Klaus Kinski is an unusual film star. He was not the typical handsome rogue many movies called for and played in everything from westerns to horror to high drama. While he appeared as a bad guy in numerous foreign films he wasn’t noticed much until bit parts in the Sergio Leone westerns and the films he made with director Werner Herzog like AGUIRRE THE WRATH OF GOD.
In 1979 Kinski made the film NOSFERATU THE VAMPIRE with Herzog. Taking their cue from the famous silent film NOSFERATU Kinski was decked out in makeup throughout the film. It was a success and still talked about to this day. It only seemed natural that the success of the film would call for a sequel. That didn’t happen until 1988.
The story involves a vampire hunter named Professor Paris Catalano (Christopher Plummer) who arrives in Venice seeking Dracula who was last seen in the area during the Carnival of 1786. Catalano believes that Dracula was here seeking a way to end his immortality. While in Venice Catalano is staying with the Canins family. It is rumored that the remains of Dracula are buried away in the sub chambers of their mansion.
As Catalano searches for information and the remains of Dracula there is another problem at hand. Helietta Canin (Barbara De Rossi) resembles Dracula’s long lost love Letizia. Of course the group holds a séance to contact Dracula which causes him to rise from the grave and he then goes after Helietta. Can he be stopped?
The movie is…a hot mess. Actor Donald Pleasance is wasted her as a hard drinking priest who takes advantage of the Canin family and their liquor cabinet with little to do but have outburst every now and then. Plummer is exceptional and leaves you wishing there were more movies that involved him as this character. Kinski is, well, Kinski. He looks menacing with his flowing white hair by this time and dark eyes. But it was Kinski who caused the problems of this film.
The story behind the scenes is more interesting than the actual film. Sure it has some sumptuous shots but there is little story to keep it moving forward. The editing and directing are disjointed but that’s most likely due to the fact the film had several directors who came and went and that Kinski eventually forced himself onto the producers to direct portions of the film himself. Feeling he was a name draw they indulged his poor behavior and the film lacks because of it.
Stories of Kinski’s behavior onset are legendary on this film, one of his last. The sexual abuse of one of his costars during filming, his demands on set and his coming and going as he pleased did nothing to help the production. The end result is interesting to watch but not from an entertaining standpoint. Instead it’s fascinating to watch this actor chew the scenery along with the necks of his victims.
Once more Severin has done the film better than
it deserves and save it from obscurity. They’ve begun with a 2k scan from the
original film negative. Extras include a documentary “Creation is Violent” with
anecdotes from Kinski’s final years, cast and crew interviews and trailers. The
film may not be the great horror film it started out as but it is an
interesting look into the strange mind of Klaus Kinski.
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