A taste of success

'Shadow of the Vampire' revisits the glory days of vampire films

Posted: Thursday, February 01, 2001

   It's a subject so overcooked, it's perhaps cliche to even gripe that the last thing the world needs is another vampire movie.





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But then along comes ''Shadow of the Vampire,'' a deliciously twisted account of the first (and some would argue last) great vampire movie that ... well, (pun intended, since I've thrown cliche out the window) sucks the blood right out of that gripe.

   ''Shadow of the Vampire'' is based on the making of acclaimed German filmmaker Friedrich W. Murnau's 1922 classic, ''Nosferatu,'' which, incidentally, was featured not too long ago at the fabulous Flicker Theatre. The story goes that Murnau was unable to get permission to create a film version of Bram Stoker's ''Dracula,'' so he simply retitled it ''Nosferatu'' and gave the characters different names.

   ''Shadow'' takes the story and the behind-the-scenes making of ''Nosferatu'' and blurs the lines between fact and fiction, all the while celebrating Murnau's style in recreating the undeniably creepy sensation evoked in the original film -- but with its tongue firmly planted in its cheek.

   Murnau, a notorious perfectionist, is played with effective intensity -- to the point of madness -- by John Malkovich. He is, in fact, so intent on making the greatest film ever that he ventures to employ as his vampire an actor by the name of Max Schreck, whom no one in his cast has even heard of -- immediately raising suspicion among them. To further the mystery, Murnau informs the cast and crew that Schreck (the name translates to ''fear'') is so committed to his character, that he will only appear to them in full make-up and costume.


 Willem Dafoe makes for a very convincing vampire in a film based on F.W. Murnau's classic "Nosferatu."Special 

The catch? Schreck (played with blood-chilling creepiness by Willem Dafoe) really is a vampire. So needless to say, he makes for a rather believable character actor, so much so that he scares Murnau's cast into some very convincing performances.

   In real life, little is known about the actor Max Schreck who played the vampire in ''Nosferatu,'' though he was a stage actor known for playing ''fright roles.'' It was this obscurity that inspired ''Shadow's'' director, E. Elias Merhige.

   In Merhige's film, the price Murnau pays for his perfection is a high one. He doesn't entice his vampire with cash -- after all what do vampires need with money anyway? Schreck wants blood, and Murnau promises to present him with Schreck's co-star, the lovely but spoiled film star Greta Schroeder (Catherine McCormack).

   In the meantime, Schreck begins to behave like a spoiled actor himself, making unreasonable requests of Murnau and changing his mind about traveling to other locations for shoots. Schreck also demands additional payment, and sucks the blood of Murnau's cinematographer without permission.

   Furious, Murnau screams at Schreck -- but it's a confrontation that ends with Murnau offering up another member of his crew -- saying that he doesn't necessarily ''need'' his writer any longer. As for Greta, Schreck muses, ''I'll eat her later.''

   Campy scenes such as these are cleverly mingled with tributes to the real Murnau's style of filmmaking. In one, Malkovich-as-Murnau suddenly realizes the truly sinister evil he faces with Schreck. Terror fills his eyes and freezes his body as he slowly backs himself against a dank dungeon wall out of the scene -- mimicking a scene he's just shot for the film with his star, Gustav von Wangerheim (Eddie Izzard), who's reached the same conclusion in the context of the film.

   As further tribute to the real Murnau, Merhige mixes black-and-white footage into ''Shadow'' to give us the effect of the filmmaking process, and even incorporates some of the original 1922 ''Nosferatu'' into the film as well.

   By the time the movie reaches its disturbing closing climax, it's hard not to pull for Schreck, as the petty cast and crew fall to his mercy one by one -- a vengeance that's caught on film in the vigilant camera work of the now-crazed Murnau.

   And if nothing else, the very fact that the audience is enticed into pulling for the bloodsucker himself in the end is testament to ''Shadow of the Vampire's'' success. Merhige has managed to transcend the countless other vampire visitations and take us back in time to the glory days of filmmaking. B


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