What if…F.W. Murnau was such a meticulous director that he hired a real-life vampire to play Nosferatu, née Dracula, rather than the “method” actor he was said to have been?*************************** Shadow of the Vampire. What if…F.W. Murnau was such a meticulous director that he hired a real-life vampire to play Nosferatu, née Dracula, rather than the “method” actor he was said to have been? And what if that spawned a whole other mythology of murders and victims during the filming of Nosferatu, the Vampire? Fun concept wasted on an empty shell. While the most impressive aspects of E. Elias Merhige’s movie turn out to be the pure imitations and recreations from Murnau’s original retooled telling of “Dracula,” it’s a devastating blow that the originality of the concept is actually the weakest angle. The replications take too much time away from projecting the artificial myth, which is the only reason this supposition is being told in the first place. The rest of the drama and sneak-saying deals out facts about actors’ drug habits, fears, hang-ups, etc. The period imitation looks good and feels nice, especially with Willem Dafoe decked out as the vampire with unexacting, but skilled attention to detail, though the overall emptiness is like a hunger-growl.
With John Malkovich and Cary Elwes.Final Verdict: C+.
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