Shadow Of The Vampire (2000)

What If...? is presumably a commonly asked question by movie producers trying to think up a new idea. In the 1920's director F. W. Murnau may have asked himself “What If vampire really existed”, the result of that question may have been his attempt to film an adaptation of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'. Murnau's film, re-named Nosferatu to stop Stoker's family suing him for copyright infringement, is one of the legends of the silent film era. Many decades later E. Elias Merhige's film “Shadow Of The Vampire” attempts to answer another What If – in this case, “What If Max Schrek (star of Nosferatu) really was a vampire, playing an actor portraying a vampire”. It's probably not a question many people have asked, but the resulting film is an interesting, and original piece of work.

Fanatical German film director F. W. Murnau (John Malkovich) is determined to film on location in Eastern Europe, despite the concerns of his financiers and crew. When they get to location, his actors are informed that Max Schrek (Willem Dafoe) will not be joining them, as he has decided to stay in character as the vampire Count Orlock for the whole shoot. His actors and crew are initially willing to accept, but after they meet the convincing-looking Schrek, and crew-member start to fall ill and die, they become increasingly concerned that their film may not be as fictional as they thought. Murnau is unrepentant, determined to get his work of art finished, regardless of the cost.

The premise is imaginative, but there's not much more to the plot than the initial What If question, and the film proceeds is a fairly predictable manner to the final confrontation with the vampire – helpfully coinciding with the filming of Orlock's fictional death scene. Although the acting is fine, few of the characters have any real depth – Schrek is fascinating, but Murnau is just a cliché of the obsessed film director and none of the other characters are given any opportunity to show much of a personality. The ending is also a bit weak, the supposedly fearsome vampire may look sinister but he doesn't seem to be too much of a threat and is despatched disappointingly easily. The more interesting parts of the film involve a (presumably accurate) depiction of the process of making a silent film blockbuster, and Schreck's uneasy reaction to the world of humanity – particularly his opinion of his fictional counterpart Dracula.

The acting is good, with Dafoe in particular providing a superb performance, backed up with some excellent work from Malkovich, Udo Kier, Cary Elwes and even Eddie Izzard. The director also does a good job of making the film look suitably authentic and atmospheric.

In summary, this is an interesting concept but the script fails to fully exploit the potential of the idea. As an unusual interpretation of early film-making it works well, but as a vampire movie it's a bit lacking.

Rating : 7 / 10

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Click here to buy the DVD of "Nosferatu", the film being filmed in Shadow Of The Vampire

All content ©2003 William Marnoch.

Comments? Agree/Disagree with the Reviews? Suggestions? Random Ramblings? Whatever you might want to say, feel free to e-mail me at william@wmarnoch.freeserve.co.uk .