Page 1 of Shadow of the Vampire, Tell me Why!

I rented this from Blockbuster and as usual with "unconventional" films I didn`t like it. God I wanted to!, It sounded great. You`ve got Dafoe as an actual vampire and Eddie Izzard as a confused (and wooden) actor, all pulled together by Malkovich`s director character. I didn`t enjoy it though, I thought it was possibly leading up to a big reveal of some kind, maybe that he was infact just an actor who took method to ridiculous limits. As it is though, what on earth was the point of it all?. I`m not posting this to say "It`s crap, don`t bother", as I really want to like these odd little films. So why don`t I? anyone that likes the movie, please explain where the pleasure is derived from?. E.g comedies make me laugh, blockbusters entertain mindlessly and films with twists & turns keep you on your toes. What does SOTV do? it did nothing or me, so what am I missing?!.

i know what you mean here mate, i went to see this off the bacl of a trailer at an art house cinema in cardiff. it seems to be a film that doesnt really know what it actually wants to be. it seemed to hover indecisively between the scary thought that someone really did think that they were a vampire and the comic actions on a movie set. i did like eddie izzards character though but the ending, well, it was more like one of those oh so french art house films (which i love by the way) that dont so much end as just stop!

the original is an absolute stone cold classic though and the image of nosferatu rising from his coffin is one of the all time movie images.

I thought this film was quite awful. Willem Dafoe was good though.

Thanks for the confirmation!. So why has the film got such a big reputation?. Maybe it`s one of those "emperor`s new clothes" deals as the critics absolutely LOVED this film. I`ve seen 4 or 5 different magazine pieces and a couple of T.V reviews and they all said things like "Inspired!" or "An off-beat joy!". No-one from the media has mentioned it`s flaws or advised any caution, so people spend hard-earned money in good faith!. Dafoe WAS good, but a good performance does not a watchable movie make (or something like that). The initial concept did sound great though and if they`d had more of an idea of what they were trying to achieve (scares/laughter or whatever) I`d have enjoyed it too. I don`t despise the film, but "disappointment" is my prevailing feeling, especially after all that vague (but strongly emphasised) praise.