Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

Director: E. Elias Merhige

Starring: John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Udo Kier

The filming of Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922) is hampered by the fact that its star Max Schreck is taking the role of a vampire far more seriously than seems humanly possible.

Now this is an interesting concept. Before going into the film review, let’s look at some facts. Bram Stoker created Count Dracula in 1897. His widow refused to sell the film rights to director F.W. Murnau, who wanted to bring the book to life. Determined to film the book, Murnau simply changed some of the character and location names, and altered some of the events. He renamed Count Dracula to Count Orlok, and called the film ‘Nosferatu’. Actor Max Schreck portrayed Count Orlok.

‘Shadow of the Vampire’ is a fictional telling of the filming of ‘Nosferatu’. Although fictional, actual names were used for some of the characters. The director in the film is F.W. Murnau (John Malkovich), and Max Schreck is Count Orlok – only in ‘Shadow of the Vampire’ Max is a vampire. (Obviously he wasn’t in real life). If you’ve seen the original 1922 silent film, you’ll recognize some of the scenes they shoot in the film.

I also found the film interesting from a ‘behind the scenes’ perspective, watching them making a film back in 1921. I also loved the text inserts, just like the old silent movies. Great care went into the detail of making ‘Shadow of the Vampire’.

The film crew heads to Czechoslovakia for their filming location. Murnau informs his crew the star of the film, Max Schreck, is a very dedicated actor who choose to remain in character for the making of the film, and will only appear to the cast in full make-up. He is also to be filmed at night only. Off course, the film soon reveals him to be a vampire, raising the stakes – pun intended!!

The make-up is excellent, and Willem Dafoe delivers a fantastic performance as Count Orlok. Very good performances by John Malkovich and Udo Kier, as well. My only negative remark would be the film’s lighting. This film is very dark. I understand they wanted to accentuate the 20’s feel, but some scenes were really too dark. I still want to be able to see.

The film doesn’t have the nail-biting climax you’d expect from a vampire movie, but it does end on a rather disturbing note on moral grounds. Watch it and you’ll understand what I mean.

‘Shadow of the Vampire’ received 45 award nominations, including Oscar nominations for Best Actor (Willem Dafoe), and Best Makeup.

Would I watch it again? Not sure. Maybe.