LOAD & PLAY Load & Play RSS Feed

Monday, December 3, 2007
NOSFERATU: THE ULTIMATE DVD EDITION 


Some DVD titles have been issued and re-issued to the point where it's a bit difficult to get excited when a new edition is announced. Such is the case with F.W. Murnau's expressionist horror masterpiece, NOSFERATU. We've seen crappy un-authorized versions, one with a goth-metal score by Type-O Negative, and even a nice authorized version by Kino, put out not too long ago.

Which is another reason I was a bit skeptical when Nosferatu: The Ultimate Edition crossed my desk. New subtitles, whatever. Two new documentaries, who cares. Then I actually popped the thing into my DVD player. Blow me down if the film isn't looking more gorgeous than I could have even imagined!

The film itself needs little if any introduction: a silent German production from 1922, Nosferatu is a thinly veiled adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula novel, with only the character names changed. The plot remained intact, however, allowing Stoker's widow an easy victory in the courts. All prints were ordered destroyed, but a few copies managed to escape the fire, most in shoddy condition from being screened so often.

Restored painstakingly by Luciano Berriatua from a new hi-defintion transfer, it's almost like seeing Nosferatu for the first time, it's timeless imagery finally done justice. Almost as exciting is a new recording of the original complete score, as it was performed live years ago. Kino certainly has outdone itself, rendering any previous version of this fanged beauty obsolete. If you are in any way a fan of this film, don't question it, just pick this up. Shadowy dreams await.

$29.95 srp, out now from Kino International.

Labels:


# posted by André Salas @ 12/03/2007 11:30:00 AM
Comments (0)


This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?



RECENT POSTS

DEAR PILLOW
NEGATIVLAND: OUR FAVORITE THINGS
IN BETWEEN DAYS
TIJUANA MAKES ME HAPPY
BREATHLESS
FOUR SHEETS TO THE WIND
INTERKOSMOS
TWIN PEAKS: THE DEFINITIVE GOLD BOX EDITION
WE ARE THE STRANGE
DAYS OF HEAVEN


ARCHIVES

Current Posts
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
November 2008
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009