By Dave Hastings
With Robert Egger’s new take on F. W. Murnau’s classic vampire film, Nosferatu, coming to cinemas this Holiday season, there has been a great resurgence of interest given to its infamous 1922 forebearer, the silent classic that started it all. Robert Bextor does admirable work here in his latest documentary, ‘NOSFERATU: THE REAL STORY’, which helps bring newcomers up to date and sink their metaphorical fangs into it.
However, while the documentary is good, it deals with a film that, unlike other more recent projects that have a host of archival footage and materials, as well as surviving cast to interview and visualise, THE REAL STORY (though no fault of its own), has very little to employ to help sometimes sustain its running time, employing atmospheric stock footage at times. It would have been interesting to see the team maybe try and recreate some of the original film, or include a long-running new side story with Orlock, employing someone in makeup to replicate the infamous Max Schreck performance in the shadows as a way to bridge the topics being discussed, acting as a new mini continuing narrative throughout with a ghostly payoff that would help compliment the documentaries final thoughts and discussions. This would have permitted it running parallel with the interviews and topics which are discussed in depth by the magnificent contributors.
And they are magnificent contributors such as Dr Cristina Massaccesi (author of Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror), film critic Nichola Barber and Dr Sarah Crowther amongst many highlights, who all passionately wear their individual love and appreciation for the film on their sleeves while detailing the stories some of us may have already heard, but will be equally a pleasure to hear for new, more modern fans, such as the legal battles that nearly saw the film lost to history forever, the Occult symbolism within the film’s production design courtesy of producer Albin Grau, all the way through to looking at the extraordinary background of Max Schreck, cinema’s most chilling vampire still even today.
While NOSFERATU: THE REAL STORY won’t be a source of new information for the more invested fans of yesterday, it is still uniquely charming and made with a lot of affection for the source material. However, for the new fans discovering Muranu’s classic spellbinding symphony of horrors for the first time, and to prepare for Egger’s new take on the story, THE REAL STORY is a wonderful, complimentary must for them!
Nosferatu: The Real Story is streaming on UK digital platforms from 16 December 2024, courtesy of Reel 2 Reel Films.
Bloody Flicks 