Review of Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) by Roberto U — 18 Dec 2004

A very well made film, with some genuinely creepy moments, but I didn't want to be creeped out...I wanted to be terrified, and I just wasn't.

The performances were all wonderful, and Klaus Kinski put in a great rendition of the vampire, but there was just something about him that didn't quite click.

This sums up my thoughts pretty well:

Klaus Kinski was perfect for the role of Aguirre because of the fact that he was a genuine madman, the same way that Max Schreck was perfect for the role of Nosferatu because he was a genuine vampire (or at least as close as you can come). Kinski just didn't have the right gothic feel for the vampiric role.

I hope to watch the english version (disc 2 of the DVD) within th enext few days to see how it holds up.

I also hope to acquire the original 1922 version of the film on DVD sometime, maybe this holiday.

All in all, this was a very well made film. As I said, there are some genuinely creepy moments, but on the whole it wasn't particularly frightening. The locations used were wonderful, and the acting - particularly that of the man who played Jonathan Harker - was very good. But I just wasn't terrified the way I wanted to be, or should I say, expected to be.