Shadow of the Vampire | Lead Up

Before diving into Robert Eggers' Nosferatu (2025) for our Now Showing series, we decided to shine a pale moonlight (get it?) on a film that blurs the line between horror and history:

Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

Part of our Lead Up Series, this episode explores the eerie, fictionalized making of F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922) — a film that helped define the horror genre. But instead of just honoring the silent classic, Shadow of the Vampire imagines a much darker twist: what if Max Schreck, the actor playing Count Orlok, was an actual vampire?

Directed by E. Elias Merhige and starring John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe (in a deliciously monstrous performance), the film turns the act of filmmaking into something otherworldly, obsessive, and terrifying.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The film’s surreal blending of fact and fiction

• Willem Dafoe’s Oscar-nominated transformation into Max Schreck

• The meta-commentary on artistic obsession and sacrifice

• How Shadow of the Vampire sets the stage for understanding Nosferatu as both horror and myth

  
  

Whether you’re a horror historian or just love watching genre films deconstruct themselves, this episode is for you.

And if you've already seen Eggers’ Nosferatu, check out our Now Showing episode where we take all about it!