Making a vampire movie in Hollywood is pretty cliche. If you want to make a Dracula movie, the results are beginning to get harder and harder to make unique (see the lackluster reception for DRACULA UNTOLD last year). So, if you want to try and tell a distinct story inspired by Bram Stoker‘s classic character, you would be hard pressed to find an original idea. So, why not remake the most unusual version of the story, NOSFERATU?
Director Robert Eggers, who won the directing prize at Sundance for THE WITCH, is tackling a remake of F.W. Murnau’s silent classic, NOSFERATU, for Studio 8. The production company is best known for the indies BEGINNERS and AIN’T THEM BODIES SAINTS. There is no word on how direct of a remake this version of the story will be but the untitled film is described as a visceral adaptation.
NOSFERATU has been remade previously by Werner Herzog with Klaus Kinski in the lead as well as a “true story” version titled SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE with Willem Dafoe as NOSFERATU actor Max Shrek and John Malkovich as Murnau. The striking make-up design of Shrek’s Count Orlof has inspired numerous vampire characters, especially Stephen King‘s creature in SALEM’S LOT. Seeing as Murnau could not get the rights to Stoker’s novel and had to change the names of the characters means NOSFERATU is pretty close to the Dracula novel, so I am not sure how different this will be.
I have always loved NOSFERATU and while Herzog’s remake was pretty good, I am just not sure if this take is worth the time of day. Still, I am curious how this will turn out.