Film Details
Screening on 35mm, followed by a Q&A with the film's producer (and IIFF Executive Producer), Richard Johns. E. Elias Merhige’s Shadow of the Vampire inhabits the liminal space between cinematic myth and historical fiction, reimagining the making of F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu as a dark fable of artistic obsession. As Murnau pursues absolute authenticity, the boundaries between performance and reality begin to dissolve with the arrival of the enigmatic Max Schreck. Willem Dafoe’s extraordinary portrayal of Schreck, alongside John Malkovich’s fiercely driven Murnau, anchors a film steeped in gothic wit. Both homage and provocation, Shadow of the Vampire remains a cult classic of contemporary cinema and a richly atmospheric meditation on ambition and the monstrous price of immortality through film.
Producer in attendance.
Director: E. Elias Merhige
Cast: Willem Dafoe, John Malkovich, Udo Kier
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 115 minutes