WERNER HERZOG
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBB.5.
Original title: Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht
West Germany/France, 1979. Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, Gaumont, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen. Screenplay by Werner Herzog, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Cinematography by Jorg Schmidt-Reitwein. Produced by Werner Herzog. Music by Florian Fricke, Popol Vuh. Production Design by Henning von Gierke. Costume Design by Gisela Storch. Film Editing by Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus. National Board of Review Awards 1979.
Deliciously creepy remake of the F.W. Murnau classic, this time filtered through Werner Herzog’s imagination and the stylings of his lead actor Klaus Kinski (who hardly needs any help from the makeup department to look like a ghoul). Count Orlock (Kinski) is ravaging an eastern European hamlet with his vampiric feasting ways, but his true desire is to sink his teeth into the lovely neck of beautiful young Isabelle Adjani. Little does he know that she has some personal grit of her own to defend herself with. Herzog employs a sense of melancholy in telling the tale, imbuing the character with the personal misery of not being able to die like he wants to, plus photographing everything with a beautiful sense of gloom.
