![Nosferatu (The Vampyre / Phantom Der Nacht) [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41JQ5EMVBCL._SX300_SY300_QL70_ML2_.jpg)
![Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski: A Film Legacy [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41ZTFZ2YW0L._AC_UL140_SR140,140_.jpg)
![Nosferatu The Vampyre [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/916lsay2sUL._AC_UL140_SR140,140_.jpg)
Remember when Gus Van Sant did a shot-for-shot remake of “Psycho”? And we all wondered why he would do a damn silly thing like that?
Werner Herzog, like Van Sant, has a reputation as a maverick filmmaker to uphold. “Psycho” was an American classic that must have made a big impression on Gus. “Nosferatu” seems to have had a lot of impact on Herzog. His dedication to recreating the atmosphere of the original is commendable. But not that interesting for those of us who like our undead to be a little livelier.
F.W. Murnua’s 1922 “Nosferatu” really is a classic, at that. The sets, the harsh lighting, the shadows, the incredibly creepy performance by Max Schreck, it’s an amazing accomplishment. I remember seeing it on TV at an inappropriately young age and finding some bits scary as hell. Especially when the Count rises out of his coffin, not like somebody getting out of bed but as a rigid body going horizontal to vertical in one eerie move. Silent movie planking!
Herzog’s tribute? Color and sound don’t really fit here. When Mel Brooks made the wonderful “Young Frankenstein”, one of his best decisions was to film in a beautiful, luminous black and white. There’ve been good Draculas in color; Coppola’s lurid 1992 version was thoroughly enjoyable in garish saturated colors. Herzog’s? As a worshipful tribute to the silent film, maybe monochrome would’ve worked better.
Similarly, the worshipful reproduction of the silent movie era’s stagey performances just clash with the color and sound. Count Dracula himself is the most lifelike actor in the cast. Klaus Kinski is not only wearing a wonderful simulacrum of Max Schreck’s makeup and fingernails, he does a loving, sympathetic performance. Not easy to do while wearing rat teeth and three inch nails.
But Lucy, Harker, Van Helsing and Mina all seem to be doing their impressions of what their characters would be like if they were taking a whole lot of Percodan. And using a whole lot of eyeshadow. Lucy looks like a drugged raccoon before she’s even heard the name “Dracula”.
Numb, dull, almost stoned line readings and stiff action. In the silent movie days, when cameras were bulky and nearly immovable, makeup was heavy and acting was mostly pantomime, this sort of near motionless and emotionless performance might have made more sense. Here, it’s just odd. The most terrible things happen around these people, and they might as well be reading their lines from the sports pages of the Amsterdam Gazette. Renfield seems to be the only one having a good time. He’s kept his sense of humor in a severely under-written role. In the book, and in most Dracula movies, he’s a pivotal character, I mean. Here, he laughs inappropriately, plucks at the Count’s sleeve, and vanishes from the story.
Of course, the silent “Nosferatu” ditched about two thirds of the Bram Stoker story, partly for legal reasons and mostly to keep the running time reasonable, I suspect. There’s only so much plot you can fit into an impressionist silent movie without a whole lot of title cards. But Herzog had no such proscriptions. By holding to the format of the original (except the tacked on ending, with Bruno Ganz fitted with his own set of rat dentures, that is. Murnau knew when to call it finis; Herzog should’ve stopped with the stake), he ditched most of Stoker’s more interesting characters, denied Lucy her staking scene, turned Van Helsing from a protagonist into a buffoon, and eliminated the dash back to Transylvania. Which is one of the most dramatic parts.
I might be prejudiced in favor of more action oriented vampire pictures. This is more of a fever dream Dracula, with rats. Way, way too many rats. Seriously, while I like rats as much as the average viewer, there are limits. More bats, please, less rats. And less traveling scenes; Harker rides to Transylvania, going through lengthily photographed lush scenery. OK, we get it. Harker rides back through, etc. Dracula on shipboard, that adds to the story. Harker on a horse, not so much. And what is the deal with the rustic kid sawing away on a screeching fiddle? Seriously, what’s up with that? The only thing it adds to the scenes is the realization that this boy does not have a future in music.
There are some amazing shots; the overhead view of the train of caskets in the plague-stricken town square should be in every director’s notebook. And there are some silly bits of business, the dancing and last supper in the plague-stricken town square, scenes that belong in some other, worse movie. This is a vampire movie, not Fellini. And enough with the rats. You couldn’t fit that many rats on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, let alone the Count’s little three-mast boat.
There’s surprisingly little vampirizing going on; the Count does some sucking on Harker and then on Lucy (after perving on her legs, even!). But that’s it. He doesn’t do the bolt upright scene from the Murnau, and he doesn’t go up in a puff of smoke when hit by the rising sun. He apparently has a myocardial infarction or maybe a stroke, and that’s all Herzog wrote. You want a more to-the-book and more fun Dracula, check out Coppola’s. You want a loving and kind of dull tribute to a long-ago movie, Herzog and Kinski have one for you.
Frequently bought together
![Nosferatu (The Vampyre / Phantom Der Nacht) [DVD]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41JQ5EMVBCL._AC_UL116_SR116,116_.jpg)
$68.39
Get it as soon as Wednesday, Nov 23
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Customers also search
Page 1 of 1Page 1 of 1
Videos
Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1
Videos for this product
2:34
Click to play video
View the Trailer for <i>Nosferatu</i>
Merchant Video
Customer reviews
Top reviews from other countries
Geoff KERSHAW
Nosferatu is a captivating and lyrical love story. Hey - wait a minute
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 28, 2015Chris
Great film, misleading product info
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 7, 2018M. McClure
This is one of Werner Herzog's finest efforts. It easily stands comparison with the famous ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 11, 2015
