10 Perfect Horror Movies About Hollywood

A brilliantly original alternate reality tale, Shadow Of The Vampire is steeped in movie making lore and boasting top tier performances from the always reliable Willem Dafoe and John Malkovich.

The film is set during the filming of F. M. Murnau’s Nosferatu, the 1922 picture that almost single-handedly codified how we depict vampires on screen. He’s played by John Malkovich as a dictatorial monomaniac, unwilling to allow anything to get in the way of his vision. Even, say, the lead actor being an actual bloodsucking monster.

Dafoe is star Max Schreck, who seems to be getting awfully deep into his character. He won’t fraternise with the rest of the cast and crew, and only comes out at night. Is he an early proponent of The Method? Or is he more than an overinvested actor?

With a great deftness of touch and an irresistible premise, Shadow Of The Vampire is both a love letter to the silent era (director E. Elias Merhige utilising several old school techniques) and a pacy horror story in its own right.