Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre is essentially a homage to F.W Mumau’s 1922 classic of expressionist cinema – Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (“Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night”).
Visually it is spectacular and music from Popol Vuh and Wagner and the presence of a few hundred rats help to create a creepy atmosphere. Herzog’s intention was to recreate the scary strangeness of the original but what he ended up making was one of the most unintentionally hilarious horror movies of all time.
When I first saw it in 1979, I came out of the cinema aching from having laughed so much.
Watching it again on DVD wasn’t quite as funny but there are still plenty of reasons why it is impossible to take seriously.
For example, when estate agent Jonathan Harker (Bruno Ganz) arrives in Transylvania, he takes refreshment at a local inn. He announces his intention to visit Count Dracula’s castle whereupon the waitress drops a bottle of wine and all the clientele stop talking and stare in horror. The owner of the inn says, somewhat superfluously, that he would advise against this trip! Continue reading
