line, "in all things, one must take the end into account", and Mazamette's resolve is renewed.

Moréno is looking for clues to lead him to the Vampires, and reads in a paper that a Fontainebleau notary has been murdered by them; as he possess a gaze with a terrible hypnotic power, he takes control of his new maid, Laura, to turn her into his slave.

The Grand Vampire, who is staying in the Royal Hunt Hotel under the pseudonym of Count Kerlor, along with Irma in disguise as his son, Viscount Guy, reads in a paper that George Baldwin, an American millionaire, has been robbed of $200,000.

Whoever can capture the criminal, Raphael Norton, who has fled to Europe with the actress Ethel Florid, will be awarded the unspent balance of the loot.

While the Grand Vampire tells the hotel guests a story, Irma breaks into the Werners' suite, finding a map leading to the box in the forest.

While at a cabaret called the "Happy Shack", Moréno and Irma receive a note from Satanas saying they will see proof of his power at two o'clock.

One of Moréno's accomplices, Lily Flower, goes to the Park Hotel and poses as an interviewer from "Modern Woman" magazine and through trickery gets Baldwin to sign a blank piece of paper.

Philippe and Mazamette capture Lily Flower at her home and make her call Moréno and tell him to come, but when he and Irma Vep arrive they fall into a trap and are caught by the police.

Irma's maid, a Vampire also, hears that Philippe and Jane's engagement party will be catered for by the famous Béchamel House.

Augustine, still tormented by the mysterious poisoning death of her husband, receives an advertising circular for a psychic, Madame d’Alba of 13 Avenue Junot, and decides to consult her.

The police burst in and a running gun battle ensues, ending when the remaining Vampires (except Irma) are driven out onto the balcony which Philippe earlier rigged, and are killed in a fall.

[10] It is suspected that production of Les Vampires began when Gaumont learned that rival company Pathé had acquired the rights to release the serial The Mysteries of New York,[10] known in America as The Exploits of Elaine,[11] and felt they had to fend off competition.

In an essay on the film, Fabrice Zagury stated "...Feuillade's narrative seldom originates from principles of cause and effect... Rather it unwinds following labyrinthine and spiral-shaped paths.

[15] Feuillade makes little use of popular cinematic techniques, most of the film consisting of long takes with stationary cameras with the occasional use of a close up to show plot details such as photos or letters.

[2] Despite World War I limiting the audience for the film (unlike Feuillade's earlier work Fantômas) it was a huge success in France, massively outshining the original competition from Pathé and the serial The Mysteries of New York.

[10] Much of the film's success is said to have been from the inclusion of Musidora as the antagonist Irma Vep, who fitted well with the archetypes of "vamp" and "femme fatale",[17] often being compared to Theda Bara.

[25] While Mathé and Lévesque as the leads have been called pallid and hammy respectively, many critics have praised Musidora for her performance, being described as acting with "voluptuous vitality".

It's pulp fiction brought to life on a cinema screen, [with] over six hours of colorful criminals, wooden do-gooders, and outrageous acts of malice and evil."

[19] Olivier Assayas' 1996 movie Irma Vep, with a story line of a director's attempt to remake Les Vampires, is both an homage to the innovative nature of the original film and a critique of the then current state of French cinema.

On 24 March 2008 Artificial Eye released a three disc UK edition, which includes five short films and a new musical accompaniment by Éric le Guen.