The incredible Count Kinski ...

parry_na

The star of the show here is the location. Venice lends itself beautifully to the mythos of Nosferatu. The slow build of characters and their motivations are secondary to the flaking, ornate, weather-ruined architectural magnificence around them. Chill sunlight shining through red curtains onto gleaming marble floors; the vampire chasing a hapless victim through crumbling streets; elegant silhouettes of Nosferatu on the water; beautiful dawn shots of Venice in all its haunting, craggy glory - all these things (and more) ensure this is a visual tour-de-force.

This was a troubled production, with central actor and powerhouse Klaus Kinski allegedly causing many of the crew to resign due to his behaviour; Kinski also declined to repeat the make-up process used in the original Nosferatu; not many actors could pull of a shock of long white hair, but Kinski not only pulls off the look, but appears engagingly menacing too. His vampire is not only a seducer, but a sexually charged one - and again, not many 62 year old men who could get away with that. When viewed in semi-darkness, with his darkened eyes and mouth, he exudes a truly unnerving skull-like appearance. Kinski was, for all his wayward behaviour, a tremendous actor.

Christopher Plummer stars as an ineffective Van Helsing type (Professor Paris Catalano), despite a terrific performance. When he and Nosferatu meet, the vampire barely even acknowledges him or his prayers. Donald Pleasance is wonderful too, as the cowardly Don Alvise, despite being given very little to do.

The production is not fluid. Some scenes drag on too long and some are abruptly cut and don't always appear to flow smoothly. The slower scenes are a lot more successful than when the story needs to take hold with any kind of urgency, and we are left wondering what happened at the end to key characters. At the close, Nosferatu has assumed the role of the tragic succubus. The last view we have of him disappearing into the mist, cradling the naked corpse of his would-be benefactor, is not the swansong of a monster, more of a haunted lost soul. This change in character from the alien, lizard-like creature from the original is a shift in tone certainly, but an interesting and successful one. If only more films were made featuring this extraordinary monster.

score 9/10

parry_na 18 January 2016

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3397686/