Nosferatu, Phantom Der Nacht

[Foxbat]

Directed by Werner Herzog
Starring Klaus Kinski, Bruno Ganz, Isabelle Adjani
Made in 1979

Set in 1850 in a small German town called Wismar, Jonathan Harker (Bruno Ganz) leaves his wife Lucy (Adjani) for a journey deep into the Carpathian Mountains to finalise real estate arrangements with a wealthy Count Dracula. Slowly but surely, Harker is drawn into a horror from which there seems no escape. But he must escape because his home town and his wife are in mortal danger.

Sound familiar? It should. Way back in 1922 when F.W. Murnau’s request to make a movie based on the late Bram Stoker’s novel was refused was when that silent classic Nosferatu was born. Unable to make the movie he wanted, Murnau merely changed the title and not a lot else. Where he struck paydirt though, was in casting a little known actor by the name of Max Schreck in the title role. Nosferatu went on to become one of the major movies in the German Expressionist period. To top things off, it has in recent years, been voted one of the top 5 German films of all time.

And, here, many years after Schrek first shambled on to the silver screen, Herzog dared to remake this iconic movie. Right from the opening scenes, we can see the emphasis on death and decay. Kinski reprises the role of Schreck and sticks very much to that striking make up that made Nosferatu really stand out from the crowd. Gone is the caped romantic dandy that Hollywood likes to portray and, true to Murnau’s original, here we have a vampire that is pestilence personified - a sick and ugly old man, a vampire that fights his own torments whilst inflicting disease upon the world around him.

Just as Murnau’s original is Dracula by another name, so is Herzog’s. Both Ganz and Kinski give fine performances and while the dialogue follows the usual story pretty much as you would expect, it helps add depth to the characters. There are some wonderful moments where sound and vision come together perfectly: a scene of dusk in the town of Wismar – Nosferatu carries his coffins from the rat infested ship to the swirling violins and horns of Wagner’s opening to Das Rheingold. There are many other visual feasts in here – the stunning scenery, slow motion bat in flight, the darkening sky around Castle Dracula.


The film as a whole seems to be an amalgam of the original Stoker story and the slight changes made by Murnau. Herzog’s version seems to lie subtly in between the two…and this, I think, is its saving grace. It’s not a quite a complete remake of Nosferatu and not quite Dracula. I think this film is a success in the sense that rather than compete with either of its iconic predecessors, it is good enough and different enough to warrant a place in any collection of vampire movies.

[I, Brian]

Thanks for the heads up - definitely interested in seeing both of the Nosferatu films.

[j. d. worthington]

My only real quibble with Herzog's remake is the last few minutes. Except for that, I find it an utterly fascinating film. And, oh, do I want that soundtrack!!!

[weaveworld]

Sounds interesting...

In fact I saw a programme last night where one of the men in it, actually had 'Phantom Der Nacht' tattooed on his upper arm because it was his favourite horror film.




Hey......

[steve12553]

I enjoyed both versions. It also seems to me the the Nosferatu makeup style was used in the first version of "Salem's Lot" . Not as Dracula was written but scary in its own right.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by steve12553

It also seems to me the the Nosferatu makeup style was used in the first version of "Salem's Lot" .

For Barlow? Not an exact match, but definitely influenced by.