Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (Nosferatu the Vampyre) (1979)
Average Rating: 7.7/10
Reviews Counted: 36
Fresh: 34 | Rotten: 2
Stunning visuals from Werner Herzog and an intense portrayal of the famed bloodsucker from Klaus Kinski make this remake of Nosferatu a horror classic in its own right.
Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 7
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 1
Stunning visuals from Werner Herzog and an intense portrayal of the famed bloodsucker from Klaus Kinski make this remake of Nosferatu a horror classic in its own right.
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Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 19,914
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Movie Info
For Werner Herzog's 1979 remake of F.W. Murnau's classic 1922 silent horror-fest Nosferatu, star Klaus Kinski adopts the same makeup style used by Murnau's leading man Max Schreck. Yet in the Herzog version, the crucial difference is that Nosferatu becomes more and more decayed and desiccated as the film progresses. Essentially a retelling of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Nosferatu the Vampyre traces the blood-sucking progress of the count as he takes over a small German village, then attempts to
Jan 17, 1979 Wide
Feb 16, 1999
20th Century Fox
Cast
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Klaus Kinski
Count Dracula -
Isabelle Adjani
Lucy Harker -
Bruno Ganz
Jonathan Harker -
Jacques Dufilho
Captain -
Roland Topor
Renfield -
Walter Ladengast
Dr. Van Helsing -
Carsten Bodinus
Schrader -
Rijk de Gooyer
Town Official -
Martje Grohmann
Mina -
Jan Groth
Harbormaster -
Dan van Husen
Warden -
Clemens Scheitz
Town Employee -
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All Critics (36) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (38) | Rotten (2) | DVD (16)
To say of someone that they were born to play a vampire is a strange compliment, but if you will compare the two versions of Nosferatu you might agree with me that only Kinski could have equaled or rivaled Max Schreck's performance.
You can love this movie without having to admit it's merely an okay version of Dracula.
Between the hordes of stowaway rats that accompany Dracula's arrival, and a town-plaza dance of folly by doomed survivors (a Herzog addition), it's like being present at the birth of a medieval legend.
The acting is too eccentric and the narrative drive too weak to satisfy fans of the genre, but Herzog's admirers will find much in the film's animistic landscapes and clusters of visionary imagery.
Fascinating, but flawed.
Top CriticIt's funny without being silly, eerie without being foolish and uncommonly beautiful in a way that has nothing to do with mere prettiness.
The Dracula make-up is a homage to Max Schreck's Count Orlock, but Werner Herzog's 1979 effort owes little else to FW Murnau's silent classic.
Herzog tears down as much as he revives in this beguiling incantation of silent cinema
Replaces unnerving gore with an eerie, erotic beauty.
Werner Herzog's 1979 homage to F.W. Murnau's 1922 silent film is an appropriately chilling telling of the Gothic tale filled with delightfully scary touches and recreated camera angles from Murnau's original.
Sometimes dismissed for being too slowly paced and too slavish to its source, it is in fact superior to the original.
A serious-minded, true-in-spirit redux.
It is a simple and well-known story but sadly this version overcomplicates it to its detriment.
Sumptuous yet earthy, philosophical yet humorous, it's a masterpiece in its own right.
A competent, atmospheric remake, but, considering the quality of Murnau's masterwork, is it necessary?
Herzog and Kinski succeed here because they convey a sense of pity for a creature so visually repulsive it's hard to look at him.
The film's reason for being (it's a shrine to Herzog's favourite German director) is also the end of the conversation.
Audience Reviews for Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (Nosferatu the Vampyre)
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Super Reviewer
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- Jonathan Harker: Ready my horse, I have much to do.
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Foreign Titles
- Nosferatu (DE)
- Nosferatu the Vampyre (UK)
Now that I am actually a fan of Herzog, and know things about him I can appreciate this even more. But, looking at it from just my original perspective, this is a very impressive, spellbinding, and masterful horror film.
It's a remake of the Murnau classic, and it takes even more liberties with the original source material than Murnau did, but this is nevertheless a wonderful vampire movie. It's hands down one of the top 5 creepiest and unnerving films I've ever seen. The atmosphere, mood, and tone are hauntingly unnerving, and I've never been so filled with dread during an opening credits sequence like I am with this one.
Kinski as Dracula is one of the scariest things ever. He's ugly, creepy, and, despite being more restrained than usual, is quite memorable as a chilling bloodsucker. Isabelle Adjani is the epitome of seductive, pale, gothic beauties, and she