Irma Vep is the main antagonist in the French film serial "Les Vampires", played by Musidora. Her first appearance was in the third of a total of ten episodes, but she soon became the main focus of the entire serial.
While the male bosses of her crime organisation, the so called "Grande Vampires" changed over the course of the series, she remained till the end with growing influence, in the last episode marring the Grande Vampire.
She did by no mean fit in the image of a passive moll, however the narrative focused more on her being pursued and captured by the heroes, and her subsequent escapes, then her actual crimes.
She was a fearless criminal. Once she escaped by wrapping a rope around her waist, attaching it to a roof top and jumping from the multi storey high building, spinning like a gyroscope, while unwinding the rope in free fall. She rather threatened the heroin, who shot her in the end, with curses, then showing any remorse, while bleeding to death.
"Irma Vep" is an anagram of "Vampire". A movie by Oliver Assayas starring Maggie Chung is called after the villainess. This film however is a drama, not an escapade crime movie, telling the story of a fictional attempt of shooting a contemporary remake of "Les Vampires". A television series is being made in 2022-2023.