Nosferatu Phantom Der Nacht Film Review

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Directed by Werner Herzog, and starring Klaus Kinski and Bruno Ganz, this German horror film from 1979 is also known as Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht ("Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night") and is based on Bram Stokers book Dracula. It is available in the original German language and English.

Set mainly in Wismar and Transylvania, the film is considered a remake of the 1922 film Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens, which stars Max Schreck as Count Orlock. Jonathan Harker ( Ganz ) is sent to Transylvania by his boss, Renfield ( who is maniacally played by Roland Topor ) to complete the sale of property with Count Dracula. Leaving his wife Lucy, he arrives in Transylvania, only to be received by locals who are highly suspicious of The Count and plead with him to not visit the castle. On arrival at the castle, Jonathan is met by a grim, sinister looking Dracula.

The deal is completed after Dracula becomes entranced by a picture of Lucy. Jonathan is plagued by nightmarish dreams in which he encounters Dracula and, after discovering him in his coffin, injures himself trying to escape.

Dracula heads to Wismar by boat, killing the crew. Death visits the town too and Lucy distracts Dracula at dawn by offering him her blood. Dawn, and with it the su, kills the Count.

Nosferatu The Vampyre is a grim, and in places bleak film. The scenes in Wismar after Draclua's arrival, infested with rats and the townspeople thinking it's The Plague, are particularly unsettling. Klaus Kinski's feral performance as Dracula is sublime. He portrays The Count as not only a vicious killer but of an individual who is trapped by his immortality. His need for love is ultimately his undoing.

Overall I think it's the perfect reimagining of what Max Schreck's Nosferatu could have been and is arguably the best version of Dracula on celluloid.

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