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If you are at
all a cinephile, you are familiar with the
1922 F.W. Murnau film “Nosferatu.”
The film was based on Bram Stoker’s
“Dracula”, but because Murnau
could not obtain the rights to use the novel.
It has, over the years, become quite the
classic in part because of the performance
of Max Schreck as Count Orlock. His vampire
was not the suave and debonair ladykiller
that would later be immortalized by Bela
Lugosi, but rather he was cadaverous in
nature… the thing on nightmares.
I cannot begin to count the number of times
I have seen “Nosferatu.” It
has been released in various forms throughout
the years and even remade in 1979 by director
Warner Herzog. But it was the 2000 film
“Shadow of the Vampire” that
one again brought the original into the
limelight. This odd film posited the idea
that Schreck was indeed a real vampire used
to make the film. Wonderfully portrayed
by Willem Dafoe, Schreck is painted as a
monster set out to feed on everyone involved
with the picture.
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This was based on the notion that Schreck was
an unknown actor that never appeared in any other
film. This however was untrue as the actor has
actually appeared in several other movies.
Anyhow, back to “Nosferatu.” The
newest edition of this film to hit the DVD market
comes from producer/director Keith Carter of Quality
Cheese Productions. But this is no ordinary version
of “Nosferatu.” Oh no… with
the name changed to “Orlock: The Vampire,”
this version is ‘comin’ at you’
in fabulous 3D! That’s right… 3D!!!
And just in case you didn’t think you were
reading this right… 3D!! (Clever readers
will note the also clever use of the term 3D…
3 times… oh wait…. I just used it
a fourth time… but I guess it doesn’t
count as this is actually a side note… but
it’s still here… oh… never mind…)
Sorry… got sidetracked. When I received
a copy of “Orlock: The Vampire”, the
first question that popped into my head was “Where’s
my beer?” But this was quickly followed
by “How in the world will a 1922 classic
film look in the modern technological wonder known
as 3D?” I popped in the DVD to check it
out for myself, and to my surprise, it looked
pretty darn good. Now, I had to get past the fact
that I had to use those red and blue style 3D
glasses, but I realize that the 3D that works
on the big screen does not translate as well to
TVs and computers. Which is why “Avatar”
looked AMAZING in theaters, but there is little
doubt the eventual Bluray or DVD will compare.
That said, “Orlock: The Vampire” looked
pretty darn good, especially after I used the
onscreen instructions to set up my TV.
If there was any complaint to the effect, it
would only be that it was not used consistently
throughout the movie. A lot of the scenes were
still in regular 2D, but admittedly watching it
through the glasses still gave them a little bit
of a 3D effect. It was just very noticeable when
the scenes changed between the two. When hit with
the true 3D scenes though, those looked really,
really cool. It was definitely a very new and
unique way to experience this movie.
Carter and company also added a new soundtrack,
the music portion of which I found to work quite
well with the film. There were also some sound
effects added, like little laughs and oohs and
ahhs to coincide with the actor’s actions
and these did not work so well for me. They were
a little too repetitive and a bit distracting.
Not terribly so, but enough to notice. This new
DVD release does not have any special features,
but there is a short introduction by Troma Studios’
Lloyd Kaufman. As always Kaufman’s a hoot,
and here he is a silly as ever. I would have been
interested to see some of the process of turning
some of the scenes into 3D or perhaps a commentary
by Carter to give a little insight into his feeling
about the film, and perhaps what made him decide
to take on this project, but no luck.
I would definitely recommend grabbing a copy
of “Orlock: The Vampire”, if you are
at all a fan of the film. Again, it is kind of
a unique way to experience it.
Directed by: Keith Carter
Starring: Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim
Extras: Introduction by Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman
Specifications: B&W, 3D
Studio: Quality Cheese Productions
Release Date: 9/29/2009
MPAA Rating: NR
http://www.qualitycheeseproductions.com/
We'll give Orlock the Vampire a B-.
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