This is a review of Nosferatu The Vampyre (1979), directed by Werner Herzog and starring Klaus Kinski and Isabelle Adjani. I rewatched this movie to see how it compared to the newest version of Nosferatu, now in theaters, but that’s another post. The plot: Jonathan Harker leaves his wife Lucy, traveling from Wismar, Germany to Transylvania to consummate a real estate deal with an eccentric count. Beforehand, he stops at the local inn, where in time-honored fashion the locals beseech him not to go.
Spoiler: Harker goes. He walks to Borgo Pass, where a buggy with black horses takes him to the castle, which is a ruin. He’s met by Count Dracula himself, played by noted thespian and homicidal maniac Klaus Kinksi. Mr. Kinski is grotesque. He can pass for human – barely. His features are rodentlike, including a pair of jutting incisors. It’s a wonderful makeup job. The good Count only appears at night, speaks in a low voice, and seems depressed. Who wouldn’t be depressed, living in a shitty old castle for hundreds of years?
After signing the contract, Dracula leaves Harker behind and travels to Wismar by ship, bringing rats, stormy weather, and the plague. Harker manages to escape, but part of him dies on the journey home. When he exits Dracula’s castle he is still human, but he loses his humanity on the journey back. The man is gone, replaced by something else.
Dracula arrives in Wismar. The plague hits. The action shifts from Harker to his wife, Lucy. Dracula wants Lucy, but gives her agency. By agency, I mean he doesn’t just take her when she rejects him. The choice is hers. This is one of the more interesting parts of the movie. Does Dracula leave her be because of an obscure vampire rule? He has taken hundreds of men, women, and children against their will. What makes Lucy different? I will be honest with you, reader. I have no idea.
The plague worsens. The Count’s coming brings death and mayhem, and he can’t even bring himself to care. He’s dead, after all. The living do care. There is a scene towards the end, when Lucy walks amongst the revelers celebrating their last supper after the plague has ravaged the city. You can tell what she’s thinking: this can’t go on. Will goodness triumph, or will darkness cover all? Since this is a Werner Herzog movie, who knows?
Nosferatu might not move quickly enough for people, especially horror fans. It’s slow and brooding. The scenery is wonderful, lots of forests, canals, mountains, and old, decrepit castles. This is a monster movie that seems real. It has focus, and part of that is because of the level of detail. People have argued that the scenes inside Dracula’s castle are dreamlike, but I disagree. When Harker awakens after his night with the count, he finds the breakfast table crowded with food, including an unplucked chicken.
The problem is that reality is awful. Nobody knows this more than the Count, who I would argue is looking for an excuse to die. By not taking Lucy, he gives her the means to end his existence – if she has the belly for it. Spoiler: she does.
Recommended!
Abandoned Places 