The movie was a bit of a disappointment. After a good start, with interesting characters and great atmosphere, the plot quickly descends into a series of set pieces with no cohesion. The movie has horror elements but it is neither scary or thrilling. Malkovich and Dafoe are the highlights with great acting and charisma on screen but in the end the movie feels hollow and underdeveloped.

Malkovitch and Dafoe hamming it up against each other. What more could you want? Malkovitch is having a blast portraying a mad director more in the lens of a comedically exaggerated Herzog than the real life Murnau. And Dafoe lives up to Nosferatu as a beast chained to his nature, but one aware of that fact deep down, sad and lonely even as he gives in it to it with glee and catharsis. And in turn, he reflects how Murnau is the same. He sacrifices people for the same pleasure and need of his nature, his own immortality- the perfect film. The film stagnates a little when the two aren’t against each other. Despite Cary Elwes, a man happy to go big when even slightly asked, being among the ensemble none of them get to match the energy the two leads bring. There are touches of old school filmmaking here like the interstitials, the camera format, and the lenses, but I still wanted a little bit more. For such a great concept, it doesn’t get as much play as they could’ve gotten out of it. Still, it’s a very fun time and meta commentary on filmmaking, and a great way to prep for the Nosferatu remake Dafoe also stars in.

A fictional telling of the making F.W. Murnau's "Nosferatu", the scariest depiction of a vampire ever made. And that's exactly the problem. Willem Dafoe's portrayal of Count Orlock is too silly. It's a fine performance, but it's hard to get any level of fear out of it. Max Schreck/Count Orlock is too goofy to even be seen as anything but weird by the rest of the cast and it makes Murnau's sacrificial pact with Schreck lack almost all impact. Until Schreck's reflection is not seen in a mirror do we even view him as a threat. Yes, it's a dark comedy and John Malkovich is really good. There are some cool directorial flourishes, especially the black and white displayed when the crew is actively making "Nosferatu". It was interesting to hear Murnau coaching the actors during filming since it was a silent film after all.

A film that is too realistic.

I really loved John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe's presence on screen, honestly everyone was great here—I liked the movie and it was a nice watch for sure. Maybe not the kind of horror meant to scare you but definitely unsettled me and really went into how consuming art can be when taken to extremes. I didn't understand some of the movie's scenes, choices or conversations at first but when you let it sit with you for awhile it starts to all make sense. This is perhaps my first real vampire movie I think too. I did feel like the structure was a bit smashed together. I think the final scene though made it worth it, it wasn't the longest movie in the world and it was really rewarding seeing the characters on screen themselves. [spoiler] My favorite part was Murnau's arguments with Max Shreck by far, the lighting, the emotion and the implication of losing control over the film from the standpoint of the directing and acting AND the financing. I wish we maybe got a scene of the fiancers themselves and had that part a bit developed to truly paint Murnau's obsession and his loss of control over time. But I'm honestly content overall. I just don't understand though how the crew could've been so... gullible? Like the state that Wolfgang was in afterwards, and how Max jumped at the chance of blood when Gustav cut himself—I felt like they should've caught on earlier but I think this is just a benefit of the audience standing outside of the frame more than anything. Besides someone did catch on.[/spoiler] [spoiler]The only scene I didn't really understand was when the girl (I think it was Greta) was drugged on morphine (or something). I also think the Vampire was too easily defeated, there's no way Murnau thought he could control a real vampire but perhaps that's the point of the movie the entire time.[/spoiler]