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Summary: An Updated Remake of the Classic "Nosferatu"
Review: It's surprising somebody didn't attempt this a lot sooner. This film was an updated remake of the 1922 silent film "Nosferatu". The end result is effective and much more enjoyable for the average modern viewer. Like the original silent film, the vampire is portrayed as a hideous and sad creature. As in all "Dracula" based films, the humans must outwit the vampire in order to save the people they love. The film is very well done and would appeal to fans of the more "classic" horror movie style. With all the high budget slick presentation vampire movies available now this one may fall short for some viewers and may seem a little dated. I would nonetheless recommend it to anybody that would like to see "Nosferatu" but can't quite bear the idea of sitting through a silent film.
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Summary: Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) 2-disc Special Edition DVD
Review: ...I was fortunate enough to get an early copy from [another location]. The picture and sound quality on this dvd are much better than Anchor Bay's previous release (which was poor). For that reason, this edition is the one to buy. Other than that, I believe the special features are the same.The 4-page collector's booklet ... is nothing to get excited about. It just shows the cover art for both the German and English releases of this movie, and has the scene selection index on the back. The 13-minute featurette "The Making of Nosferatu" is also no big deal. There are one or two nice shots of actor Klaus Kinski (who plays Dracula) putting on the finishing touches of his makeup, and some shots of director Werner Herzog instructing his actors, but other than that you don't get to see much of interest, and they don't really talk much about the movie itself, and how it was made. There are four trailers; one on disc 1 and three on disc 2. One of the trailers on disc 2 is the same as the one on disc 1, but they are all nice to look at. The talent bios are actually interesting to read; I found it really fascinating that, for one of his movies, Herzog actually hypnotized his actors! If you do not already own "Nosferatu the Vampyre", it is right up there with "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and the original 1922 "Nosferatu" as one of the three best Dracula adaptations I have ever seen. The music is honey to the ear and each frame of this movie looks like a painting. The story loosely follows the book (the characters Lucy and Mina are switched around, Renfield is Jonathan Harker's employer, the vampire carries the plague with him everywhere he goes, and there is a different ending), but the movie gets the FEEL down perfectly. Dracula is more fleshed out than he was in the book. He is a creature of the night, but he is also very sad. This Dracula is immortal, but he does not have eternal youth; his body grows more sickly as he ages. This Dracula wants to die, because he cannot live without physical and spiritual love. If you DO own an older copy of this movie on vhs or dvd, I recommend you buy this movie anyway because, ... it has a much better picture than the previous dvd release.
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Summary: A real Horror Movie
Review: This is a great movie. I cant help but wonder if modern audiences who have grown up on a diet of "Friday the Thirteenth" will find this too arty and slow, while those who appreciate Cinema might be put off by its horror basis. If you fall into both camps, I think you will enjoy this film. It is reasonably true to the Bram Stoker yarn, but contains an extra additive with the extraordinary cinamatography, brillient and haunting soundtrack, and splendid cast. The film holds a spell from start to finish and if you want the bejeebers scared out of you, this is a good way to do so.
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Summary: Pure
Review: Forget all but this interpretation of Dracula. It takes the essence of the Bram Stoker story and purifies it with sounds, scenes and characterisation that will never leave you. It will swirl around in your mind blending modern history, Revelation and human folly and complacency. Who is truly the most evil - Nosferatu or human beings? This is a journey through more than the mists of the Carpathean Mountains.
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Summary: A Haunting Rendition
Review: Whenever I think of Werner Herzog's masterpiece Nosferatu, I am immediately reminded of the dreamlike scene where Lucy (Isabelle Adjani) roams the village square, amid a plague of rats and dancing villagers, with that strange, haunting music obliterating all human sounds from normalcy. Werner once commented that this scene would have been common in the Middle Ages during the plague, and its poignancy is one reason which makes its mark felt. Amidst death and destruction, people are feasting, blindly ignoring the death knell, and like those whom "the Gods make mad", they die, as Lucy, a symbolic Cassandra, winds her way through the crowd, watching death and destruction fall about her, who's knowledge of the evil which has infested the once peaceful and beautifully kept town, is unduly ignored. When I think of Nosferatu, I also see the vampire's (chillingly played by Klaus Kinski) dark, hollowed, haunted eyes within an emaciated, pale, and totally repellent visage, yet something about the intensity of his gaze, haunted by his lonely exile and hunger for love, is oddly interesting. He cannot love, in fact, he cannot even experience human emotions, and yet he needs to know Lucy's love, even if that means her destruction in the end. Besides these two strong characters, the beauty of this film is so mesmerizing, that no other to date can compare. Its magnificent landscapes of ruined castle walls, mist-covered mountains of the Carpathians, the ship sailing across the ominous sea, all are very beautiful images. Not to forget the haunting foreshadowing in the beginning...corpses, mummies, showing us what waits for us in the end, not feasting, not dancing, but death...death which makes any man humble, or should, except for Count Dracula, who's inability to die separates his soul from all others. Death indeed is a very strong symbol in this film, and should remind us of our mortality. For me, there can be no greater film to date. It is my favourite of all time, and for anyone interested in the tasteful vampire genre, it will be highly appreciated in the years to come...
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Summary: Werner Herzog DVDs are Good Food!
Review: This DVD has a nice picture and is a two-sided DVD: side one is the German Language edition which is also presented with 5.1 Dolby sound and a commentary with Werner Herzog and an interviewer. Side two consists of the English langauge edition (which was actually filmed separately in parts), and has a nicer picture quality of the two sides. I don't see the emphasis on the "pure" German soundtrack as Isabelle Adjani and the little comic who plays Renfield are both French actors and their voices are overdubbed. Herzog himself also confesses that much of the film was filmed by English speech as it is a more "international language" than is German. Besides, the film just seems to "work" better in English in my opinion (as does Aguierre for other reasons). The image quality is good, but not ultimately great - it's a bit grainy in places. The screen is presented in a shallow 1.85:1 widescreen format and includes a behind the scenes featurette and several trailers. The sound quality is fine, no complaints. Warning - I tried ordering this DVD from [another website], and the order was never fulfilled (they had no copy in any of their warehouses), (...so let that be a plug for Amazon)!!! :-)
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Summary: Nosferatu, Vampire and Wanderer
Review: Werner Herzog's vision of the classic Nosferatu is without equal in its beauty AND horror. Of all the vampire films produced since the 60s, other than Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula", no other director has realized so rich a portrayal of such a horrific creature. The opening sequence, set in a charnel house or a cave, is a rolling long shot of thousands upon thousands of human skulls piled floor to ceiling, with an extraordinarily creepy and haunting choral music background. One of the most disturbing openings of any horror film I've seen ever. The first time you see it, it leaves an indelible impression on your psyche, setting the stage for what will follow. Klaus Kinski's almost literal "inhabitation" of Nosferatu is enhanced by the superbly realistic makeup and prosthetics he wears to effect the look of a gargoyle-turned-vampire. With piercing black eyes like those of a rodent, his is the most intense screen portrayal of any vampire character. Not only he is physically intense (with an almost humbling mien), but he is also a very "human" Nosferatu, in that his sense of aloneness in the world, and his despair is so palpable as to render the darkness around him so much the bleaker. The cinematography draws the landscapes around his castle and the interiors in the brightest of whites and the most sombre of blacks. If you have a choice between the original-language German w/the English subtitles, or the dubbed version, do yourself a tremendous favor and view it in the original. The dubbed English so dilutes the mood of the film, while German fits the story's mood and dialogue so well. This Nosferatu is much more than just a horror film, it also brings poetry and romance to the vampire genre. Stunning.
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Summary: A masterpiece
Review: I love the films of Werner Herzog made with the participacion of Klaus Kinski as main actor and with Popol Vuh's music -it would'nt be the same to me without these great musicians-. Fortunately there were other films I have seen they made together like 'Aguirre' and 'Fitzcarraldo'. There are other examples of these succesful combinations as Edwards-Sellers-Macini's films. What is my opinion on Nosferatu, the vampire?...well, the first time I saw it -many years ago- I felt bored like some of the persons who gave their opinion. I think mostly when someone grows up can be able to enter in a kind of film like this. But, however it is needed a mentality that would consist in understand the nature of Werner Herzog's films. He always try to show the close connection between man and the earth, and he get it thanks to brilliant actors, quite long sequences with few dialogues and wonderful fusions into beautiful landscapes and sighs to contemplate dreamily, and...the most important!...accompanied by Popol Vuh's music. I specially enjoy the scene when Bruno&Isabelle walk in the beach embracing each other under a light mist and a strong wind blowing. I must say that I truly enjoy everything on the film, wich it is always a pleasure to me to watch and submerge quietly on its calmness, spirituality and beauty. This film is unique and extraordinary.
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Summary: Probably the best Vampire movie!
Review: Until last night I would have picked Bram Stoker's Dracula as the best Vampire film of all time, but after seeing Herzog's version of this classic tale I was spellbound. The visual beauty is just about unmatched in any film you'd ever see and the quality of acting is terrific. A steady pull of tension that seems almost hypnotic and a pleasant little surprise at the ending make this my all-time favorite Vampire film. I must confess that they have been a secret vice for many years and I've probably seen all but the sexploitation ones and have loved many. This one is a must see for Vampire fans in particular and stands on its' own in pretty much any film genre, much as one would expect of a Herzog film. Don't miss it!
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Summary: 'NOSFERATU' is the best of all the Dracula movies.
Review: In the past there have been endless versions of Bram Stoker's story but i have to say that while this is not the most accurate adaptation (the inferior COUNT DRACULA is the most accurate one) this is the best and the scariest. The story starts with Johnathan Harker (Bruno Ganz) having to head for the Carpathian mountains in order to sell Count Dracula a piece of land property in his town. When he gets to the castle in the mountains he meets Count Dracula (Klaus Kinski) and after a few creepy moments in the movie he sells Dracula the property and while that happens he sees a photo of Harker's fiancee Lucy (Isabelle Adjani and by the way they switched Mina's name to Lucy and vice versa in case you are confused) and he soon sets off for Harker's town. I will not reveal more for those who have not seen it because it will take away much of the mystery in the movie. Let's start with the acting. The entire cast here is great, i can't praise them enough. Klaus Kinski gives one of his best performances as Dracula and he adds dimensions to the character that other actors could not provide. He is sympathetic and repulsive at the same time. Can't remember Lugosi or Lee making me feel that way. The beautiful Isabelle Adjani is hypnotic as Lucy, you cannot take your eyes off her. She makes Lucy a vulnerable yet strong person. So far the only other actress who has come close to Adjani's performance is Winona Ryder in Coppola's version. Bruno Ganz is very good as well and for the first part of the story he stands in for Adjani as the character that we put all our worries on. Herzog's direction is very creepy, atmospheric, and he takes his time telling the story which might irritate some who are used to the loud and fast Stallone and Willis movies. He pays great homage to F.W. Muranu's original version of NOSFERATU and to the German expressionism of the silent era. This movie has very little dialogue. Almost the entire story is told with visuals. But this proves to be more affecting than if there had been more dialogue. For a fun and entertaining version of DRACULA watch Lugosi's version. For a thoughtful, creepy, and well acted version of the story watch NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE.
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