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Post by Scifishocks on Feb 24, 2007 2:59:37 GMT 1
Wastedyuthe reminded me of this, in fact, with his talk of 'Dracula'.
To me, Werner Hertzog's 1979 remake of the original 'Nosferatu' captures best the atmosphere that made Bram Stoker's classic the great book it was.
Klaus Kinski as The Count is creepy, yet seductive and several slow, dreamlike sequences make this film.
Harker travellling through the mountains and the part on board the 'Demeter' stand out. But also the people having one last doomed dinner (whilst a Dracula induced plague decimates the population) amongst rats in the street always brings to mind the doomed merrymakers in London in TWoTW.
A superb film.
Btw, the German subtitled version is slightly superior to the American dubbed version.
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Wastedyuthe
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Post by Wastedyuthe on Feb 24, 2007 9:09:36 GMT 1
I bought this one a few years back, and was immediately impressed. To an extent, I agree with you my friend. But sometimes I am a little put off by the extreme slow pace of it. I know that's what was intended, and it mostly works, but I think there is such a thing as overkill. Certain scenes would have benefited from being a little quicker paced, while some are perfect as they are. I can imagine many people falling asleep at this film if it was played in a dark room.
The score was perfect- very haunting, and suited the film perfectly.
There was one part of the film which bugs me- when the main character (is it Harker in this one?) is in the castle in the day time all by himself, and spots a mail boy walking past the castle. This never happened in the Dracula novel for obvious reasons (it is meant to be a vampires castle after all, which all the locals are supposed to know about even in this film). Other than that, it gave a great sense that he was alone in the castle, and a prisoner.
Overall, I appreciate the film for what it is (namely an update of the original silent version by Mernau) and it is mostly a very good film- horror film makers could learn a lot from this one. But it is not perfect.
Have you seen the original version Nerfy? It was almost destroyed due to copyright infringement of the novel of Dracula.
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Post by Scifishocks on Feb 24, 2007 16:41:34 GMT 1
Yes, I've seen the original.
The slow dreamlike quality is one of the things I like about this... it is very creepy in places.
I guess that is down to personal preference.
Btw... Have you seen 'Shadow of the Vampire'? It's the fictional story of the making of the original 'Nosferatu' in which Max Shreck (excellent, and apt, name!) may or may not have actually been a vampire. Weird film!
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Wastedyuthe
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Post by Wastedyuthe on Feb 24, 2007 19:02:10 GMT 1
Yes I did see that. It was actually a clever idea I thought, although maybe the film didn't make the best use of it. An idea borrowed from the recent B*Witched movie (which I haven't seen by the way) where the actress is actually a real witch.
I do agree with you that the slow dreamlike pace as you put it is very effective- especially making it particularly creepy in places. It's just with the whole film being this pace, it's not perfect for me. A very good take on the Dracula theme though, and certainly one of the most memorable.
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Post by Lensman on Mar 16, 2007 7:40:57 GMT 1
Btw... Have you seen 'Shadow of the Vampire'? It's the fictional story of the making of the original 'Nosferatu' in which Max Shreck (excellent, and apt, name!) may or may not have actually been a vampire. Weird film! I simply *love* that film! How clever, and much more multi-layered and entertaining than any simple vampire film. Willem Dafoe did a superb job of playing a *very* strange, even non-human character. I also saw the original "Nosferatu" with live accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra here in Kansas City. Quite an experience, if rather deafening! An idea borrowed from the recent B*Witched movie (which I haven't seen by the way) where the actress is actually a real witch. Actually "Shadow of the Vampire" was released in 2000, "Bewitched" in 2005. So if there was any "borrowing" done, 'twas the other way 'round. . |
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Wastedyuthe
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Post by Wastedyuthe on Mar 22, 2007 14:33:59 GMT 1
You are right of course, Lensman. But I did know that B*Witched was released afterwards, it's just I worded my sentence wrong. Thanks for correcting though.
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Post by richardburton on Mar 23, 2007 10:22:21 GMT 1
Must dig both Nosferatu the Vampire out and Shadow of the Vampire too - both great films and very well made. I agree about the dream-like creepiness - very atmospheric.
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Wastedyuthe
Been Here a while!
Here hare, here.
Posts: 215
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Post by Wastedyuthe on Apr 4, 2007 10:45:14 GMT 1
Yes, that dream-like, I can't watch it all the way through without falling asleep  |
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Post by bayne on Jun 23, 2007 16:21:50 GMT 1
[glow=red,2,300]I've heard there was an even earlier vampire movie than Nosferatu.. anyone know anything about it? I love both versions and shadow.. but I like bats more than rats.. I find there is more charm in bats  [/glow] |
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Post by Scifishocks on Jun 23, 2007 17:08:10 GMT 1
There were a few vampire movies before 'Nosferatu' but I don't know if any were based on 'Dracula'. I shall have to dig out my copy of 'V is for Vampire' and see what I can find out. Meanwhile, here's a list I found of Vampire movies. www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/vampirefilms.html |
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