AUG 2 · FILMS TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE
Shadow of the Vampire
A film by E. Elias Merhige
w/ John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Udo Kier
Rated R
1hr 35min
F. W. Murnau (John Malkovich) is struggling to create his silent classic "Nosferatu" on location in Eastern Europe. The director is obsessed with making this the most authentic vampire movie ever. To that end, Murnau has employed a real vampire, Max Schreck (Willem Dafoe), explaining to the crew that he is the ultimate of that new breed, the "method actor" -- trained by Stanislavsky himself. Schreck will appear only in character and only at night.
Wholly absorbing and inspired in parts, this carefully crafted curio dares to suggest that Murnau made a Faustian pact with an actual vampire to play the title role in exchange for the neck of the film's leading lady at production's end.
Todd McCarthy
Variety
AUG 2 · FILMS TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE
Shadow of the Vampire
A film by E. Elias Merhige
w/ John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Udo Kier
Rated R
1hr 35min
F. W. Murnau (John Malkovich) is struggling to create his silent classic "Nosferatu" on location in Eastern Europe. The director is obsessed with making this the most authentic vampire movie ever. To that end, Murnau has employed a real vampire, Max Schreck (Willem Dafoe), explaining to the crew that he is the ultimate of that new breed, the "method actor" -- trained by Stanislavsky himself. Schreck will appear only in character and only at night.
Wholly absorbing and inspired in parts, this carefully crafted curio dares to suggest that Murnau made a Faustian pact with an actual vampire to play the title role in exchange for the neck of the film's leading lady at production's end.
Todd McCarthy
Variety
