Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
There are so few versions of the original 1922 masterpiece in its wake, and yet so many "Dracula" versions that it is easy to lose count (billions and billions served since the beginning of the 20th century). David Lee Fisher's largely black-and-white recreation with the occasional solarized colors is not a farce but not exactly anything more than a devoted shot-by-shot remake delivering the barest of shudders.
Thomas Hutter (Emrhys Cooper) is the real-estate bloke who wants to be wealthy at the expense of his blonde, beautiful if unresponsive and unloved wife, Ellen (Sarah Carter). Hutter can't bring himself to say, "I love you," and is anxious to head to the Carpathian mountains for his inevitable meeting with Count Orlok (a menacing Doug Jones). Everything here is clockwork and obligatory with the slightest changes such as Hutter having sex with a gypsy and feeling guilty, and a blind man warning of the Count's blood lust. Otherwise, same old, same old.
The movie is suitably watchable yet it has also been green-screened to death with everything clearly shot on a soundstage - the green screen is representative of the same locations from the 1922 original. It just seems like lazy filmmaking despite some probable sets of the inside of Orlok's castle. Nothing looks lived in and all the visuals look cramped and claustrophobic (not unlike Coppola's "Twixt" which also uses color and black-and-white with great abandon).
Doug Jones gives the best performance in the film, and I found some sliver of originality and presence with Joely Fisher as a spinster who has possible romantic inclinations with Ellen. The ending rushes by with Ellen waiting for the Count to drain of her blood, though any psychic connection with the vampire is minimal. There is supposed to be a plague in this town but we see no rats unlike the previous versions. Hutter comes across as unsympathetic and the portrayal of Ellen is wanting. Worthwhile for Nosferatu completists - everyone else would be better off watching the 1922 original.
