USA: "SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE" TAKES A FICTIONALIZED LOOK AT THE MAKING OF THE CLASSIC HORROR FILM, "NOSFERATU".

Record ID: 390546

  • Title: USA: "SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE" TAKES A FICTIONALIZED LOOK AT THE MAKING OF THE CLASSIC HORROR FILM, "NOSFERATU".
  • Date: 15th December 2000
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 15, 2000) (REUTERS) CU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) "VAMPIRE" DIRECTOR ELIAS MERHIGE SAYING "It's a lot of history. It's a lot of new mythology borne around the deconstruction of the original making of "Nosferatu." And, it's also a lot of imagination. And, it's meant to be playful in that way. I'm not at all pretending to be maki
  • Embargoed: 30th December 2000 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2G8KQGWYN0ZGCJA9A8UME31KI
  • Story Text: "Shadow of the Vampire" takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the making of one of the world's first horror films and the men behind it.
    Willem Dafoe and John Malkovich headline actor-turned-producer Nicholas Cage's film investigating rumours that Max Shrek, star of the 1922 film "Nosferatu,"
    really was a vampire.
    In 1922, German director F.W. Murnau directed the silent film "Nosferatu" and thus began Hollywood's fascination with the vampire.
    Considered by many as consumed by his art form and trying to make the ultimate "reality" film, "Shadow of the Vampire"
    asks the question, what if Murnau, portrayed by Oscar nominee John Malkovich, had hired a real vampire to make "Nosferatu"? Director Elias Merhige helmed the picture and thinks "Nosferatu" and Hollywood's fascination with the supernatural are perfect fodder for a film about the passions and eccentricities of filmmakers throughout history.
    " I am interested in making sort of a poetic allegory that deals with the issues of early cinema, early filmmaking and the pioneering spirit and enthusiasm that these guys had and the fact that they were the pioneers creating the grammar and the foundations that we're working from today."
    Willem Dafoe stars as Max Shrek, who starred as Count Orlock in "Nosferatu." In "Shadow of the Vampire," Shrek is portrayed as the ultimate method actor, one who not only thinks he's a bloodsucker, but is in fact undead.
    For Dafoe, the research he did for the role hardly prepared him for what was in store when he first donned the vampire's fangs.
    "Very little could be done until I got in the make-up and the costume," said Dafoe. "The work really began when I got in the make-up. That was the magical part of doing the role because I knew instinctively that that would be everything.
    That would be the key to the character."
    The film is the first released by Oscar winner Nic Cage's Saturn Films. Cage says the subject matter, the independent feel of the project and his own dark interests made "Shadow of the Vampire" the right vehicle to launch his company.
    " I think it really is perfect because I want Saturn Films to make movies that are original, that perhaps the studios would be afraid to make because they don't want to take a chance on the more daring screenplays. That's not what we're about. "
    "Shadow of the Vampire" is currently on screens across North America.
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