Nosferatu The Vampyre

Slightly redundant title but that's about as bad as it gets here.

I'm about to say some controversial shit. I like this better than the original, now that's coming from someone who loves the original Nosferatu and has great respect along with vast appreciation for silent cinema, and indeed it's easy with more modern film techniques and different actors for something to be improved upon. But even I was kinda shocked how much I loved this movie! Obviously it takes after the silent film more than the novel Dracula so the plot differs little while still doing it's own thing, and I feel Werner Herzog did a resoundingly succesful job directing this movie! Taking a very naturalist approach with tons of location shooting, handheld camera sequences, and doing everything in camera with little to no post production trickery. The crown jewel of this movie for me is Jonathan's trek to the Carpathian mountains, the music, the so good I'm honestly pissed scenery, the atmosphere and buildup getting to Dracula's castle is nothing but 10/10 for my money's worth! And that is already on top of a stellar film, it never got dull for a second and I was quickly engrossed, Robert you got a high bar to surpass come tomorrow my friend. The cast fully sealed the deal for me on this one, I haven't seen that many Werner Herzog films but I've been around the block enough to know his rocky ass relationship with Klaus Kinski who is an effectively creepy and great Dracula, taking a more tragic lens to the character and his mannerisms and voice differentiate him from Max Schreck but also rises to his level of greatness. Isabelle Adjani who plays Lucy instead of Mina, common trend believe it or not in adaptations of the Bram Stoker novel, is hauntingly beautiful I mean if she isn't some kind of inspiration for goth girls globally what even in the hell?? She has such a look that does nothing but compliment the slightly gothic aesthetic and I greatly appreciate the fact she does not bullshit about and gets stuff done herself, she tells the Count to remove himself from her presence and that's badassery if I've ever seen it! Bruno Ganz is a solid Jonathan Harker and has a pretty interesting role near the end to say the least which I did not see coming, and the fear and hysteria he conveys is very believable. The look of the film alone is a character in and of itself, maybe it's the 70s film stock, maybe it's just how the set designers and costume department did their fine work, but something about this movie is vastly appealing to me and I feel like a complete jackass not watching this sooner in my life. This would have been an excellent introductory horror film for me between the ages of 10 to 13 that would have gotten me so into the genre. It's kinda hard to articulate why I love it as much as I do, I just know that I adore the movie and couldn't recommend it higher to be perfectly clear. Solid story no doubt but all the details of the production beyond that are phenomenal. It most definitely isn't gonna be everyone's cup of tea, but hot damn am I gonna have to watch this again in the future. 4 stars across the board, 8.5/10, and for once in what feels like an eternity I am excited for Christmas Day.

Count Dracula (1970)

Big leap ahead to 1970 with another more accurate depiction of the novel.

Now obviously it's not a perfect adaptation, but Jesus Franco delivered a good enough adaptation of Bram Stoker's work. It's an interesting example of cinema, and I'll freely admit this is my first Jesus Franco film and the style is unique to me but also gives the film it's own personal feel. So we start off with Jonathan Harker making his way to the Borgo Pass to convene with the Count over the purchase of property in London, and it follows the book fairly well for that first section, hell it gets a giant gold sticky star for being the only adaptation of Dracula that fits the description of the count in the book, but this being a barely over 90 minute movie we move swiftly on to London as we are introduced to the rest of the characters. Jonathan's fiancee Mina, her best friend Lucy, Dr. John Seward residing physician at a mental hospital, Quincey Morris the love interest of Lucy, and Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. We're still following the no frills outline of the book and keep a steady pace, and not to go into the depths of detail and spoilers because you know this story, so let's talk about some details instead. I appreciate it being a period piece and the look of the movie while minimalistic works very well! The camera is the most interesting factor, you get a lot of handheld stuff, so many zooms it would be a dangerous drinking game, and panning shots which shows off the full scope of the sets and location. I've heard conflicting opinions on whether this was shot in Franco's native country of Spain or in Italy, but either way the castle, the classy interiors, and the distinctly old fashioned yet creepy exteriors look lovely. Easily, far and away, hands down, best Christopher Lee performance as Dracula, I was so taken aback by the amount of dialogue he had because it's a well known fact he refused to speak the dialogue in subsequent Hammer films, and it makes a world of difference. Speaking of Hammer, Herbert Lom is Van Helsing in this and it took me a good bit before I realized it was The Phantom Of The Opera before he got scarred by acid, a very serious and well spoken iteration of the character but not much else. I feel like an ass when I say stuff like this but...if Quincey Morris ain't texan then he ain't Quincey Morris, now am I saying I need this thick kountree accent or more southern idioms than you can shake a stick at? No sirree, but goddamn it that would tickle me pink and put a huge smile on my face because he is easily my favorite character in the entire book. Not to even slightly say the cast didn't do fine work, they did all the way through. It's not one of the most examplary versions of this classic literary character, but if you're a fan of vampire movies or more foreign-y films or movies of an older caliber it is worth seeing. They made a solid attempt at bringing the book to life, and did it in an interesting and entertaining way. So it's definitely a good movie, and if you don't want to take my word for it Christopher Lee himself said it was a fine effort. I give it 3 stars, 7/10, and Coppola's Dracula is next.