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| A review by request |
Ok, let's start from the beginning...the VERY beginning.
In order to understand Shadow of the Vampire entirely, you would have to have watched (or at least know about) the 1920 horror classic, Nosferatu. I had only heard about it, but watched it recently as a sort of research for Shadow of the Vampire.
So first let's look at Nosferatu:
In 1897, Bram Stoker's "Dracula" was published. The novel was not an instant bestseller, but was praised by all as one of the great horror stories of its time (and ALL time, for that matter). Long story short, in 1922 Nosferatu was released as an adaptation of the novel. Now, there's a whole controversial story behind the making of Nosferatu in reference to its correlation to Bram Stoker's novel that I will NOT go in to because, frankly, it's too long and this review is about the movie itself, not the making of it.
Of course, most of today's horror fans will not appreciate a silent movie from the 1920s, however, after watching this movie, I must say it was actually pretty good. I enjoyed it mostly because I really like the "Dracula" story (not to mention the movie was pretty epic) and it was fun experiencing the first supernatural vampire movie ever made.
**there were a couple of other vampire movies made before this one, but they were not the bloodsucking demons we've come to know and love**
Nosferatu was a nice little film by today's standards and being the first of its kind gives it instant credibility because it actually gave us one of the most important parts of vampire lore which is that vamps fry in sunlight!
My rating:
4.680101010108889 out of 5 stars
Shadow of the Vampire
This movie travels down the road of "what if?" What if Max Shreck was not a Berlin actor, but was actually the Green Goblin playing a real vampire? A vampire who understands Orlok because he, himself, is an old vamp who has lived for ages and saw the rise and fall of his own glory? What if Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom was actually a German director?
This movie was a well crafted flick that gives you a (fictionalized) look behind the scenes of the making of Nosferatu. John Malkovich stars as the eccentric Nosferatu director (F.W. Murnau) who hires a living, breathing (err..."unliving, unbreathing"?) vampire to play the part of Count Orlok in order to add realism to the first vampire film ever made.
What we have here is a horror movie with a blood sucking monster that isn't focused on the horror...it's a story about a director who is trying to make history and trying to have his movie be as realistic as possible, and a very old vampire who really has nothing left to live for after living a glorious life but outlasting the glory. The only thing that keeps him going now is the promise of having a beautiful woman for a meal at the end of shooting.
Listen, don't look for scary spots, don't look for some 30 Days of Night type of vampirism, don't look for mindless screams and gore....this movie is about the art of acting. John Malkovich does an incredible job, William Dafoe does an incredible job, and they make you feel as if this could have really been how the filming of Nosferatu happened.
My rating:
3.895718751 out of 5 stars
I know for a fact that with where we are now in special effects and the mentality toward what "good acting" should be, these two movies will be sorely under appreciated for what they are...but if you're a fan of acting as an art form, you'll like these movies.
Until the next...
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