NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE

Perfectly paced, hazily dreary, and set to Popol Vuh’s evocative score, Werner Herzog’s NOSFERATU elegantly intertwines death and love. Herzog’s rendering of the vampire legend remakes what he called “the most important film ever made in Germany.” Owing its ambition (rather than aesthetic) to the 1922 F.W. Murnau classic, Herzog minimizes dialogue and draws menacingly toned-down performances out of Klaus Kinski and Isabelle Adjani to enhance the narrative’s descent into doom. More Gothic romance than horror film, Herzog’s foray into Dracula territory represents an ambitious experiment in historical recreation and drives its dread and isolation deep into the psyche.