Review: Nosferatu the Vampyre

     If you are looking for a good example of gothic film and aren’t afraid of a little blood sucking, then this is the film for you. While it won’t have you hiding under your sheets, you will definitely feel uncomfortable at times. I would recommend this film to students who enjoy studying films and can watch it for cinematic qualities, such as how the director uses dark lighting and a gloomy eerie setting to make his audience uncomfortable.   

     Nosferatu the Vamprye is a suspenseful film that will surely make you pleasantly uncomfortable. While there were parts of the film that are scary and suspenseful, I didn’t find it to fall under the title as strictly a horror film. Nosferatu the Vampyre is more of a Gothic film. In the opening scenes of the movie, the director, Werner Herzog, emphasized a love story between his main characters Jonathan and Lucy. For example, Lucy asks Jonathan to go the beach where they fell in love, and then that location becomes a symbol of their ongoing love though all the hard and interesting times. Lucy will periodically return to that same beach while see is waiting for Jonathan to return and when she is awaiting his recovery. The location of Dracula’s gloomy castle paired with the suspenseful music created an eerie supernatural element. Staying true to more of a Gothic film rather than a strictly horror movie, I never felt that any of the characters were ever in true danger. Herzog used the casualness of his characters’ interactions to create more of an uneasy feeling for the main character Jonathan and less of a horrified state.

     What’s important to consider when watching this movie is the deeper meaning behind the characters. Herzog, instead of focusing on terrifying his audience, focused more on the emotions of the characters including the villain Dracula. Dracula, while truly evil, was actually misunderstood at heart. Herzog uses dialog to portray that Dracula isn’t evil just to be evil, but is actually a miserable creature. He has been living in his lonely castle for centuries and centuries and is unable to die. He has nobody to share emotions with and nobody to love. Herzog’s use of intense emotion such as Dracula’s search for meaningful human existence supports the elements true of a Gothic film.

Submitted by Tim Bouchard '20