Nosferatu the Vampyre

• German: Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht, lit. Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night
• Directed and Written by Werner Herzog
• January 17, 1979 (France) / April 12, 1979 (Wiesbaden)
• Based on the 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula by Bram Stoker and the 1922 silent German Expressionist vampire film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror by F. W. Murnau

Count Dracula moves from Transylvania to England and brings the Black Death with him. Some people are so careless!

Based on the title one would think this is a direct or loose remake of the 1922 silent German Expressionist vampire film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, which it is a bit, but it also is much more an adaption of the 1897 novel Dracula. Though it has been decades since I read the book, I can see more of that here than something that might be the silent classic.

I cannot think of the last Werner Herzog movie I have seen or if I have seen any. I am more familiar with his general reputation as not a happy dude. Nosferatu the Vampyre opens like some gentile historical drama. That’s after the unnerving scene of the dead in the opening credits.

Some of the music is so tender and romantic in this that you think the characters might break into some beautiful song. It’s really weird. Initially the movie presents itself like some loving and sensitive drama but takes on surreal aspects when it delves into the horror making it almost a dark fantasy rather than a horror movie. There is weirdness but not many if any scares. You might be able to apply the term ‘Gothic’ to this, but horror? No. 

The parts that are intended to be scary or look like they are such are pushed forward a little bit to say to the audience that this is when they are to be frightened and then Herzog pulls back when he does anything with them at all. Usually Herzog undercuts his own efforts with some rather bad camera work.

As a child of the 80s, I was present for the dawning of Falco and his international hit single “Rock Me Amadeus.” I bring that up because of the camera work here has many similarities to the camera work there. Being a German and French production I’m betting the similarities in camera work are an aesthetic of German cinema of the time. An annoying one. There’s something to be said for a steady camera and I wanted to kind of fast forward rather than get motion sickness or work to figure out what I was seeing as the cameraman flailed around.

It also has moments that feel ripped from the horror stylings of the 50s or 60s where the camera makes it obvious to the audience that the evil guy is doing something evil. A short, tight focus and a weird look in the face of the victim which comes off as more comedic than scary.

There are moments that defy logic. Maybe it’s just me but if I am seeing somebody looking like Klaus Kinski-as-Count Dracula does coming towards me after I arrive at a ruined castle regardless of whether or not I was expecting to meet somebody I would hightail it out of Dodge so fast I leave a fire trail like from Back to the Future. I don’t get why Jonathan Harker (Bruno Ganz) stays despite signs of something wrong. 1897 or not, if your life is in peril you run. I know he had to stay in order for the rest of the movie to happen, but it’s quite possibly the most nonsensical element in a movie like this.

I always say this, but I’m not against dialogue heavy movies, but the dialogue needs to move the story forward. There’s just too much dialogue that stretches things in Nosferatu the Vampyre. Exchanges could’ve been cut by several sentences bringing this movie down to barely 90 minutes. It would’ve come off as much tighter and much more atmospheric. Get the hint man! He’s not going to give you a horse! Get the hint lady! He doesn’t believe the story you’re slinging even though it’s true! That means this movie has a great amount of fluff with not a lot of actual material.

Yet there is something that gets you invested in this just enough to make it through the movie. And that’s the problem. It’s just enough to get you to make it through the movie but once you’ve made it through and realize how hollow the whole thing is, you’re not going to want to go back.

With far too much dialogue that goes on needlessly and no real scares, Nosferatu the Vampyre is entertaining but not scary. It’s interesting to watch once but not interesting enough to watch again.