The making of 1922's ''Nosferatu,'' cinema's first vampire film, is chronicled in this finely detailed and highly amusing homage.

Story

Great German film director F.W. Murnau (John Malkovich) embarks on a journey to adapt Bram Stoker's ''Dracula'' to the screen on location in Eastern Europe. With an eccentric cast and crew under his wing, the consumed Murnau will stop at nothing to achieve his vision. He hires an unknown actor, Max Schreck (Willem Dafoe), to portray the title role. The ultimate…

Shadow of the Vampire, the first film produced by Nicolas Cage, is a shockingly funny spellbinder with a plum part that Cage - talk about shocks - handed to Willem Dafoe instead of himself. Dafoe, who has never been better, bites into this Oscar-bait role with an uncanny knack for blending mirth and menace. Here are the facts: In 1921, German director F.W. Murnau cast unknown actor Max Schreck to portray the undead Count Orlock in what would become the silent-film classic Nosferatu. As…