by E. Elias Merhige, 2001.
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Cary Elwes, Udo Kier, Eddie Izzard, John Malkovich, and Catherine McCormack.
Rating: 7/10, 4.5/10.
This film does some interesting things, it’s true, and there are some really amazing things about it, but in the end it seems like nothing more than just one big, elaborate joke. Which is fine, but all the critical hoopla surrounding it (and the incredible cast—Dafoe, Kier, Izzard, and Malkovich all in one movie?) made it seem like it should be more.
The concept is simple: Max Schreck (Dafoe), who played the vampire in F.W. Murnau’s 1922 film Nosferatu, wasn’t just acting: he really WAS a vampire. If you’ve seen Nosferatu (and if you haven’t, you really should), this isn’t too hard to believe. In fact, watching this film, I almost wanted to believe that Dafoe is really a vampire, too—and not just any vampire, but Schreck himself. That’s how good he is. The whole cast, in fact, is wonderous: Malkovich (who plays Murnau) is intense and funny. Elwes, playing the replacement cinematographer (after Schreck kills the first one) is humourously dashing as ever. Kier, Izzard, McCormack, they all "inhabit" their roles (as the producer, and the stars of the movie, respectively) to a degree I’ve rarely seen in film.
There is definitely nothing wrong with this film. The sets and makeup are so good, so close to the originals from Nosferatu, that it’s frightening. It’s highly entertaining—funny, occasionally scary. But that—that there’s nothing wrong with it—is really all I can say about it. There’s no substance, really.
One last nit-picky comment: in the last scene, where Greta (McCormack), Nosferatu’s leading lady, and Schreck are filming the final scene of the movie, Greta has a wooden stake. But—in Nosferatu there IS no wooden stake in this scene. They don’t even mention stakes in Nosferatu. So why is there one here?