FROM SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE
Posted by Hello

The photo above is from the film SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE directed by Elias Merhige made in 2000. It is an imaginitive retelling of the making of F.R. Marnau's 1920's silent film version of Dracula which for copyright reasons the film was called NOSFERATU OR THE VAMPYRE. This version is a bit disturbing as it mixes historical events surrounding the making of the film with elements of the fantastic & horror in which the Vampire Orloc is depicted as real person or creature who begins killing off members of Marnau's film crew. This film was made in a strange Gothic style & their is a sense of dread which hangs over the entire film from the first frame to the last. For those of us who like this sort of thing it has a quite deliciously satisfying ending.

If you are interested check out F.R. Marnau's original. It is slow at times but there are some great scenes or set pieces which are worth it.

Also check out Werner Herzog's 1980's version NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE which has some great scenes like the scene in which we see dozens of coffins being carried through the streets. The scene creates a sense of inevitability as the small city is slowly but surely dying day by day. Another great scene is that of a number of citizens who seem to be the well-off & leaders of the community mixed with those who are mad & have set up a large dinning table in the town square to have one last banquet before the end comes. It is like a mad tea party in the middle of an unknown plague.

You of course should watch DRACULA starring Bela Lugosie & DAUGHTER of DRACULA made a few years later . DRACULA has been remade numerous times. But true fans can never get enough. So you should watch the Hammer versions with Christopher Lee as Dracula & Peter Cushing as Van Helsing.

Francis Ford Coppola's version is strangely mesmerizing & focuse more explicily on the sexual undertones which were apparent in Bram Stoker's original book & in Dr. Polodori's VAMPYRE in the tradition of the Gothic novel. Sex is always rearing its ugly head.

Enter supporting content here