Nosferatu The Vampyre review

Werner Herzog's biting classic

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Receiving an extended run as part of the BFI’s Gothic season, Werner Herzog’s 1979 fang-tastic (sorry) film is a chilling remix of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic Nosferatu , at times echoing the latter almost shot-for-shot.

Klaus Kinski is marvellous as the Count, who scents blood when he meets Bruno Ganz’s Jonathan Harker and becomes enamoured by his innocent spouse (Isabelle Adjani).

Madness and death hang over Herzog’s Wagner-scored vision like a black cloud, while Kinski adds much poignancy to Dracula, the lonely immortal.

Freelance writer

James Mottram is a freelance film journalist, author of books that dive deep into films like Die Hard and Tenet, and a regular guest on the Total Film podcast. You'll find his writings on 12DOVE and Total Film, and in newspapers and magazines from across the world like The Times, The Independent, The i, Metro, The National, Marie Claire, and MindFood.