Nosferatu a Venezia

Nosferatu (dir. F. W. Murnau, 1922) is regarded as a masterpiece. To be honest, I enjoyed Werner Herzog's remake (1979) far more - Klaus Kinski's performance in the title role was perfect; repellent and charismatic in equal measure. So I've been looking forward to seeing this hard-to-get-hold-of "sequel" for years.

Oh dear, what a disappointment. This film is a confused mess.

If "Vampire in Venice" were less conventional, it could be Art-house or Surrealist Cinema. And then its fogginess might be to its advantage. But... it just isn't.

Whereas its' predecessors were directed with a spark of genius, "Vampire in Venice" had a history of directorial dithering - and boy does it show. Despite some excellent cinematography, great sets and a (potentially) strong cast, the film is so weakly directed that it falls apart almost immediately. The cast is wasted. The plot is incongruous. The characters are under-developed and their motivations are anyones' guess. The whole is deeply unsatisfying. Of course, Barabara De Rossi is utterly gorgeous, Plummer has some gravitas and Kinski is OK, but without a firm hand at the rudder, we are on a gondola to nowhere.

Only the film's few saving graces allowed me to watch to the end. One for the curious only, I fear.

I'm a tremendously massive fan of the works and persona of Klaus Kinski, but apparently I should praise myself lucky that I never had to work with him or maybe even meet with him person. Kinski allegedly was an incredibly arrogant individual and literally an impossible person to interact with professionally. During this particular period – the late 80s – he also was at the heights of his violent temper, which (nearly) ruined all the movies he starred in. Director David Schmoeller made the ironic short film "Please Kill Mr. Kinski", based on the disastrous experience that he had with him during "Crawlspace" in 1986 and even the long-running professional relationship with the acclaimed director Werner Herzog got destroyed in 1987 during the filming of "Cobra Verde". According to the documentaries Herzog and Kinski got into several vicious fights and openly threatened to kill each other. Also this "Nosferatu in Venice" suffered enormously from Kinski's eccentric quirks. He chased away the initially hired director Mario Caiano, he physically assaulted two of the lead actresses and he refused to cut his hair or wear any make-up. And yet, it's a Kinski film and I'd move heaven and earth just to see it!

I liked "Nosferatu in Venice" a lot, but not exactly because it's a good film… I'm much more fond of the whole idea and concept of the film. What a brilliant idea to set a vampire movie in the wonderful city of Venice! And not just any ravenous and mad-as-hell vampire, but a melancholic vampire figure like Nosferatu! That's just fantastic. The story initially follows Prof. Catalano, who's searching for the mysteriously vanished Nosferatu, but at the same time the professor is convinced that he is fed up with his immortal and roaming existence. Deep in the basement of a Venetian family mansion there is a tomb, and the heiress thinks that Nosferatu is buried here. They hold a séance to awaken him, but he resurrects somewhere on a tropical island. Nosferatu promptly travels to Venice, hoping to find love and eternal peace. "Noferatu in Venice" is slow-brooding and talkative, and thus definitely not recommended for the nowadays new generation of horror/vampire movie fanatics that swear by fancy computer-generated effects and monstrous transformations. This movie thrives on macabre atmosphere, moody set-pieces and sober cinematography. The plot is very messy and often doesn't make a lick of sense, and yet it's captivating from start to finish. This is also a very unconventional vampire story. Kinski's Nosferatu doesn't suck the blood from the virgin's necks, but he impales old ladies on fences and tears off the lips of jealous boyfriends. Kinski doesn't have to do a lot apart from demonstrating his naturally sinister charisma. The cast contains another two phenomenal actors, Donald Pleasance and Christopher Plummer, as well as a couple of beautiful actresses, like Barbara De Rossi.

I recently watched the Italian film 🇮🇹 Nosferatu in Venice (1985) on Prime. The storyline follows a man tracking down Nosferatu and arriving in Venice, where he believes the vampire is hiding. He hears tales that Nosferatu wishes to die, and the man is willing to help him achieve that goal.

The film is co-directed by Augusto Caminito (White Hunter) and Klaus Kinski (Paganini), who also stars in the film. It also features performances from Barbara De Rossi (Blood Ties), Yorgo Voyagis (Frantic), Elvire Audray (Ironmaster), Christopher Plummer (12 Monkeys), and Donald Pleasence (Halloween).

Overall, this is a very average movie, but there were some elements that I enjoyed. The opening arrival sequence and overall cinematography are gorgeous, with the beautiful settings in Venice adding a lot to the visuals. The storyline is fairly straightforward and not overly imaginative. The kills are average, and the horror elements rely more on setting and atmosphere, though there is a fun fall scene. The background music does a solid job of establishing the mood. The female lead is stunning, and there's some classic Italian nudity. While the poetic ending didn't quite land for me as intended, there was a fun twist that I appreciated.

In conclusion, Nosferatu in Venice is an average addition to the horror genre but might be worth watching for horror enthusiasts looking for something different. I'd give this a 5/10 and recommend it only with the appropriate expectations.

In VAMPIRE IN VENICE, Professor Paris Catalano (Christopher Plummer) is obsessed with tracking down the infamous blood-drinker of the title (Klaus Kinski). When Catalano finds a strange family in Venice, who were originally from Transylvania, he believes he's hit pay dirt.

This leads to the backstory being told, while Donald Pleasence makes an appearance.

When a medium is called in, resulting in a seance, the so-called "Prince of Putridity" returns! Death and doom are the result!

Kinski is quite convincing and threatening in his undead role. His interesting facial features have always made him the perfect villain, whether in horror or crime thrillers. He pulls off being pure eeevil with ease! Plummer is doggedly heroic as the Van Helsing-like Catalano.

While not a bad movie, it does tend to drag on interminably in spots...

This not-exactly-a-sequel to Herzog's remake, though with Kinski in the same role (albeit without the distinctive makeup-he apparently just refused to wear it again) is much better produced than the vast majority of 1980s Italian horror movies. The locations, costuming and photography are well above average, making the whole enterprise seem at least halfway to being a truly a quality effort. But despite that, and the fairly prestigious cast, the script runs a narrow gamut between the pedestrian and the messy, with some story continuity so weak you have to wonder if major scenes were left unfilmed, and the whole had to be patched together as well as possible in the editing room. (That wouldn't be surprising, as the producer went through several directors before deciding to take the job himself. Given the resulting production delays, his directorial inexperience, and the inevitable Kinski behavior problems, it seems likely the shoot was heavily compromised.)

Anyway, this movie is a bit of an attractive mess, jumbling together flashbacks, flamenco interludes, sexploitation, several deaths by fang, several others by fence-spike, a brief incongruous "Superman"-esque flying scene, and no coherent fix on the vampire's powers at all. (He seems to command wind, while having no particular problem with crosses or daylight.) Kinski walks though the movie looking aged-rockstar-cool (save when his fangs make him a little too Bugs Bunny-ish), Christopher Plummer (as a Van Helsing type) looks like he can't wait to fire the agent who got him here, but still feels professionally obligated to pretend to take his part seriously. Donald Pleasance simply seems superfluous; even when whipped into a ranting frenzy, he doesn't quite seem germane to the plot, such as it is.. Yorgo Voyagis, who may have been great in Greek cinema for all I know, is wooden once again in an international production. Barbara De Rossi looks very beautiful, which is all her part requires. (Well, that and a whole lot of nudity.)

Sometimes "Nosferatu in Venice" seems like it's aiming for some kind of melancholy pathos, sometimes just for rote thrills and kills (none very effectively done). Throughout the visual presentation has a certain poetical sumptuousness. (Kudos to the location scout-you can tell the film's largely 18th-century interiors are real places, not studio sets.) It doesn't make the leap to actual poetry, though, because the script is such a patch job. It's hard to tell just what the writer-director originally had in mind, because the film definitely has elements of an ambitious vision, but also major signs of having only realized that vision in part. So, not a good movie-but an interesting and watchable failure.