20 Underrated Movies From 2000 You've Probably Never Seen

Released: 29th December 2000 (US)

Purporting to show the true behind-the-scenes story of quite what made FW Murnau's silent vampire horror Nosferatu such a classic and its ersatz-Dracula Count Orlok (Max Schreck) such a disturbing monster, this bizarre metafictional horror-comedy is that rare film which actually provides a fresh take on the endlessly-adapted Dracula character.

Shadow Of The Vampire proposes that the ultra-demanding Murnau recruited an actual vampire to play Orlock and willingly put the rest of his cast in harm's way to get the most convincing vampire film possible.

Directed by experimental arthouse horror director and frequent Marilyn Manson collaborator E. Elias Merhige, Shadow Of The Vampire is an odd tonal melange that encompasses behind-the-scenes satire, silent movie pastiche and genuine scares, all helped by some perfect casting.

John Malkovich is enjoyably full-on as the dictatorial Murnau, but it is Willem Dafoe who is the real star of the piece, combining a perfect facsimile of Schreck's original performance with something eccentric, disturbing but also full of pathos.

There has never been a more engagingly weird movie about the filmmaking process and the lengths that some "auteurs" will go to for their art. That's why the best underrated gem of the year 2000 is the one that's about a movie from 1922.