A real estate agent leaves behind his beautiful wife to go to Transylvania to visit the mysterious Count Dracula and formalize the purchase of a property in Wismar.
Klaus Kinski
Count Dracula
Isabelle Adjani
Lucy Harker
Bruno Ganz
Jonathan Harker
Roland Topor
Renfield
Walter Ladengast
Dr. Van Helsing
Martje Grohmann
Mina
Carsten Bodinus
Schrader
Beverly Walker
Abbess
Jacques Dufilho
Captain
Clemens Scheitz
Clerk
John Leddy
Coachman
Rudolf Wolf
Coachman
Štefan Husár
Coachman
Lo van Hensbergen
Councilman
Johan te Slaa
Crier
Jan Groth
Harbormaster
Bo van Hensbergen
Inspector
Claude Chiarini
Inspector
Margiet van Hartingsveld
Maiden
Tim Beekman
Pallbearer
Roger Berry Losch
Sailor
Rijk de Gooyer
Town Official
Dan van Husen
Warden
Werner Herzog
Hand and Feet in Box with Rats (uncredited)
Director, Writer
Werner Herzog
Novel
Bram Stoker
Original Film Writer
Henrik Galeen
April 29, 2024
7
"Harker" (Bruno Ganz) travels to remote Transylvania where he is to help "Count Dracula" (Klaus Kinski) buy a new home in his hometown of Wismar. Why? Well that's because he has fallen in love with a photograph of his beautiful wife "Lucy" (Isabelle Adjani) and has determined to make her his immortal bride. "Harker" had been warned by the locals of the dangers of visiting the "Count" but he pressed on regardless, so ought not to have been surprised when his host absconds from his castle on a schooner laden with coffins, soil and a deadly plague of rats so he can ensnare his innocent young wife. Can he race back home in time to thwart this evil? There's nothing especially new about the chronology of the story here, it's the characterisation of the vampire that helps this stand out. It's obvious from the start that "Dracula" is not of human kind. Contrasting with most interpretations of the title role, Kinski and Warner Herzog attempt to imbue "Dracula" with a degree of humanity. He doles out his lusts left, right and centre upon the innocent, spreading plague and disaster wherever he goes, but he too is cursed. By his own immortality, by his search for some kind of fulfilment or contentedness. This isn't a depiction riddled with sharp teeth and ketchup, it's much more subtle, refined even, telling of a character that it's almost impossible not to feel sorry for. The production itself has dated rather badly, and at times it did remind me of one of these "Sherlock Holmes" remakes, but the thrust of the story is still interestingly different to the normal depiction of this epitome of evil and worth sticking with.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
German
Budget:
$1,400,000.00
Revenue:
$0.00