Writer/director Michael Almereyda’s art house take on Bram
Stoker’s Dracula called Nadja (1994)
is a black and white experimental film that won’t be for everyone. Elina Lowensohn is Nadja, a vampire with
family ties to the infamous Dracula clan, living a bohemian existence while
killing people and drinking their blood to surface. She is estranged from her twin brother Edgar (played
by Jared Harris) and their father has just died at the hands of Dr. Van Helsing
(Peter Fonda). Thrown into the mix is
Helsing’s nephew Jim (Martin Donovan) and his girlfriend Lucy (Galaxy Craze)
whom has become the object of Nadja’s current obsession.
The film loosely follows the events of the novel as Helsing
must destroy Nadja before she completely turns Lucy and true evil is set upon
the world. Almereyda’s style for the
film is very minimal and highly stylized as he makes the best of his limited
budget and locations. The true allure of
the film is Lowensohn’s performance as she holds the whole film together amidst
the eccentric Fonda and his hammy Helsing or the too subtle Donovan who seems
more undead than Nadja herself.
Almereyda manages to keep the proceedings going amidst the
film’s shortcomings and he provides enough original ideas to make it worthwhile
but the style may turn off a few fans of the vampire genre wanting something
more. The film is more concerned with
trying to tell a modern vampire story using an old story and it does so without
becoming too campy or buried within its excesses. It’s an interesting little oddity of a
vampire film that may not be for everyone but it is an interesting little film.
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