Nosferatu the Vampyre

It's truly amazing to notice how Herzog manages to turn such a classic story into his own thing -- a slow-burning, thorough investigation of what constitutes evil or, in a sense, a meditation on evil as just part of nature, like death, and its perennial existence among us. Such a lowkey marvelous score as companion to both Harker and Dracula on their expeditions -- to the castle and to the city. Love its anticlimactic vibes, even after the vampire's arrival, the end of the world -- or of a time and a place, mind you -- as a series of social events and gestures -- a collective funeral, people out there dancing, drinking, eating during their last days on earth. Favorite bits: Adjani stalked by Dracula's shadow -- which appears way before his body -- in the bathroom, wandering through streets populated by rats and mad townsfolk, little dude arguing with another dude that there is no police or authority to arrest Van Helsing, not even someone to guard the place where he will be held in custody. There is nothing left, not even death. Just pale, still, almost silent anguish.