Year: 1979
Country: West Germany
Subgenre: Vampires
Runtime: 107 minutes (German version)/96 minutes (original English version)
Director: Werner Herzog
As of the writing of this, Herzog is the only director to release a remake, or reimagining, of Murnau's 1922 silent ghoulish spectral (BUT Robert Eggers Nosferatu is currently in post-production and is ostensibly due to be released next year, though no release date has yet been set); though the look of the vampire was borrowed by Tobe Hooper for his version of 'Salem's Lot'--also from 1979. I started out loving Herzog's German work with this, completely and totally ignorant of the English version until sometime around 2004/2005. We had a double sided DVD of the film and being kind of snobby about "dubs" just never bothered with the English side of the disc. BOY, how stupid! Both of us have a passing understanding of German (well, truthfully, the husband understands it, I just pick up bits from here and there), which probably contributed to our not watching the English version sooner. One October, when I had a ton of kitchen work to do, we decided go with the "English dub" over the subtitles. Oh, boy...first of all it's not a dub and secondly it's a whole other movie. I had not been aware that Herzog was running two separate productions of the film side by side, which makes the scenes different (in some cases significantly different) from each other. In this regard, it reminds me of the production of the original Dracula. During the day Tod Browning and his crew did their thing, then overnight George Melford and his merry band came in to film "Spanish Dracula," released as Drácula, on the same set. So again, this is a viewing recommendation. Try a double feature of the two versions, it's a really interesting experience. I don't need to get into the merits of the film, as Herzog is regarded as one of the best post-war directors to come out of Germany. I know that Kinski is seriously controversial; and his performance is likewise eccentric--but somehow his pathetic take on the role works, even though it really shouldn't. No one needs to recommend Isabelle Adjani or Bruno Ganz; their acting reputations certainly precede them! I also know that there have since been accusations of animal cruelty during the production, which I admit, has dulled my love of the films. It's not that I watch either one of them often anyway--it's best taken in smaller doses. But October does bring out the itch to give it go. The whole is just too visually stunning not to indulge in, and it does feel like an indulgence.
