The Movie
Somewhere in Eastern Europe 1922 ...
Filming of F.W. Murnau's classic vampire movie, Nosferatu, is being disrupted
not only by funding problems, but by rumours of disappearances and deaths
amongst the cast and crew. On the first night of shooting, the cameraman
mysteriously takes ill and collapses… Some days later, his replacement
falls into a trance and never recovers…
Leading man Max Shreck (Willem Dafoe) is never introduced to the cast
and crew he is never seen out of character. Hapless actor Gustav (Eddie
Izzard) thinks his sinister co-star is the ultimate method actor. In fact,
director Murnau (John Malkovich) has sealed a pact with Shreck offering
him the neck of his leading lady (Catherine McCormack) at the end of the
shoot if he delivers the ultimate performance for the camera.
Stranded on an island, the crew must finish the film before Shreck's
bloodlust becomes uncontrollable.
Nominated for two Oscars (Willem Dafoe Best Supporting Actor and Best
Make Up effects) Shadow Of The Vampire charts the horrifying lengths to
which one of cinema's outstanding directors went, to put the most chilling
interpretation of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' on film.
- Cast List
John Malkovich as Friedrich Wilhelm 'F.W.' Murnau
Willem Dafoe as Max Schreck
Udo Kier as Albin Grau
Cary Elwes as Fritz Arno 'Fritzy' Wagner
Catherine McCormack as Greta Schröder
Eddie Izzard as Gustav von Wangenheim
Aden Gillett as Henrik Galeen
Nicholas Elliott as Paul
Ronan Vibert as Wolfgang 'Wolf' Müller
Sophie Langevin as Elke
Myriam Muller as Maria
Milos Hlavac as Innkeeper
Marja-Leena Junker as Innkeeper's Wife
Derek Kueter as Reporter 1
Norman Golightly as Reporter 2
Patrick Hastert as Reporter 3
Sascha Ley as Drunken Woman
Marie-Paule von Roesgen as Old Woman
Jean-Claude Croes as Murnau's Crew
Christophe Chrompin as Murnau's Crew
Graham Johnston as Murnau's Crew - Camera Assistant
Orian Williams as Murnau's Crew
Radica Jovicic as Murnau's Crew
Tania Marzen as Eva
Ingeborga Dapkunaite as Micheline
- Director: E. Elias Merhige
- Produced by Nicolas Cage
- Format: Color, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Widescreen
- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Audio Encoding: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Rated: Not for sale to persons under age 18
- Studio: Universal Studios
- Run Time: 93min
Review
"Shadow" sets out to be a "Making of Murnau's Nosferatu",
but with a vampire in the leading role, film making rapidly descends into
the realms of fear and suspense.
The cast and crew's ignorance of the director's cynical decision to use
a vampire leads to some hilarious moments, especially as the vampire gets
ever more impatient for his "fee"; but the real strength of
this movie is that the preposterous story is wholly believable, and careful
matching of the modern set to the 1922 template is a fine tribute to the
original movie.
Dafoe is simply marvellous as the vampire-turned-method-actor, and Malkovich
offers a chilling performance as Murnau. The supporting cast, with a fine
Izzard as leading actor, and Catherine McCormack as drug-ridden leading
lady, are utterly convincing as a cast and crew in the midst of inexplicable
evil - we, the audience, always know much more than they do, and their
confusion is palpable.
Well worth rewatching Murnau's classic, before watching this, to get
the full benefit of this great vampire movie
The DVD
- Encoding: Read more about DVD formats.
- Available Audio Tracks: English, French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Commentary by director E. Elias Merhige
- Featurette
- Nicolas Cage Interview
- Photo Gallery
- DVD Released: May 29, 2001
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