Dracula has been in the entertainment world lately. There was the disappointment that was “Renfield” where Nicolas Cage played the character followed by equally disappointing “The Last Voyage of the Demeter.” Then there was “Nosferatu” where Bill Skasgard played him with a Sam Elliott mustache. And now Caleb Landry Jones is playing him.
Other actors such as Gary Oldman, Frank Langella, Jack Palance and the two icons (Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee) brought him into the minds of millions who’ve never read Bram Stoker’s novel. And for good reason, it is because it’s not as interesting as the movie versions. Like a lot of novels written in the 19th Century, it’s not a full prose novel. It’s a combination of journal entries and letters and even captain’s log of the “Demeter.”
Stoker died in 1912 but his estate kept the rights of the novel from being adapted into a movie. So German director F.W. Murnau, changed some things and Count Dracula became Count Orlock, played by the Max Schreck with a very distinct ghoulish look through make-up with a cold creepy gaze and Schreck’s own body language.
Despite the changes, Stoker’s widow, Florence, successfully sued for copyright infringement and the courts ordered the film prints destroyed.
Yet, some prints were preserved which is good considering many movies and shorts of the silent film era during this time are considered lost as preservation wasn’t taken as seriously.
Count Orlock’s features would later be used for Barlow in Tobe Hooper’s miniseries adaptation of “‘Salem’s Lot.” At the same time Werner Herzog did a remake of the 1922 movie with Klaus Kinski now called Dracula. I’m also sure Mr. Burns from “The Simpsons” was inspired by Schreck. And the movie had an influence on Francis Ford Coppola’s more faithful adaptation “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.”
So a movie like “Shadow of the Vampire” plays as a fictional retelling of the production of the 1922 movie in which John Malkovich plays Murnau as a megalomaniac filmmaker who hires Schreck who is actually a real vampire. It’s a gimmick that wouldn’t last long if it wasn’t for Willem Dafoe’s wonderful performance.
The movie premise is based on an urban legend that Schreck himself was a real vampire. Schreck agrees to be in the movie if he can feed on actress Gretta Schroder played by Catherine McCormick. Of course, Schreck can’t control his urges and begins to kill and feed on the other crew members.
If there is one actor who was born to play a vampire, it’s Dafoe. Just like Kinski and the real Schreck himself, he has a look that just seems to radiate this intensity and grotesqueness you’d expect in an undead creature. It shows you the versatility of Dafoe.
Originally, Cage had considered playing the role as he helped produce it. To be honest, Cage would be wrong in the role. Dafoe has the right playfulness and menace to really sell the role.
Dafoe was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
It’s not a perfect movie but it is well made held together by Dafoe.
Zane Says 