Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

Count Dracula moves from Transylvania to Wismar, spreading the Black Plague across the land. Only a woman pure of heart can bring an end to his reign of horror.

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writer:

Werner Herzog

Stars:

Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, Bruno Ganz

5 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Klaus Kinski	...	Count Dracula
Isabelle Adjani	...	Lucy Harker
Bruno Ganz	...	Jonathan Harker
Roland Topor	...	Renfield
Walter Ladengast	...	Dr. Van Helsing
Dan van Husen	...	Warden
Jan Groth	...	Harbormaster
Carsten Bodinus	...	Schrader
Martje Grohmann	...	Mina
Rijk de Gooyer	...	Town official (as Ryk de Gooyer)
Clemens Scheitz	...	Clerk
Lo van Hensbergen	...	Harbormaster's Assistent
John Leddy	...	Coachman
Margiet van Hartingsveld	...	Vrouw
Tim Beekman	...	Coffinbearer

Storyline

Jonathan Harker is sent away to Count Dracula's castle to sell him a house in Wismar where Jonathan lives. But Count Dracula is a vampire, an undead ghoul living off of men's blood. Inspired by a photograph of Lucy Harker, Jonathan's wife, Dracula moves to Wismar, bringing with him death and plague... An unusually contemplative version of Dracula, in which the vampire bears the curse of not being able to get old and die.

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Plot Keywords:

vampire | plague | transylvania | rat | melancholy | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

West Germany France

Language:

German English Romany

Release Date:

17 January 1979 (France)

Also Known As:

Nosferatu the Vampyre

Filming Locations:

Tatra Mountains, Slovakia

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,190,818

Company Credits

Production Co:

Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, Gaumont, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min 96 min (theatrical)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film implies on several occasions that Dracula's castle exists in type of shadow dream world and it is in this reality which Harker finds himself at the beginning of the film. This is implied by statements from the gypsies that Dracula's castle is in fact merely a crumbling ruin with these ruins seen while the sun is setting, although Harker finds himself in a fully intact castle. Harker himself even notes that the castle "doesn't seem real" and is haunted by the image of a violin playing boy who is suggested to be either a phantom or ghost.

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Goofs

When Harker rides his horse to the Count's town, his horse has a white bandage on its left front leg that appears and disappears repeatedly from one shot to the next. Although the journey to the town took 4 weeks to complete, it is highly unlikely that the horse would get injured, heal, and then get injured in the same spot again. Apparently two different horses were used.

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Quotes

Count Dracula: [subtitled version] Time is an abyss...

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Alternate Versions

There is an English-language version which was dubbed, and is about 90 seconds shorter than the original German-language version. Some alternate takes were used, and written language appears in the correct language for that region.

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Connections

Version of Horror of Dracula (1958)

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Soundtracks

Brothers of Darkness, Sons Of Light
(uncredited)
(Featured in German and American film Versions)
(main theme)
Written by Florian Fricke
Performed by Popol Vuh
Courtesy of Celestial Harmonies Records

User Reviews

A work of art in motion

If anybody ever founds a Vampire Museum (and who knows, somebody somewhere probably already has), it would be unjust to devote anything less than a wing to Werner Herzog's "Nosferatu," one of the most stunningly beautiful 'horror' films I've ever seen. While I place 'horror' in quotes, it is not because of a default urge to pigeonhole something into a genre to which it barely qualifies--no, it's because "Nosferatu" is like watching an exquisite painting magically put in motion. There is fear and eerie atmosphere aplenty (much of which is provided by a recurring classical music cue), mixed with a rat fixation that becomes oddly symbolic. Unlike F.W. Murnau's 1922 version, this 1979 remake is as much about the existential despair of the undead condition rather than simply the plight of a blood-sucking vampire; while many scenes are recreated shot-for-shot, Herzog is no plagiarist, and actually improves on many of the technical shortcomings that hindered Murnau's film decades before ('night' no longer looks like mid-day, for instance). The film's supernatural love triangle remains intact, and again hinges on Lucy Harker (Isabelle Adjani), who steals the movie from the none-too-modest talents of Klaus Kinski (Count Dracula) and Bruno Ganz (Jonathan Harker). While some may find it slow and ponderous, this "Nosferatu" is one of the best vampire films ever made (besting even Murnau's version), a moody character piece with visual ingenuity to spare.