With Shadow of the Vampire currently playing in art house theaters, the time is right to study the original art house Nosferatu. Not the German silent classic from 1922, which was made before the concept of an art house film existed, but Werner Herzog's impressionistic version from 1979.

Two versions of the film exist, in German and in English. Neither version is dubbed, as the scenes with dialogue were filmed twice. The DVD contains both versions.

Nosferatu the Vampyre probably sets a record for most rats used during a production. Unable to obtain gray rats, Herzog had his crew hand-paint many of the white rats gray. So many thousands of rats were used that the filming location had to be moved to Schiedam (Netherlands) after officials at Delft refused permission for their release.

But the rats are important to Nosferatu, because images are about all that it has to offer. The dialogue is minimal, and is often clumsy when finally delivered. The most pretentious line is delivered by Count Dracula: "Time is an abyss, profound as a thousand nights". Perhaps it sounds better in German.

Sometimes the imagery seems overly staged as well. One scene has some thirty pallbearers somnolently carrying coffins into the town square. Dressed alike in suits, they are the zombie equivalent of the UCLA marching back at halftime, determined to fall into formation. A comic scene at the end seems out of place when contrasted with the rest of the film.

Between its slow pacing and its relentlessly morbid imagery, Nosferatu is not for those with short attention spans. It's not really for fans of horror films, either. Klaus Kinski's Dracula looks like a pale Dopey with bad teeth, following an encounter with a stretching machine. This Dracula is based upon Max Schreck of Nosferatu (1922), and not Bela Lugosi of Dracula (1931).

What rescues Nosferatu the Vampyre from bad Fellini-esque European surrealism is the quality of its cinematography and cast. Cynics will find Kinski's performance to be both ponderous and unintentionally humorous, but he does manage to convey humanity and sorrow. Dracula would be almost sympathetic, if he wasn't so intent on spreading the plague and killing people.

Isabelle Adjani is a beautiful and graceful heroine, although she is nearly as pale as Dracula himself. Dr. Van Helsing (Walter Ladengast) is much less heroic than he is usually depicted, here mostly as an ineffectual nonbeliever. Noted author Roland Topor laughs it up as the madman Renfield, while Bruno Ganz is the thickheaded real estate agent who becomes Drac's first victim.

Some of the dream sequences (or are they?) are very effective. The villagers are partying in the streets, with rats all around. They are celebrating their last supper, well aware that they are about to die of plague. Then they vanish, with the rats finishing their meal. The score is impressive as well, especially during the many shots taken of a vampire bat in flight.

Nosferatu the Vampyre was eventually followed by a less successful sequel, Nosferatu in Venice (1986). (This proves that as with Freddy and Jason, you can't kill a ghoul for very long.) Kinski returned to the title role, but Herzog passed on the project.

Klaus Kinski, who died in 1991, was notorious for his wild rants and tantrums. Although it is said that he would take any role if the money was satisfactory, he did make several other highly regarded films. Some of them were with Herzog, including Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972). Herzog recently made a documentary, My Best Fiend (1999), about his stormy relationship with Kinski. Today, Kinski may be best known as the father of actress/model Nastassja Kinski. (67/100)


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older