20 Vampire Movies You Must See Before You Die

13. Shadow Of The Vampire (2000)

Shadow of the Vampire, one of the most underrated films on this list, clings to an ingenious premise: what if it turned out that the vampire in F.W. Murnau's classic, Nosferatu, was actually a real vampire? What if the film was actually a documentary of sorts? Directed by E. Elias Merhige and based on script by Steven Katz, Shadow of the Vampire is a dark and brooding picture, but not one without an underlying sense of humour. The idea that actor Max Schreck, who portrayed the incredibly creepy "Count Orlok" in Murnau's famous film, has been a long-standing myth, and the picture takes that idea and just runs with it. John Malkovich stars as Murnau and Willem Dafoe plays Schreck, the actor who begins to concern Murnau when he's deemed to be taking his role a little too seriously. Both are great here - especially Dafoe and what's more, Shadow of the Vampire pays homage to silent cinema's aesthetics, and can be viewed as a loving tribute to film's earliest days.