Ticks: The Real Vampires (2000) Langbein & Skalnik Media

Ticks: The Real Vampires

Beginning with the first occurrences in the village of Lyme, Connecticut in the 70s, to the identification of the virus in the mid 80s, to the unmasking of borreliosis as a true epidemic and the reason behind widespread ailments such as rheumatism, nerve paralysis and heart diseases in the 90s.Next to the Malaria-carrying mosquito, the tick is the most dangerous animal carrier of diseases worldwide. But unlike the mosquito, the dangers carried by ticks are extremely complex. Doctors have only recently discovered the extent of the real threat posed by these bloodsuckers, these tiny vampires. They carry viruses, bacteria, and one-celled animals or nematodes. At least ten diseases have their main or even sole origin brought on by ticks. Some of the bacteria (Borrelia, Rickets, Ehrlichien) have adapted to the life cycle of the tick during the cause of evolution.

Ticks: The Real Vampires has been filmed on two continents – Europe and North America. It is comprised of two action curves. One is a portrait of the life cycle of the tick throughout its three stages of development – as larvae, as nymphs and as adults. All action will take place in natural surroundings. Using special lenses the tick will be shown full-screen from its hatching stage, on the hunt for a host, in reproduction through to the laying of its eggs and evenual death. The second action curve depicts the gripping, thrilling story of the discovery of the most important and frequent transferred disease of the tick worldwide — Lyme Disease.

The animal is shown larger than life across the screen in its natural surroundings with the help of state-of-the-art lenses and special camera effects. A day in the life of a tick, like a stroll on a deer, is shown from the perspective of the tick. Also shown are the many other microscopic creatures and parasites that share this special biosphere with the tick. The metamorphosis of the tick — from larva to nymph and finally to adulthood — is shown with a slow-motion camera, as is the life of the tick throughout the seasons.

Source: Janson Media