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Shadow of the Vampire

starring: John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Udo Kier, Cary Elwes, Catherine McCormack
directed by: E. Elias Merhige

: Shadow of the Vampire
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780783257877
Format: Anamorphic, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0783257872
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Universal Studios
Region Code: 1
Release Date: May 29, 2001
Running Time: 91 minutes
Sales Rank: 30629
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: January 26, 2001



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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
Clever, engaging, and boosted by the sublime casting of Willem Dafoe as Nosferatu actor Max Schreck, Shadow of the Vampire is a film full of good ideas that are only partially developed. Its premise is ripe with possibilities, but the movie's too slight to register much impact, so you're left to relish its delightful performances and director E. Elias Merhige's affectionately tongue-in-cheek homage to a landmark of German silent cinema. John Malkovich is aptly loony as the eccentric director F.W. Murnau, whose passion in filming the 1922 classic Nosferatu leads to the extreme casting of Schreck as the vampire, a vision of evil who, in this movie's delightfully twisted imagination, actually is a vampire, sucking the blood of cast and crewmembers who've dismissed Schreck as an overzealous method actor.

As these on-set maladies and 'accidents' continue, Schreck wields greater control over Murnau, who descends into a kind of obsessive art-for-art's-sake madness until diva costar Greta Schroeder (Catherine McCormack, doing wonderful work) is served up as the actor's ultimate motivation. Merhige and his actors (including Cary Elwes, as intrepid cameraman Fritz Wagner) have great fun with this ghastly escapade, and the humor is kept delicately subtle to balance the movie's artistic aspirations. To that end, Dafoe is just right, his bald pate and gaunt features a perfect match for the mysterious Schreck, his grimace and talon-like fingers suggesting a human vulture on the prowl. Likewise, the re-creation of Nosferatu's expressionist style is both fanciful and brilliantly authentic. Too bad, then, that this movie suffers a mild case of vampiric anemia; if it shared the depth and richness of, say, Ed Wood, this might have been a cult classic for the ages. --Jeff Shannon



Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Shadow of the vampire
Great twist on the vampyre tale. Dafoe performance is a blend of humor, menance, and lust. All essential ... Read More


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Willem Dafoe at his best
I love this movie. I have the original Nosferatu and Dafoe nails the character. John Malkovich is outstanding ... Read More


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - don't bet on this Bete Noir
Shadow of a Vampire has all the ingredients of a black, black film, but comes off no more than a dark shade of grey. ... Read More


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Nosferatu for real
Willem Dafoe stars as the actor Max Shrek, playing Nosferatu; except he's not an actor he really is a vampire. That is ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - One of my favorite movies--I had to own it!
This movie is thrilling in every way--from the story line, the great actors/actresses, cinematography, etc. Every time ... Read More

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Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.