A fog-enshrouded Transylvania. A castle raised high in the sky in all of its menace and grandeur. A pale and ghastly vampire looming in the shadows. We’ve seen these images before. We know what we’re going to see and what’s going to happen.
German auteur Werner Herzog crafts an excellent variation on the Dracula story in his film “Nosferatu the Vampyre,” an atmospheric, creepy and spellbinding version that stands as one of the best horror movies ever made.
The 1979 film will be playing Tuesday to Thursday at The Cinefamily on Fairfax Avenue. Interestingly, the movie was shot simultaneously in both English and German so that it could be distributed more widely. The version being screened will be the German one, marking the first time it will be screened theatrically in the United States.
Like earlier versions of the Dracula story, “Nosferatu the Vampyre” has the same basic plot. Jonathan Harker (Bruno Ganz) arrives in 19th century Transylvania. His aim is simple: to find Count Dracula (Klaus Kinski) so he can sell the mysterious man’s property in Wismar, Germany. Upon meeting the reclusive count, however, Jonathan is taken aback by the his behavior and even odder vampire-like features. Soon this sneaking suspicion is proven true and terror ensues.
But the story isn’t why we watch “Nosferatu the Vampyre.” The reason this film is worth watching, the reason it succeeds, is because of Kinski. The actor brings life to his long-dead titular character. Kinski was one of cinema’s great wild cards. Often, his acting abilities were overshadowed by his extreme temper, arrogance and unexpected outbursts, yet it is hard to deny just how great he really was as a performer.
In films such as “Aguirre, the Wrath of God,” “Nosferatu the Vampyre” and the supremely underrated masterpiece “That Most Important Thing: Love,” Kinski forces you to watch him. He makes you sit up and pay attention, to bask in his talents and get sucked into his vortex of madness. He is, in my opinion, one of the greatest actors the world has ever known.
“Nosferatu the Vampyre” was made when Herzog was one of the darlings of New German Cinema – equaled only by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Wim Wenders – and this serves as an anomaly in his body of work simply because it is a remake of F.W. Murnau’s famous 1922 Dracula movie “Nosferatu.”
Remakes are rarely decent – and I mean rarely – and very few are exceptional. This film in particular fits into the latter category. The problem with remakes tends to be that they are made solely to reap monetary rewards from classic films. They copy a successful formula and hope it will attract the earlier film’s fans as well as newer ones.
However, Herzog’s intentions appear to be different. “Nosferatu the Vampyre” seems to be a tribute to Murnau’s “Nosferatu.” It is as though Herzog is raising his glass to another genius of German filmmaking, tipping his hat to Murnau’s masterpiece and humbly wanting to breathe new life into it. Herzog’s desire to shoot in many of the same locations as Murnau did – although he was unable to get permission to do so – only confirms his love for the earlier movie.
Murnau’s “Nosferatu” is still considered an iconic work in world cinema. It has become essential viewing in film classes and can be seen regularly on late-night television around Halloween. Herzog’s remake, however, has not fared as well. This is a shame, because it’s a fantastic movie, a beautiful variation on the Dracula story that deserves a spot near the top of the horror movie canon.