NOSFERATU

I have high respect for the origins of horror and nightmares in the movie industry (in books as well and gamestoo of course) even if they are pretty “boring” or “old fashioned”. One seed of the genesis of horror in the cinema industry was F.W.Murnau´s movie Nosferatu - Eine Symphonie Des Grauens (Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror).

When i was a kid i remember all people around me talked about this movie as one of the most creppy and scary ever done and once i saw it i wasnt dissapointed. The movie is literally flooding with iconic and epic scenes, from the castle un ruins being seen by Hutter in the middle of twilight to the vampyre shadow walking up the stairs. While Willem Dafoe wasnt able to stand tall as the count Dracula (or Orlock) and Klaus Kinski did a descent job on the role, non of them could match Max Shreck ghostly and disturbing portrayal of the vampyre.

This is my first Sideshow figure and i was extremelly lucky to find him in  apretty low prize condiering how rare and limited he is. Sadly, his box was in pretty bad shape soo i wasnt able to keep it but the figure is not damaged at all.

This guy is pretty big, 12″. Hes taller than the Hot Toys figures and much bigger than the Play Arts Kai. He is fully articulated and have a wide range of movements (with the logic limits of his costume) soo no complaing there. One interesting thign is that he had a rubber band thing molded around his torso, soo he cant stand tall, hes hunched over thanks to this rubber and considered the look of Shreck on the film i have no complaing bout it.

His costume is pretty simple and match perfectly his look on the film. His coat is actually made of thick and furry fabric wich is pretty logic considering the weather of the Rumanian mountains i guess. The coat is red too….wich kind of puzzles me since i always expect it to be black or grey, but the movie is black and withe soo maybe it was actually this red? I need to check that out.

The sculpt is made by Philip Ramirez and is pretty damn good. The hairy eyebrows, the deformed teeth, the big nose: everything is in line perfectly with Shreck as well as the dramatic claws. The skin tone is pretty sickly as well wich match perfectly.

He comes with his hat (made of plastic, thanks good. One made of fabric would looks silly) and some keys. This keys puzzled me but i saw the movie again and the Count actually have them on his hands when Hutter arrives to his castle. One neat aspect of this version of Dracula is how he is calledLord of the Rats as well. He is followed by plagues and sicknes and this includes rats and this figure actually adds some rats to the mix as well.

My only complaing is that giving his design (big head, thing legs and small feet) he cant stand for too long soo i had to use an spare Play Arts Kai base. Aside of that this is one impresive figure. An unique and classic take on Dracula and the vampires overall and one iconic figure for both the cinematic history and the horror history as well.