ORLOK THE VAMPIRE 3D

(aka Nosferatu, 1922)

There are already a number of versions of Murnau's seminal horror Nosferatu out there - even the most cursory look at Amazon unearths several - and it seems, in keeping with a recent enthusiasm for the format, there is now a 3D version as well. Courtesy of Washington D.C's Quality Cheese Productions we have Orlok the Vampire (2009), a new rights-reserved variant of the public domain classic.

Just by comparing the name of the production company to the style of the blurb on the cover, I get the impression that there is something of a push-pull here when it comes to how best to represent the film. Is it cheesy, or 'eerie' and 'disturbing', as the cover suggests? Perhaps the company felt that they needed to bring their own angle to this release and struggled to do so. Only this could explain their frankly absurd decision to include the introduction by Troma head-honcho Lloyd Kaufman, the sole extra on this release. Like many horror fans, I have a begrudging respect for Kaufman - if only for his tenacity - but I have very little time for this intro. Whether it's the cackling female off-camera, or the obligatory, non-funny joke repeated several times, Kaufman comes across here as out-of-place and blasé. Sorry Lloyd, but introduce your own damn movie. Setting the film up as a farce is certainly an angle, but I'm not convinced it's the right one.

As far as the plot of the film goes, it barely needs summarising. Its closeness to Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (1897) - both in terms of plot and release date - led to its suppression by Stoker's irate widow and it remains one of the closest adaptations of the book. This version of the film includes both 2D and 3D options, each with reasonable print quality. Watching in 3D (using one of the two pairs of complimentary 3D glasses!) is a fun though not groundbreaking experience, but it certainly does add something, at least in terms of picking up some of the great period detail in this nigh-on ninety year old film. What is always noticeable when watching Nosferatu is how well many of its iconic scenes have stood the test of time, and it was good to revisit these in a three-dimensional style - especially our first glimpse of Count Orlok.

The score/sound effects are a mixture of competent and exasperating. Most of the incidental music fits reasonably well; there are lots of different compositions used, and when Orlok features as a threat, the score is very good. However, there is a continuous array of dubbed-on giggling, mumbling and groaning which, again, feels like a naff attempt to make the film comedic and just sits rather awkwardly with the horror elements. I'm not convinced that Nosferatu needs to be deliberately hammed-up; its age and style alone make it an oddity, and also makes it rather resistant to the dismissive sort of add-on humour used in this version. If you're a devotee of the optimised 3D format - decently done here by Chris Heuer by the way - then this may warrant adding Orlok the Vampire to your collection. Completists may also note that Orlok contains 'never-before-seen' footage (running at 1 hour 23 minutes) and CGI design, as well as Dolby Digital sound. 2D and 3D versions of the film are offered.

Review by Keri O'Shea