Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Nosferatu The Vampyre

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    Horace Cordier
    Senior Member

  • Nosferatu The Vampyre (Shout! Factory)



    Released by: Shout! Factory
    Released on: May 20th, 2014.
    Director: Werner Herzog
    Cast: Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, Bruno Ganz
    Year: 1979
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Movie:

    In 1979 iconic German director Werner Herzog (AGUIRRE THE WRATH OF GOD, FITZCARRALDO, GRIZZLY MAN) took a crack at another iconic German master. He undertook a remake (or more accurately reinterpretation) of F.W. Murnau's silent masterpiece NOSFERATU from 1922. Of course the irony was that NOSFERATU in its original scripted form was simply created as a workaround to avoid the legal entanglements of the Bram Stoker estate. The Nosferatu story really is simply the Dracula tale under a pseudonym.

    While Hammer Films' 1958 version truncated the tale (Renfield simply disappears for one thing) and other versions have taken other liberties Herzog's take has most of the novel's key ingredients. Mina Harker may be gone but Renfield and Van Helsing are present and accounted for. Dracula is here as Klaus Kinski in excellent form, brilliant Swiss actor Bruno Ganz (DOWNFALL) is a sympathetic Jonathan Harker and Lucy has never been lovelier than Isabelle Adjani.

    Since the Dracula plot line is so well known it makes little sense to go over it again. What makes this version the most effective Dracula for many is the brilliant gothic sensibility that Herzog brings to it. Always an amazing talent with imagery, Herzog delivers some unforgettable sequences here. The ship full of rats. Kinski's Count, in shadow, approaching an unaware Lucy. Even the shots of canals and castles - often in longer range - are carefully and deliberately placed. Herzog also does fascinating things with actors in dialog scenes. Emotional moments are shot from the side or even the back. Sometimes the camera pulls away when most directors would pull in. As he explains on one of the film's two excellent commentary tracks, Herzog is interested in having the audience invest emotionally in the film - not having the actors do the job for them.

    The acting is of a uniformly high standard but it is Kinski's Count Dracula that stands out. Unlike Christopher Lee's handsome version or Bela Lugosi's broad Eastern European charmer, Kinski is a variation on Max Schreck's repulsive rat like creation in F.W. Murnau's original silent film. He's physically hideous (thanks to a first rate makeup job) but also imbued with the weird romantic aura that evokes Jack Palance's doomed romantic antihero in the Dan Curtis version. Kinski was always larger than life but here he disappears completely into the role and manages to avoid the bug eyed histrionics of some of his lesser performances. Adjani also makes a huge impression with her gorgeous appearance and virginal aura. She's the ultimate fragile flower in danger. When Dracula becomes obsessed with her we truly fear for the woman.

    Shout Factory! have also provided both cuts of the film - English and German (with English subtitles). The majority of the actors spoke in both languages so Herzog had the cast do different dialog takes. Both versions of the film are worth seeing as there are differences in the two cuts.

    The pacing of Herzog's NOSFERATU is deliberately slow and it has very little in the way of explicit violence or sexuality. This doesn't mean it isn't frightening though. On the contrary, the careful use of mood and tone work magnificently here. The sequences with the rats are genuinely terrifying and Kinski's Count (while bizarrely sympathetic) is a true nightmare vision. Herzog's NOSFERATU is one of the great horror films.

    Video/Audio/Extras:

    NOSFERATU currently has two recent editions. The one here for the USA market is provided by Shout! Factory. Concurrently, the BFI in Great Britain have also released a version. If you check the following link you can see a screenshot comparison. Essentially, the deficiencies in the USA transfer can be ascribed to the sometimes over zealous application of DNR. Pores often disappear in closeup. Waxy faces and unnatural skin tone make appearances. The British transfer seems superior due to not using digital correction or sharpening tools. While Shout!'s transfer isn't disastrous be aware that especially on larger screen sizes, these issues will manifestly effect fine image detail. These issues exist in both cuts.

    Otherwise, the 1080p AVC encoded 1.85.1 image has solid color reproduction and image stability. Contrast is free from boosting or other messing about and the print itself is virtually free from white spots, specks, hairs in the frame gate or obvious damage.

    Audio consists of two German tracks (DTS-HD 2.0 and DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio) and one English (a lone DTS-HD 2.0 track). I'm not a particular fan of the German surround mix as it's timid enough to make little difference. As an audio purist for the most part I prefer the original mixes in lossless. Overall sound field presence is good on all three tracks with dialog clear and music solidly presented. Range is limited by the period in which it was recorded but it all sounds just fine and is free of distortion, hissing or any audible anomalies.

    The most important extras are the two Herzog commentary tracks - one in English and the other in German with English subtitles. Both tracks are essential listening for both fans of the film and Herzog in general. Herzog has always been an excellent and engaging interview and on these commentary tracks he is at his very best. It's a terrific mix of personal anecdotes and specific information about the making of the film. There is some information overlap between the German and English tracks but enough differences to make both well worth the listen. Who knew Herzog had spent time in a rodeo?

    There is also a short vintage making of piece worth seeing for the glimpses of the actors in costume on the set of film. Herzog himself also makes an appearance here. The set is topped off with two trailers and a still gallery.

    The Final Word:

    A masterpiece of deliberate gothic horror and one of the finest adaptations of Stoker's classic source material it's impossible not to recommend NOSFERATU. It's a shame that Shout! couldn't have delivered a less visually compromised transfer however. It's also worth keeping in mind that your mileage may vary on these issues in relation to screen size.


    Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!

    German Version:





















    English Version






















    • Mark Tolch
      #1
      Mark Tolch
      Senior Member
      Mark Tolch commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks for the review. I think that I'll hold off until I'm region free and go for the BFI version.
    Posting comments is disabled.

Latest Articles

Collapse

  • Hot Spur (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Severin Films
    Released on: April 30th, 2024.
    Director: Lee Frost
    Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
    Year: 1969
    Purchase From Amazon

    Hot Spur – Movie Review:

    Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but
    ...
    03-22-2024, 11:53 AM
  • Death Squad (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Mondo Macabro
    Released on: April 9th, 2024.
    Director: Max Pecas
    Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
    Year: 1985
    Purchase From Amazon

    Death Squad – Movie Review:

    Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual
    ...
    03-22-2024, 11:46 AM
  • Roommates (Quality X) Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Quality X
    Released on: February 28th, 2024.
    Director: Chuck Vincent
    Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
    Year: 1982
    Purchase From Amazon

    Roommates – Movie Review:

    Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),
    ...
    03-15-2024, 01:10 PM
  • Night Of The Blood Monster (Blue Underground) UHD/Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Blue Underground
    Released on: March 26th, 2024.
    Director: Jess Franco
    Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
    Year: 1970
    Purchase From Amazon

    Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:

    Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it
    ...
    03-15-2024, 01:07 PM
  • Phase IV (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
    Released on: March 26th, 2024.
    Director: Saul Bass
    Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
    Year: 1974
    Purchase From Amazon

    Phase IV – Movie Review:

    Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and
    ...
    03-15-2024, 01:02 PM
  • The Bounty Hunter Trilogy (Radiance Films) Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Radiance Films
    Released on: March 26th, 2024.
    Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
    Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
    Year: 1969-1972
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:

    Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this
    ...
    03-13-2024, 11:30 AM
Working...
X