After Fright Night, I decided to have one more quick look at a personal vampire-themed favorite of mine. More than just harkening back to the classics, it gets all meta with them--asking what if 1922's Nosferatu, the grandaddy of all vamp flicks, actually used a real bloodsucker? Well, when you've got Willem Defoe as a certain Count Orlok himself, Malkovich as movie pioneer Murnau, and all the old-timey gothic trappings you could ask for, it turns out you get a pretty interesting and oft underlooked little piece.
Though Nosferatu wasn't the first vampire movie of all time, it's the earliest one that's survived, and the one we have some insight into, through its very blunt way of avoiding copyright by just changing a name around, to the pioneering techniques used. Directors like Murnau were essentially breaking new ground with every project--and the film does touch on that, with him having to handle actors used to working in front of a live audience instead of a camera. But, well, what we're really here for is Defoe as the titular vampire. And boy, what a performance we get, as old Willem relishes every moment in not only recreating the actual Max Schreck's deliberate and creepy performance in the original, but growling and hamming through every moment in between.
Malkovich himself, as you might expect, also largely obliterates the scenery, as a Murnau who is willing to feed his scriptwriters to the vampire if he gets his masterpiece--the deadpan jabs at moviemaking are all too amusing to anyone even a little bit in the know on the business. Though the real Murnau was a lot more sensitive, the manic and dictatorial version serves here as a interesting contrast to the rather despondent Schreck; who, in one memorable scene interprets his character, much like himself, as pining for his glory days as a count who didn't live in ruins, and had both people and nobility at his command.
The rest of the cast serves well enough; you have Eddie Izzard...of all people...playing Murnau's lead Gustav, and Udo Kier rasping his way as he always does as producer Albin Grau. All are ultimately overshadowed by the two leads, which can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. And while those performances may get a little bit over the top, they at least don't make for any dull moments.
While perhaps it couldn't have gone as far as it could've in getting into the actual vampire himself--the focus is very much on Murnau being a hammy insane auteur for the most part--the flick serves as an enjoyable complement to a classic, and certainly a change of pace from the usual vampire fare. You can consider it a trifecta, even, alongside the original Nosferatu, and the (equally worthwhile) 1979 Herzog remake. See it for Defoe growling his way through fanged makeup or see it for an attempt at a tale of an artist going mad; but it's one that could use a little more mention...
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