With Nicolas Cage’s new vampire comedy Renfield (2023) out, vampires have once again popped back into the spotlight of pop culture. Much like the legend of the creature itself, vampires in film just can’t seem to die. They’ve become such staples of horror that even now, where it seems like every single story involving a vampire has been done, they’re still crawling out of their coffins and finding their way into theaters. This can be tracked all the way back to the beginnings of cinema with one of the film’s first horror icons, Count Orlock of Nosferatu (1922).
Even if you’ve never seen F.W. Murnau’s 1922 horror classic, you at least have an idea of Nosferatu. It’s a film that is always discussed when looking at vampires in film and has been referenced and parodied in so many other pieces of media (Orlock is now a regular character in SpongeBob). The film has even been remade, like the 1979 version by Werner Herzog and the recently announced version being developed by Robert Eggers. Count Orlock and his legacy are not going away anytime soon. His iconic status is almost completely due to his actor Max Schreck, who completely immersed and transformed himself with the role. Schreck is almost unrecognizable in the makeup (I wasn’t even really sure what he actually looked like until I began writing this). With how dedicated he was to the look and feel of the performance, you’d almost think that he actually was a centuries-old vampire. But that wasn’t actually the case…right?
Enter Shadow of the Vampire (2000), an independent horror film about the making of Nosferatu that answers the previous question with a bold YES. Max Schreck really was a centuries-old vampire who, by way of a deal with F.W. Murnau, managed to nab the starring role in Nosferatu. Immediately, this sounds like an absolutely gimmicky concept, and, in all honesty, it is. However, the film absolutely delivers everything you could want from the premise and more, becoming a tribute to Nosferatu and the silent era as well as a story about cine-mania and the lengths artists will go to achieve perfection.
Shadow of the Vampire was directed by E. Elias Merhige, who was then known for his surreal silent horror film Begotten (1989). He began working on the film in the late 90s and eventually got Nicolas Cage, of all people, to produce the film. (He REALLY likes his vampires). Starring in the film is John Malkovich as F. W Murnau, with the role of Max Schreck being played brilliantly by Willem Dafoe. Both play their roles with a great tinge of madness and have such great chemistry throughout. The film was released to pretty positive reviews, with critics like Roger Ebert including it as a mention in his Best Films of the 2000s list. Even with all the praise, the film didn’t do too well with audiences. It made back its budget but had a limited release, keeping it from really leaving a mark on the world of cinema. It did, however start to build a cult following over time.
It’s easy to see why this has gained a following, though. Just the visuals alone are enough to capture the viewer’s attention. Everything has a deliberately classic look to it, playing with the look and feel of silent film. While the film is in color, there is no vibrancy to be found. It’s just as dark and dreary as the film the crew is making. Sometimes the most alive scenes of the film are the moments when Shadow directly recreates scenes from Nosferatu. While the meta concept of making a film within a film is nothing new, this film puts a fun spin on the concept by having the scenes of Nosferatu juxtaposed against the story of Murnau trying to keep his crew together while dealing with an actual vampire.
Much like the original Nosferatu, the film is carried by the performances. John Malkovich plays F. W Murnau so brilliantly, capturing his determination and madness to finish his film. At times, he is even comedic, with some great dialogue exchanges with the crew of Nosferatu. But, of course, the best exchanges come between him and the titular vampire himself. I don’t want to say it’s Willem Dafoe’s best performance, but it is absolutely one of his most unique ones. He essentially plays two characters here, the fake Max Schreck, who is actually a vampire, and Count Orlock in the recreated Nosferatu scenes. He excels at both of them, paying wonderful tribute to Max Schreck’s original performance while poking fun at it at the same time. As I stated earlier, the chemistry between the two leads is off the charts, but that’s not to say that the other members of the cast don’t do a great job too. Cary Elwes, for example, plays a fictional version of Fritz Arno Wagner, the cinematographer of the film. He brings an immediate charm that, much like Dafoe, pays tribute to the real person while also poking a bit of fun.
While the film does poke fun for most of its runtime, the film does have its moments of seriousness. My favorite moment of this comes in the final sequence. While I won’t spoil the whole scene, everyone from Murnau to the crew to Schreck has been pushed to the edge. They just want to complete the film. This leads Murnau to the brink of insanity, and the line between film and reality begins to blur. Oddly enough, the film I’d compare Shadow of the Vampire most to isn’t even a horror film at all. I was reminded heavily of the feelings I had while watching Irma Vep (1996) when I rewatched Shadow of the Vampire. The idea of the film taking over a director’s life completely is one that both films capture in a strangely similar way. Shadow of the Vampire is a little more tongue-in-cheek, but their themes of cine-mania and obsession are very similar. (I could see the two films making for a great double feature.)
It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but Shadow of the Vampire is definitely a hidden gem in the world of film and one that should be viewed both by horror fans and film fans in general. The concept is absolutely ridiculous, but with E. Elias Merhige’s direction that pays a wonderful tribute to the silent era. With the killer performances by the cast, and everyone’s drive to commit to an idea that, on paper, is really silly, they absolutely pulled it off. It’s an underrated film that fully deserves to be up there with every other acclaimed horror film of the 2000s. Whether you’re interested in Nosferatu, horror films, silent films, or the art (and sometimes terror) of filmmaking, absolutely give this film a watch. With how many films are being remade now, it’ll be interesting to see how the ideas of this film (and Irma Vep) play out in the future. Who knows, we might get a remake where it turns out Nicolas Cage was actually a vampire the whole time! I mean, at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Article Courtesy of Brodie Blizzard
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