NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE

Publicity poster for Nosferatu the Vampyre - I've often thought that the immensely-gifted artist responsible for it should have created an entire animated movie version - what a spectacular-looking film that would have been! (© Werner Herzog/Werner Herzog Filmproduktion/20^th Century Fox – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

On 28 May 2017, I watched the 1979 horror movie Nosferatu the Vampyre – German film director (and writer) Werner Herzog's art-house remake of the earlier German film director F.W. Murnau's classic 1922 silent German Expressionist film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. This in turn was undeniably inspired by Bram Stoker's original 1897 novel Dracula.

Speaking which: in that latter silent version, the vampire was actually named Count Orlok and a few plot changes were also made, in order to avoid – unsuccessfully, as it proved – being sued for copyright infringement by Bram Stoker's estate. (After Murnau lost the court case, all copies of his movie were ordered to be destroyed, but happily a few survived, which is why it still exists today.) In contrast, Stoker's novel had entered the public domain by the time that work had begun on Herzog's version, so the original name and plot could be used in this version.

However, of particular note is that Herzog faithfully reproduces the appearance of Dracula as conceived in Murnau's movie and portrayed in it by Max Schreck. That is, not as the suave, cloak-swirling seducer familiar from modern-day vampire films, whose fangs are extra-large upper canine teeth, but rather as a hunched and hideous-looking monstrosity with huge rat-like (or bat-like?) ears, excessively long, needle-like 1^st upper incisors, deathly pallor, and an overall albeit contradictory mien of living decay.

As I expected from an art-house film, Nosferatu the Vampyre is visually stunning, but with the very notable exception of Klaus Kinski, who is quite mesmerising in the title role. the acting is rather stilted and laboured, and I confess to being somewhat mystified by certain aspects of the plot. In particular, am I correct (or not) in assuming that the rats and the plague are merely a cover created by Dracula to conceal his vampiric activity? But if so, surely the death count is too high for even the most bloodthirsty vampire to achieve? Conversely, if this is all a misapprehension on my part, and the spreading of the plague via the rats was truly real and not a subterfuge, what was the point of it? As far as I can remember (although a great many years have passed since I read it), there is no rat-spreading plague outbreak present in Stoker's original novel, even though it is included in both Nosferatu movies.

Also, given that the physical appearance of Count Dracula in both movies is so grotesque, so unearthly, how could Jonathan Harker (renamed Thomas Hutter in Murnau's film) not realise instantly that his secretive Transylvanian host is indeed a member of the undead rather than merely a castle-bound eccentric?? Such plot-holes aside, however, and suspending disbelief in relation to them, Nosferatu the Vampyre is unquestionably a fascinating film, and yet another long-awaited one finally ticked off my list.

Indeed, ending this mini-review on a heretical note: I personally consider that Herzog's version is far superior to Murnau's silent original, in which I always find the Count to be comical rather than creepy, humorous rather than horrifying, a totally unbelievable entity no matter how much disbelief I strive to suspend when watching him on screen.

Last but not least, and just in case you are wondering what it means and/or where it comes from: according to 19^th-Century British authoress Emily Gerard's travelogue on Transylvania The Land Beyond the Forest (1888), 'Nosferatu' is apparently a Romanian word for 'vampire' (Transylvania itself translates as 'Beyond the Forest'). Consequently, the title of Herzog's film is actually tautological, translating as 'Vampire the vampire'!

I own the 2-disc DVD of Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre, which contains both the English-language version and the German-language version (the latter including English subtitles). I also own the DVD of Murnau's original silent version. If you don't mind reading English subtitles, you can currently watch the German-language version of Herzog's entire movie for free here on YouTube. And click here to watch Murnau's entire movie, again free of charge.

And to view a complete listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE! 

Photo-still from Murnau's 1922 silent movie Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, showing the famous, iconic image of Count Orlok's shadow as he climbs the stairs to seek out his intended victim (public domain)