Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, 1979
starring: Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, Bruno Ganz, Roland Topor
directed by: Werner Herzog

the plot: Bram Stoker’s classic 1897 novel Dracula is transplanted to beautiful downtown Wismar, Germany. Characters have been combined and condensed: Jonathan Harker (Ganz) still travels to Transylvania to transact business with the Count (Kinski), but Mina becomes Lucy (Adjani), now Harker’s wife, and Renfield (Topor) is but the estate agent who dispatches Harker on his journey. Harker soon discovers that the Count is actually one of the Undead, and that he is prisoner in the Count’s castle. Dracula makes his way across the Baltic Sea to Wismar, and begins his reign of terror, choosing Lucy as his premiere victim.

why it’s good: Although his springboard was F. W. Murnau’s 1922 copyright-pirated German silent, Herzog made the story his own. Once again he lenses a subtle, complex and pathos-infused performance from the nutcase Kinski, who phoned in most of his hundred-plus film roles with other directors. Isabelle Adjani makes self-sacrifice look sexy, coaxing Dracula to his doom by pushing his fangs into her neck and his claws onto her breasts. Along with Coppola’s 1992 version and a host of others, Herzog’s aesthetic starts with the luscious, sensual and erotic overtones that drip from vampirism like fudge off a sundae. Bruno Ganz (“The American Friend,” 1977, “Wings of Desire,” 1987) is as dog-eyed moving as ever, and crazy writer/artist Roland Topor does a great turn as crazy Renfield. A spoiler warning here: It’s a breathtaking moment when the crewless ship the Count has emptied during his crossing slides slowly and unexpectedly into camera frame as it docks in Wismar harbor, spilling hundreds of rats into the city. Great stuff.

why you should own it: Seventy-year-old Werner Herzog is an international treasure. He has directed 19 feature films and over 25 documentaries, including “Grizzly Man” (2005) and “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” (2010). He is driven, and frequently obsessed by, his projects. Wes Blank’s 1982 documentary “Burden of Dreams” depicts the director as mad and determined as the eponymous subject of the film “Fitzcarraldo” that he’s directing; Herzog’s published diary of the production is astounding. Herzog likes extreme personalities and extreme places—the Amazon, the Arctic, an active volcano about to erupt—and was the only film-maker to work with the certifiably deranged actor Klaus Kinski more than once. (Five times, in fact, and each film is marvelous—“Fitzcarraldo” and “Nosferatu,” as well as “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” (1972), “Woyzeck” (1979), and “Cobra Verde” (1987).) Herzog’s profile of his dead friend in “My Best Fiend” (1999) shows the deep compassion and sensitivity beneath the taskmaster who could drive you to drink (Herzog, I mean—not Kinski). Along with Fassbinder and Wenders, Herzog was one of the shining lights of the New German Cinema some 30 years ago. He remains as productive and (even more) relevant today, living in Los Angeles. The Anchor Bay DVD includes several special features.