"High priest of putridity." An absolute mess of a film.
Nosferatu a Venezia, or Vampire in Venice as it's more commonly known as to English speaking audiences, starts with the arrival of Professor Paris Catalano (Christopher Plummer) in the beautiful European city of Venice. Professor Catalano has dedicated his whole life to the study of Nosferatu (do you think that pays well?) who disappeared in Venice during 1786, he has received a letter from Helietta Canins (Barbara De Rossi) who claims that a coffin in her basement contains the body of Nosferatu (Klaus Kinski). Catalano checks it out but disagrees, to try & prove her point (I think) Helietta organises a séance & hires a medium (Clara Colosimo) to try & contact Nosferatu. It turns out Calatano was right & Nosferatu isn't in Helietta's basement but the séance does raise Nosferatu from his 200 year sleep & after consulting with a gypsy (!) Nosferatu heads off in search of those who summoned him. Oh, & to add to the excitement he also has a few nice boat rides down various Venice canal's...This Italian production was written, produced & in part directed by Augusto Caminito & is a loose sequel to Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyr (1979) although the actual connection with that film is nothing more than Kinski reprising his role as Nosferatu & even then he looks completely different in each film. The script by Caminito is a bit on the dull side, takes itself very seriously & is an absolute mess. I would imagine that the various reported production problems were the reason, nothing in the film makes any real sense & things, people, sub-plots & unnecessary flashbacks just come & go with little regard for narrative cohesion. There are a few odd flashbacks, Donald Pleasence's character Don Alvise just rambles on about God for a few scenes before he is completely dropped, why would Professor Catalano spend his entire life studying Nosferatu & when he finally finds him decides to commit suicide, what was in the coffin, why did half it's face glow red & then turn to dust & what the hell are all those gypsies & that woman's magic crystal ball all about? The whole film feels fractured & that various different people with opposing ideas & aims worked on it. Having said that it's watchable & just about strange enough to maintain ones interest plus the ironic ending where Nosferatu who is tired of eternal life & wants to die is hunted by some Vampire hunters who actually kill Helietta instead & since Nosferatu needs the unconditional love of a virgin to die the Vampire hunters have in fact achieved the opposite of what they wanted to do.
Right, now lets get this straight shall we. Apparently producer Caminito hired Maurizio Lucidi as director & he even shot a few scenes but Caminito fired him. Caminito then hired Pasquale Squitieri to write & direct, however his screenplay was apparently too expensive to shoot so he was sacked as well. Caminito then hired a third director Mario Caiano, unfortunately on his first day Kinski got into a 'violent argument' with Caiano & he too left the director's chair. Caminito then decided to just direct the thing himself but had no experience so he was helped by his assistant Luigi Cozzi, but it doesn't end there folks because it is also reported that Kinski shot a fair amount of the film himself. The saying 'too many cooks spoil the broth' comes to mind & I think it's a perfect phrase to describe Nosferatu a Venezia. The film is undoubtedly stylish & has some great scenes but they're lost within the mess of a story. Forget about any gore, a bit of blood & a few people fall on some spiked railings, that's it. There's some nudity as well if that's your thing.
Technically the film is very good with some great costumes, sets & Venice itself makes for an unusual location. It has nice cinematography & music, it's just a shame the film had so many behind-the-camera problems. The acting was OK although am I the only one who thinks Kinski looks terrible in this? He looks like Peter Stringfellow on a bad day!
Nosferatu a Venezia was a disappointment, if the story had been stronger this could have been a decent sequel, as it is it's a curious mess both in front of & behind-the-camera. Could have been so much more, watch Nosferatu the Vampyr again instead.
score 5/10
poolandrews 10 June 2006
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1389944/35527
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