Nosferatu the Vampyre is a
1979 West German vampire horror film. Its original German title is
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht ("Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night"). The film is set primarily in nineteenth-century
Wismar,
Germany and
Transylvania,
Romania, and was conceived as a stylistic
remake of the 1922 German
Dracula adaptation,
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens. Written and directed by
Werner Herzog,
Nosferatu the Vampyre stars
Klaus Kinski as Count Dracula,
Isabelle Adjani as Lucy Harker,
Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Harker and
French artist-
writer Roland Topor as Renfield.
Herzog's production of
Nosferatu the Vampyre was very well received by critics but only warmly by filmgoers, enjoying a comfortable degree of commercial success.
The film also marks the second of five legendary collaborations between director Werner Herzog and actor Klaus Kinski,
immediately followed by 1979's
Woyzeck.
An almost completely unrelated sequel,
Vampire in Venice, was released in 1988 by director
Augusto Caminito, with only Klaus Kinski returning to reprise his loosely connected role.