Nosferatu a Venezia, (Nosferatu in Venice) also known as Vampire in Venice, is the 1988 Italian made pseudo-sequel to Nosferatu the Vampyre.
Plot[]
A group that includes Princess Helietta Canins, Dr. Barneval and his wife Uta Barneval go duck hunting and one of them shoots down a bat. Helietta comments that it is bad luck to kill a bat. Barneval tells her that it is a vampire bat, hence killing it is not bad luck.
Professor Paris Catalano arrives by boat in the city of Venice, having been summoned by Helietta. In a letter replying to her invitation, he informs her that he has dedicated his life to the study of the vampire, Nosferatu, from her earliest origins in Transylvania ten centuries ago to his mysterious disappearance in Venice during the Carnival of 1786, when the plague decimated the city's inhabitants. He declares Nosferatu to be a supreme lord of evil second only to the Devil himself and that his supernatural powers have defeated all attempts to kill him. He states that in the language of Nosferatu's roots, his name means "he who is undead, but that he has concluded that death is what Nosferatu most desires.
Catalano arrives at the Canins family's home and is observed from above by the Helietta's grandmother, who is accompanied by the priest Father Don Alvise. When the priest asks her who Catalano is, she replies that he has come to destroy the precarious beast that reigns over her house. As a servant goes to tell the princess of his arrival, Catalano is observed by her younger granddaughter Maria. He notices a spot on the wall where a painting is missing before the servant returns, telling him that the princess apologizes for not coming down and will receive him in her room. Catalano meets with the bedridden Helietta, who thanks him for accepting her invitation. She asks what he thought of her letter and he replies that it was too vague for him to form an opinion. She retorts that he would not have come if that were true. He admits to her that he expects to die soon.
Catalano later dines with the sisters and Barnevals, with whom he discusses vampirism. The elderly princess is brought through the dining room in a wheelchair by Father Alvise, staring at Catalano as she passes him. Uta asks Catalano what the Catholic Church's attitude towards vampires and he replies that the Church sees vampirism as one of the thousand ways in which evil manifests itself, a decreed by Pope Benedict XIV. Barneval asks if Catalano's search for vampires has brought him to Venice, to which Catalano replies that vampires are everywhere.
Once the guests have left, Helietta asks Catalano why he told her that he expects to die soon and he replies that it is true and he has little time for social pleasantries. She leads him down into a crypt and shows him a coffin. She tells him that the crypt dates back to the sixteenth century when her family arrived in Venice, having originally been from Transylvania. She wonder why the coffin is sealed with iron bands and as he touches one it bursts open. However, the others are sealed tight and have not been diminished by time. She tells him of an old family legend that a vampire was buried alive in it and states her belief that it was Nosferatu. She expresses her desire to open it, but he advises against it, stating that it would provoke a reaction that would be monstrous beyond imagination.
The next morning once the elderly princess has left, Catalano enters her bedroom and discovers a painting of her ancestor Letizia Canins, to whom Helietta bears a striking resemblance. As he examines the painting, the princess sneaks up on him and attacks him with a cane. The princess that Catalano saw leaving, who is really Maria in disguise, crosses paths with a group of young actors. One of them is her boyfriend, Gianmarco Trozatti, and she kicks him in the genitals before removing her disguise and call him a traitor for being with another girl behind her back, prompting laughter from the others.
As the princess is being treated by Alvise, Catalano asks her why she had the portrait taken down before he arrived. She tells him that horrible things happened in the house 200 years ago and he deduces that the woman in the portrait was heavily involved. He urges to princess to share what she is hiding from him, for time is short. She gives him an old book, which is the same one that Leitzia is holding in the painting and bears Nosferatu's name. She tells him that her family left Transylvania to escape a terrible destiny, but it was in vain.
Catalano gathers Helietta, Barneval and Alvise and reads aloud from the book. Alvise comments that as the holy language, Latin should not be used by the enemies of God. The book tells of a terrible event that took place in the house in 1786, when a priest attempted to destroy Nosferatu, only to be thrown through a window and impaled on a fence below. Catalano states that Nosferatu vanishes from Venice shortly afterwards and no trace of him has been found since, with Letizia's fate also unknown. Alvise and Barneval express scepticism over the story, but Helietta concludes that if the story is true, Letizia was a vampire. Catalano points out that Nosferatu has always had the capacity to return to the house, and that if he has not already he undoubtedly will.
Helietta summons a medium to perform a séance. Catalano warns that such a practice can provoke terrifying reactions, but Barneval dismisses it as harmless home entertainment. Uta asks how people become vampires and Catalano lists many causes, such as being born illegitimate, being the child of a witch or warlock, commiting suicide, dying of hanging, the plague or with blasphemy on one's lips, being a murderer and dying unpunished and being descended from a vampire. As they take their places to begin the séance, Alvise warns them that the church forbids séances and the medium orders him to leave. She then calls upon Nosferatu to reveal himself to them, which causes him to rise from his tomb. Sensing his presence, Helietta calls out to him to come to her. Hearing her voice, he crushes a snake witch his boot, which causes her to faint.
Catalano and Barneval enter the crypt and the former hears a voice coming from the coffin sealed with iron bands. Meanwhile, Nosferatu finds a group of gypsies. A woman offers her daughter to him, telling the girl that he will make her immortal. He asks them who summoned him. The woman takes a crystal ball from a case in her caravan and as he looks into it they see Helietta within it. The woman tells Nosferatu that someone far away has summoned him and, mistaking her for Letizia, he replies that she is mistaken, as it is a scene from the past. Afterwards, he bites the girl's necks. He annouces that he is leaving the campsite and the woman tells him that he cannot leave them aftrer being gone for 200 years. He replies that time has time in no meaning in a life that never ends, leaving the campsite and taking the girl with him.
Nosferatu arrives in Venice, catching the attention of many of the locals. Late one night, the elderly princess is woken by the voice coming from the coffin. Getting out of bed to investigate it, she finds the painting of Letizia back in its original position. She is confronted by Nosferatu and tries to repel him with a crucifix, only for him to take it from her and bend it in half. He then takes her to the window and forces her out of it, casuing to be impaled on the fence below. At her funeral, Catalano confirms Helietta's suspiscion that Nosferatu killed her grandmother and advises her that only the love of a consenting virgin can kill him. She asks who could love such a creature and he looks towards Maria, causing Helietta to beg that her sister will not be the one. Catalano tells her that they must find out who is buried in the tomb.
They return to the crypt and Barneval cuts theough the iron bands. They lift the lid and find Leitzia perfectly preserved, though she disintegrates once she sits up and is exposed to sunlight. Helietta is terrified, but Barneval assures her that it is a natural phenomenon. Catalano examines the ashes and finds traces of mercury, the only natural element capable of killing a vampire. He concludes that Letizia must have been forced to drink it before she was pierced through the heart.
Helietta and Barneval, who are having an extramarital affair with one another, attend a costume party. Uta is also at the party with a man named Luke. Nosferatu arrives and Helietta senses his presence, causing her to feel ice cold. As they attempt to leave the party, Helietta and Barneval are separated in the crowd. As Barneval is distracted by a seductive dance from the gypsy girl, Nosferatu approaches Helietta, who flees. He follows her as she makes her way home and as she sleeps later that night, he enters her bedroom. She is terrified at first, but as he speaks to her in an ancient language, she becomes aroused despite not understaning him. He rips open her nightgown and she asks him what they mean and he explains they they mean that he traveled over rivers, mountains and skies to be with her. Unknown to them, Maria watches them have sex. Nosferatu kisses Lelietta, causing blood to drip from her mouth.
The next morning, Catalano finds Helietta with a cut, bruised and bloodstained face. She admits that Nosferatu came for her the previous night. Barneval examines her and concludes that her vital signs are normal, but Catalano warns that Nosferatu is intending to take her with him on a macabre journey, which he refuses to allow. Nosferatu passes a group of dogs, who react negatively to his presence, causing him to kick angrily at their pen. He then stalks Uta, causing her to run when she becomes aware of his presence. He chases her into a bulding and violently strips and assaults her.
At the Canins estate, Catalano, Barneval and Alvise prepare for Nosferatu's arrival. Once he arrives, Alvise flees and Barneval shoots Nosferatu, only for him to regenerate immediately afterwards. Nosferatu takes the shotgun from Barneval and beds it in half, at which point Maria arrives and locks eyes with him. Catalano attempts to keep him from her with a wooden cross, calling him a vile abomination rejected by all. He attempts to cast him out, only for Helietta to arrive and offer herself to Nosferatu. Nosferatu causes the cross to burn Catalano's hands. He then approaches Helietta and takes her hand, though Maria begs her sister not to go with him. Nosferatu takes Helietta to an abandoned manor house.
The next morning, Maria throws herself from the top of a tall building and Nosferatu flies up and catches her in mid air. She awakes in an unfamilar bed and looks out of the window, seeing Nosferatu on the opposite balcony. Alvise finds Catalano packing his bags, the latter explaining that he is leaving due to his failure and defeat. Barneval asks Catalano where Dracula will take Helietta and if he ever sleeps, to which Catalano replies that he sleeps for 24 hours every 24 days, always travelling with a piece of cursed land and being lulled to sleep by the cries of the dead. Alvise points out that the victims of the plague were buried at the Lazaretto, which they conclude to be Nosferatu's hiding place.
As he leaves, Catalano points out the irony that as his life ends, he discovers the arrogance of opposing evil in one's own way, concluding that it may be contrary to the universal scheme of God. He asks Alvise what he will do and he replies that he will remain there as the guardian of wandering souls, protecting the world from the corruption of Satan. As he watches Catalano go, he accuses him of knowing nothing and declares the he is being justly punished for putting himself on a level with God. Catalano then throws himself off a bridge and into the canal.
At the Lazaretto, Nosferatu looks into a mirror and is shocked to see his reflection staring back at him. He enters Maria's bedroom and pulls back her bedsheet. She asks if he saved her life so that he could take it with his own hands and he replies that he saved her life so that she could help him die. She asks if that is what he wants most and he says that he wants to die if she wishes it, to which she agrees and kisses him. She pulls the curtains, asking if he fears the daylight, to which he replies that ot is the night that he fears. As they have sex, Barneval arrives with two of his friends, all of them armed with shotguns. They find three coffins containing the gypsy girl, Helietta and Nosferatu himself. However, as they stake him through the heart, he is revealed to be a disguised Uta.
Once they have finished having sex, Nosferatu feels himself beginning to die and Maria begs him to stay with her a little longer. He confesses that now that his death has finally arrived, he is afraid despite desiring it for so long. Barneval enters the manor and attempts to shoot Nosferatu, but it does not harm him and instead seriously wound Maria. He and his friends flee, but Helietta seduces him before revealing herself to be a disguised Nosferatu and killing him. Nosferatu later carries the naked Maria out of the manor and she begs him not to let her die. He tells her that he does not have the power to save her and she begs him to make her into a vampire so that they can be together forever, but he tells her that it is a fate worse than death. He carries her through the streets of Venice before they vanish into the morning mist.
Cast[]
- Klaus Kinski as Nosferatu
- Barbara De Rossi as Helietta Canins
- Yorgo Voyagis as Dr. Barneval
- Anne Knecht as Maria Canins
- Elvire Audray as Uta Barneval
- Giuseppe Mannajuolo
- Clara Colosimo as Medium
- Maria Clementina Cumani Quasimodo as Princess
- Micaela Flores Amaya 'La Chunga' as Woman at Gypsy Camp
- Donald Pleasence as Don Alvise
- Christopher Plummer as Professor Paris Catalano
Gallery[]
