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Amazon.co.uk Review
Shadow of the Vampire is a film full of good ideas that are only partially developed. Clever, engaging, and boosted by the sublime casting of Willem Dafoe as Nosferatu "actor" Max Schreck, its premise is ripe with possibilities but the movie's too slight to register much impact: characters remain achingly underdeveloped and the whole lacks a sense of pace or structure. What's left, however, is enough for anyone to get their teeth into: the delightful performances from a sterling cast and director E Elias Merhige's affectionately tongue-in-cheek homage to a landmark of German silent cinema. John Malkovich is aptly loony as the eccentric director FW Murnau, whose passion in filming the 1922 classic Nosferatu leads to the extreme casting of Schreck as the vampire, a vision of evil who, in this movie's delightfully twisted imagination, actually is a vampire, sucking the blood of cast and crew members who've dismissed Schreck as an over-zealous method actor.
As these on-set maladies and "accidents" continue, Schreck wields greater control over Murnau, who descends into a kind of obsessive art-for-art's-sake madness until diva co-star Greta Schroeder (Catherine McCormack, doing wonderful work) is served up as the actor's ultimate motivation. Merhige and his actors (including Cary Elwes, as intrepid cameraman Fritz Wagner) have great fun with this ghastly escapade, and the humour is kept delicately subtle to balance the movie's artistic aspirations. To that end, Dafoe is just right, his bald pate and gaunt features a perfect match for the mysterious Schreck, his grimace and talon-like fingers suggesting a human vulture on the prowl. Likewise, the re-creation of Nosferatu's expressionist style is both fanciful and brilliantly authentic. Too bad, then, that this movie suffers from a case of vampiric anaemia, with budgetary shortcomings apparently the cause of at least some of its shortcomings; if Shadow of the Vampire shared the depth and richness of, say, Ed Wood, it might have been a cult classic for the ages. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Product Description
Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe is "sensational!" (Daily News), and John Malkovich is "intense and powerful" (WNBC-TV) in this critically-acclaimed suspense thriller about a filmmaker who's so consumed with creating an authentic vampire movie that he's willing to sacrifice everything - including his cast and crew! And when the director's obsession collides with his mysterious star's thirsty compulsion, the result is a "hypnotic, mesmerizing, shockingly funny spellbinder!" (Rolling Stone).
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
this film scares me like anything, it has a strange mystical quality to it tat not many films can grasp. of course i adore the 1922 nosferatu film more but this is certainly a good choice for a dark night. There are so many parts of this films that stand out that its best for you to watch it and judge for yourself, don't forget that its not real though.....
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Be prepared to be haunted by such sinister questions before watching "Shadow of the Vampire": should filmmaking be considered an art or science?, what's the thin line between genius and lunacy?, what might be the complications of uncontrolled creativity? what threads have humans and vampires in common? wickedness, loneliness, voraciousness, monstrousness or something more we don't know?
The premise of the film is based on the story of two tortured souls: one in human form, an obsessive and ambitious director who will sacrifice his cast and crew to "science" for the sake of making history through his purely realistic work, Nosferatu. The other is an hybrid form seemingly a rodent-like actor with clicking long, green fingernails and scowling gutteral grunts, who skulks in a nocturnal pit where his only companions are rats and bats. Both are after his own immortality; the former feeds on souls, the latter feeds on blood.
Thanks to impeccable cinematography, the aura and ambiance of the film are dark and depressing. The film uses different cameras and angles very well. As a photographer, I must say that the use of lights, shadows and reflections enhance the intended effectiveness. Along with good close-ups, it mixes bright shots with shadowy darkness pretty well. Overtures from "Tristan and Isolde" & "The Flying Dutchman", combines exquisitely with the picture. But, putting all these positive elements aside, the beauty of the film has a lot to do with the top notch performances of Willem Dafoe and John Malkovich.
But..... The pacing is a little too slack; duration is too short; script is shallow and not strong as it should be; depends too much on stereotypes, and pushes the viewer too much, not allowing enough room for imagination. At the end, the film fails to accomplish its grandiose philosophical ideals and comes off a mediocre Hollywood satire about a egocentric director, who is actually the shadow of the vampire, and a blood-thirsty star stealing his movie. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful viewing experience and captivating look at the dysfunctional ambitions. Worth a watch...
The premise of the film is based on the story of two tortured souls: one in human form, an obsessive and ambitious director who will sacrifice his cast and crew to "science" for the sake of making history through his purely realistic work, Nosferatu. The other is an hybrid form seemingly a rodent-like actor with clicking long, green fingernails and scowling gutteral grunts, who skulks in a nocturnal pit where his only companions are rats and bats. Both are after his own immortality; the former feeds on souls, the latter feeds on blood.
Thanks to impeccable cinematography, the aura and ambiance of the film are dark and depressing. The film uses different cameras and angles very well. As a photographer, I must say that the use of lights, shadows and reflections enhance the intended effectiveness. Along with good close-ups, it mixes bright shots with shadowy darkness pretty well. Overtures from "Tristan and Isolde" & "The Flying Dutchman", combines exquisitely with the picture. But, putting all these positive elements aside, the beauty of the film has a lot to do with the top notch performances of Willem Dafoe and John Malkovich.
But..... The pacing is a little too slack; duration is too short; script is shallow and not strong as it should be; depends too much on stereotypes, and pushes the viewer too much, not allowing enough room for imagination. At the end, the film fails to accomplish its grandiose philosophical ideals and comes off a mediocre Hollywood satire about a egocentric director, who is actually the shadow of the vampire, and a blood-thirsty star stealing his movie. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful viewing experience and captivating look at the dysfunctional ambitions. Worth a watch...
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Firstly, beware the recently reissued DVD by Second Sight, I know it's cheap but the picture quality is atrocious - washed out, pixillated - there's even a purple line running down the extreme left hand side for the duration of the movie. One of the worst transfers I've seen since the days of video back in the 80s.
Secondly, this is one huge missed opportunity of a movie - the idea is good, the cast is good, the director has talent (see his first feature Begotten for proof) however this film is a mess. There's no sense of tone - what is it? - a horror movie? a comedy? a historical snapshot? a character study of Murnau or Shrek? For me it succeeds at none of these aims and just drifts along squandering potential as it goes. Shame. Dig out the original or Herzogs magisterial remake and avoid this like the plague.
Secondly, this is one huge missed opportunity of a movie - the idea is good, the cast is good, the director has talent (see his first feature Begotten for proof) however this film is a mess. There's no sense of tone - what is it? - a horror movie? a comedy? a historical snapshot? a character study of Murnau or Shrek? For me it succeeds at none of these aims and just drifts along squandering potential as it goes. Shame. Dig out the original or Herzogs magisterial remake and avoid this like the plague.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Boring
This supposedly horror/comedy is neither scary nor funny. The story/plot could be viewed as an alternative take on early cinema history, but fails also in this. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Daniel
This is something special
If you want special effects and blood and guts you will be disappointed. It's not even a very well constructed film. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Lutobar
Shadow Of The Vampire - Intriguing and compelling film which both...
The year is 1922. German director F.W.Murneau is filming his masterpiece, Nosferatu, based on the Dracula story. Read more
Published on 10 Mar 2010 by Victor
BEWARE OF THIS DVD.
By means of a review I will copy the email I just sent to Amazon.
Dear Amazon,
Recently I purchased this copy of Shadow of the Vampire which I have owned for... Read more
Dear Amazon,
Recently I purchased this copy of Shadow of the Vampire which I have owned for... Read more
Published on 13 Aug 2009 by Mr. M. A. Denton
One for Nosferatu Fans
I like this film on a few levels. First of all there's a lot of mystery surrounding `Nosferatu' and this film doesn't try to explain that, it adds to it. Read more
Published on 9 April 2009 by I. M. Knight
A really clever little flick.
'Shadow of the Vampire' is a fantastic homage to the early pioneers of film-making. I loved the ironic nods to modern film practices and I thought the use of 'Nosferatu' was... Read more
Published on 11 Mar 2009 by L. Butler
Nosferatu for real
Willem Dafoe stars as the actor Max Shrek, playing Nosferatu; except he's not an actor he really is a vampire. That is the premise of this film. Read more
Published on 28 Aug 2008 by S J Buck
Outstanding Willem Dafoe delights in an inventive film.
I really enjoyed the main premise for this film about F.W. Murnau's filming of his 1922 classic 'Nosferatu'. Read more
Published on 10 July 2006 by film fan
I hope this is not a semi-true story
Once a gain Nosferatu rises to the top of our conciseness. This time in the form of a "making of". What if F.W. Murnau used a real vampire in the making of his movie? Read more
Published on 18 Jan 2006 by bernie
Dreadful
... a truly dreadful film. The 1 * is for Willem Defoe's ammusing performance.
Watch the original "Nosferatu" (1922) instead.
Published on 7 Feb 2005 by "goeffyourself"
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