Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
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A director hires a real vampire to make the most frightening film ever shot. He tells his crew the strange, gaunt man who appears only after dark and always in character is the most committed Method actor alive.
SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE (2000) takes an old piece of movie folklore, that the mysterious actor who played the vampire in Nosferatu (1922) really was one, and plays it straight.
The director, F.W. Murnau, played by John Malkovich, wants his masterpiece so badly that he has promised the creature his leading lady. As it works through the rest of the crew, Murnau keeps the camera running. When the vampire objects, Murnau gives him the only rule that matters: if it's not in frame, it doesn't exist. The literal monster is the lesser one. The man behind the camera planned all of it.
Willem Dafoe plays the vampire and vanishes so completely that when real footage from the 1922 Nosferatu is spliced in, you cannot find the seam. The role earned him an Oscar nomination, still the only one ever given for playing a vampire. Twenty-four years later, the story pulled him back: in Robert Eggers' 2024 Nosferatu, Dafoe returned to the tale, this time as the vampire hunter.
The original Nosferatu was almost a lost film. It was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, and a court ordered every print destroyed. It survives today only because a few copies had already slipped abroad.
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Shadow of the Vampire (2000) was a co-production between the BBC Films division of the UK and Nicolas Cage’s Saturn Films in the US, alongside studios in Luxembourg, utilizing a modest budget of roughly $8 million. It was primarily shot on location in Luxembourg. For worldwide distribution, the movie was handled theatrically by Metrodome Distribution in the UK and by Lions Gate Films in the US, securing its wide theatrical release in late 2000 and early 2001.
Physical Media
Blu-raySpain2024UPC 8436558199576
a member added 9/25/2026
DVDUniversal Studios Home EntertainmentUnited StatesRegion 12001UPC 025192126826
a member added 9/25/2026
VHSUniversal Home EntertainmentUnited States2001UPC 0096898630931
a member added 9/25/2026
About the Film
An unspeakable horror. A creative genius. Captured for eternity.
- Directed By
- E. Elias Merhige
- Runtime
- 95 minutes
- Released
- August 30, 2000
- US Theatrical
- December 29, 2000
- Certification
- R
- Country
- Luxembourg, United Kingdom, United States of America
- Starring
- John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Udo Kier, Cary Elwes, Catherine McCormack
More Credits
- Genres
- Drama, Horror
- Language
- English, German
- Origin
- US, GB
- Studios
- BBC Film, Saturn Films, Long Shot Pictures, Pilgrim Films, Delux Productions, Film Fund Luxembourg
- Written By
- Steven Katz
- Produced By
- Nicolas Cage, Jeff Levine, Paul Brooks, Alan Howden
- Cinematography
- Lou Bogue
- Music
- Dan Jones
- Also Starring
- Suzy Eddie Izzard, Aden Gillett, Nicholas Elliott, Ronan Vibert, Sophie Langevin
- Budget
- $8,000,000
- Box Office
- $8,279,017
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Great movie.
Cast gave wonderful performances.
So glad to have seen this in a theatre when released
One of my favorite vampire movies
James Boggs me too
Classic!
“The writer. We don’t need him anymore, do we?’
Clifford Hamm I forgot about that line. As an ex-Hollywood writer that cracked me up!
Great film 🎥
“I vill eat ze script girl later.”
Fantastic movie
This was an EXCELLENT movie!
I vill eat him lattar!?
Pretty good flick with a genuinely original premise. John Malkovich brings just the right amount of crazed intensity to his role as Murnau.
Is the camera loaded?
Yes, sir.
Good. So am I. . . .
Amazing film!!!
This movie is incredible. Especially the way the end is shot. Having an incredible cast certainly didn’t hurt it either. I need to go watch this, as I could write a paragraph about the cast performances right now. ❤️
I’ll eat her later…
Sooo good!!!
If I had one dolar for every time Willem Dafoe has been in a Nosferatu movie I would have two dollars, is not much but it’s weird that it happened twice in unrelated movies with so many years difference
David Ramirez In one he’s Nosferatu, in the other he hunts him.
Martin Heavisides indeed, either you die a Nosferatu or live enough to become a Nosferatu hunter
The real monster of the film is the director, Murnau.
Interestingly, his character rhymes much more with Fritz Lang. Murnau himself was described by his colleagues as a rather easy-going cheerful man.
Every once in awhile my dad will just mutter “well you don’t GET any makeup” lol
Great Movie