Shadow of the Vampire

Reviewed by Ken Hanke on

Movie Information

The Asheville Film Society will screen Shadow of the Vampire Tuesday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m. in the Cinema Lounge of The Carolina Asheville. Hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther. Hanke is the artistic director of the Asheville Film Society.
Score:

Genre: Fact-Based Horror
Director: E. Elias Merhige (Suspect Zero)
Starring: John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Udo Kier, Cary Elwes, Catherine McCormack, Eddie Izzard
Rated: R

Timed to follow the Thursday Horror Picture Show screening of Nosferatu (1922), the Asheville Film Society is showing E. Elias Merhige’s Shadow of the Vampire (2001), a film that offers a very fantasticated story about Murnau (John Malkovich) making Nosferatu. The film has long held a special place for me because it was the first new release I reviewed for the Xpress to earn a full five stars—a rating I see no reason to change. The film is an imagining—that ultimately abandons any sense of reality—of Murnau making the film so chilling by casting a real vampire (Willem Dafoe) in the lead. Surprisingly funny and occasionally even a little moving, the film brilliantly blends fact, fantasy and even a sense of the actual Nosferatu within the confines of its stylish shaggy vampire story.

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About Ken Hanke
Head film critic for Mountain Xpress from December 2000 until his death in June 2016. Author of books "Ken Russell's Films," "Charlie Chan at the Movies," "A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series," "Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker."
View all posts by Ken Hanke →

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4 thoughts on “Shadow of the Vampire”

  1. DrSerizawa

    It’s especially worth seeing for the “bat” scene. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you see it.

  2. Ken Hanke

    I’m just hoping we don’t have a lot of horror movie resistant regulars avoid the film because of its horror movie elements. It’s much more than a horror show.

  3. DrSerizawa

    It’s much more than a horror show.

    Oh yes. IMO it’s far more about obessions. Horror is just the vehicle. I was as enthralled with Dafoe’s Schreck as I was with Landau’s Lugosi. Great performances from actors whom I never expected such quality from. And Malkovich is at his best before he became so annoying. It’s definitely a movie for those who don’t usually watch horror.

  4. kjh.childers

    Me only cruel immortality consumes,
    I wither slowly in thine arms,
    Here at the quiet limit of the world.

    This film’s eerie soundtrack, the opening close up of strange images, and most of all, z German accents with brief words auf Deutsch come together into something as unique and fresh in this media as one could possibly find. And, Fritz is a hoot!

    All I need is to sleep in darkness.
    Coldly thy rosy shadows bathe me,
    cold are all thy lights!

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