NEWS

29 Jan 2001

E. Elias Merhige's Shadow of the Vampire is a dramatic recreation of an early film version of Dracula filmed in 1922, and dramatises the conjecture that filming becomes enveloped by the myth it seeks to exploit.

Murnau's film Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922) created a spell which has infused all later considerations of the vampire in popular culture, and especially the Dracula mythos. This post-modern reinterpretation of the film's creation promises to bring a new attention to the earthy original interpretation of Stoker's Dracula and Werner Herzog's remake with Klaus Kinski as the demon count (Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979).

Shadow of the Vampire stars John Malkovich and Willem Defoe, and is produced by Nicolas Cage and Jeff Levine. The film premieres in the UK on 4 February 2001.

Official website: Click Here

Photoplay's acclaimed 1997 restoration of Nosferatu, which of course features a new score by Hammer stalwart James Bernard, is being released on DVD and VHS by the British Film Institute this spring.

James Bernard Interview: Click Here