Popular reviews

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  Review by russman ★★★ 1

  This movie is so meta since Willem Dafoe is a vampire in real life as well.

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  Review by Kat ★★★★ 9

  I bet the makeup artists saved so much money working with Dafoe, since he kinda already looks like a vampire.

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  Review by DirkH ★★★★★ 21

  To any fan of the original Nosferatu and of horrorfilm in general this underrated film is a must see.

  It is a fictionalised retelling of the making of the mother of all vampire films. It has as its premise that Max Schreck, the actor playing the vampire, actually was one himself. As silly as this may sound, thanks to an amalgamation of perfectly executed visuals, superb storytelling and some majestical acting, it works perfectly.

  Director Merhige treats his film, above all, as an ode to the original. He manages to conjure up that feel of the early silent movies really well and he actually uses footage from the original film. To his credit, the scenes he shot feel very authentic…

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  Review by Rafael Jovine ★★★★ 2

  Set during the filming of the pretty much groundbreaking horror film Nosferatu as the line between reality and fiction gets blurred, where FW Murnau is not only a perfectionist but the film becomes his own moby dick and he will go to the extremes to make the perfect vampire movie... even if that means to hire a real vampire.

  While Herzog's version was a really good adaptation, this one is vastly superior in many ways. Not only the BTS approach makes of this a much unique movie, but director E. Elias Merhige actually attempts and mostly succeed on making the shooting scenes as if we are looking at footage from the 20s. The score by Dan Jones also helps building…

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  Review by Travis Lytle ★★★ 1

  Part satire, part dark comedy, part revisionist history, E. Elias Merhige's "Shadow of the Vampire" tells the story of the making of F.W. Murnau's classic "Nosferatu." Actually, the Merhige's film tells a version of the story, and his version imagines that lead actor, Max Schreck, may have been a real-life vampire, or, at least, a really good actor. It is a shadowy and slowly paced film that will engage both fans of Murnau's film and film history.

  With Willem Dafoe as Schreck and John Malkovich as Murnau, "Shadow of the Vampire" paints a portrait of a film set harassed by an extremely committed actor. Biting his costars, eating bats, and refusing to remove his makeup, Dafoe's Schreck is a grotesque…

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  Review by Cinema Strikes Back ★★★★

  Wer "Begotten" gesehen hat, hätte bestimmt nicht gedacht, dass Regisseur E. Elias Merhige danach so einen Film präsentieren würde.

  Wer Murnaus Nosferatu gesehen hat, kann sich an diesem Film erfreuen, auch wenn ich mir persönlich gewünscht hätte, der Film hätte seine Grundzutaten - nämlich Horror, Komik, Skurrilität und ein wenig Tragik - ein wenig mehr ausgeschöpft. Gerade das Ende fühlt sich ein wenig überstürzt an und über den ganzen Film hinweg stellt sich nur ein schwacher Sog in diese Welt ein, wobei es der Film doch gerade am Anfang schafft ein Tor in die deutsche Filmlandschaft der Weimarer Republik zu öffnen. Großartig sind hier die Darsteller: Willem Dafoe, John Malkovich und natürlich Udo Kier!

  M.

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  Review by 📀 Cammmalot 📀 ★★★★ 4

  ”How dare you destroy my photographer?
  ….Why not the script girl?”
  “The script girl?….I’ll eat her later.”

  Here’s the movie that begs the question:
  Can method acting ever go too far?

  Willem Dafoe literally kills it portraying an unknown actor who discovers a role he can really sink his teeth into.

  And if that’s not enough you also get the added bonus of watching him face off with Malkovich in an actor vs director vs vampire bout that's one for the ages.

  ”I will finish my picture.”
  “This is hardly your picture any longer.”

  
  Cinematic Time Capsule - 2000 Ranked

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  Review by Felipe ★★★½

  Willem Dafoe as Nosferatu in a movie about the making of Nosferatu set in an alternate reality where Max Schreck, the actor from Nosferatu was a real life vampire?! And people don't talk about this?!

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  Review by Mondo Cinema ★★★★½ 3

  For those who haven't watched this sort of obscure, and not talked about near enough film, I can't recommend it enough.

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  Review by 8 b i t m u r d e r b o t ∆ ∆ ★★★★

  Off the fucking rails. There is so much fun to be had with this. The relationship between Murnau and the Vampire here is utterly brilliant.

  Murnau's obsession is terrifying. "The death of centuries. Moon chaser. Blasphemer. Monkey vase of prehistory... finally to Earth, and finally born."

  The weight of cinematic history rest upon a film that presupposes the making of Nosferatu. Fascinating and repelling in it's telling. Dafoe's performance and mannerisms are incredible. There are no words for the pleasure derived from watching him in countless scenes.

  The film has several moments that are soberingly serious and almost take on a different look and feel. There's two different films in here and it discombobulates you. The meta mindset has you…

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  Review by Jane Firehorse ★★★★ 2

  Who is more of a monster, the vampire or the director?

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  Review by cherryz ★★★½ 2

  Hooptober 5.0 - 2018 - Film #3
  1 silent film as a tribute to A Quiet Place (1/1)

  Ok this is not silent, but loosely about a silent film

  Max Schreck, Schreck meaning terror in German. Quite a fitting second name for the actor who played Nosferatu.

  Rumour has it that Max Schreck was indeed a vampire, leading to this film.

  I'd say Willem Dafoe has Nosferatu nailed, the creepiness, the black humour of the cast & crew nervously laughing at Schreck's antics. I especially enjoyed him having a drink with some of the crew and promptly catching a bat, killing it and drunkenly scoffing it like it was a nacho.

  The biggest monster here being the Director Marnau, played by John Malkovitch. He sacrifices everyone around him to get his art.