Nadja (1994)

The Worst Film Ever

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

I had never heard of "Nadja" until it turned up on a 4-film budget priced "Vampire Collector's Set" DVD that I recently purchased, where it shared space with three other low budget bloodsucker films. I'll be honest, from the package description "Nadja" didn't sound like my cup of tea from the get-go, so I wasn't expecting much from it to begin with. Sometimes when I go into such films with my expectations lowered, I am pleasantly surprised, but not this time. "Nadja" was 90 minutes of plodding, occasionally irritating "art house" crap disguised as a vampire film.I pretty much knew I was in trouble as soon as I saw the words "DAVID LYNCH PRESENTS..." flash across the screen (though he can't be fully blamed for how badly "Nadja" turned out as he was only a producer on this film), because to a B-Movie kinda guy like me, David Lynch's name is pretty much Kryptonite. I've got nothing against Lynch, I know he's got a lot of fans, but he just doesn't make "my" kind of movies. So knowing he had a even a small hand in this thing was already one strike in my book.Anyway, getting to the story (what little there is of it) as I understand it: "Nadja" transplants the Dracula myth to present day New York, with the famed bloodsucker's daughter prowling around Greenwich Village looking for a random hookup. She meets "Lucy," a depressed, bisexual night owl, who soon falls under Nadja's spell, much to the dismay of Lucy's drunken doofus of a husband. Fortunately hubby's Uncle (Peter Fonda, who appears to be the only cast member having fun in this film) happens to be Van Helsing himself, and he of course knows how to handle a vampire problem. From there...well, there's a whole lot of pseudo-philosophy, endless talking, a lot of cigarettes being smoked, a lot of self important dialogue, and not much else. Eventually Nadja's estranged twin brother hooks up with Hubby and Helsing and they travel to Nadja's lair in Romania, where... awww the hell with it, I'm not even going to bother describing the rest of this nonsense. Let's just say if you can make it to that point in the film without feeling an urge to drift off to sleep (or change the channel), I salute you.At first I thought the film being made in stark black and white might be distracting in this day and age, but I'll admit the B&W photography in "Nadja" is really cool...for a while. Then along came numerous segments where, for no discernible reason whatsoever, the picture would suddenly go grainy and pixellated for minutes at a time. At first I thought something was wrong with my DVD, but it turns out that director Michael Almerayda shot those particular scenes (which turn up randomly throughout the film) with a Fisher-Price kids' toy camera. He's probably got some artsy fartsy explanation for why he did those scenes that way, but to me it only served to antagonize an already bored audience.Ultimately "Nadja" comes off like one of those 1990's Calvin Klein commercials stretched out to feature length, complete with its hip (for the time period) soundtrack (The Verve, Portishead, My Bloody Valentine, etc.). It's nice to look at (occasionally, when it's not pixellated) but doesn't have an ounce of soul.I'll (grudgingly) give "Nadja" two stars for two reasons: Number one, the lesbian seduction scene between Nadja and Lucy was pretty cool, (though it's got nothing on the Catherine Deneuve/Susan Sarandon scene in "The Hunger," its obvious inspiration) and number two, the song "In the Meantime" by Spacehog plays over the end credits, and I've always liked that song. Otherwise, I can't recommend this one at all. Judging from the other reviews on this site, "Nadja" appears to be a film that people either love or hate. I guess it's obvious which side I'm on. Avoid!!!

shot in black and white, this film has an eloquent beauty. I love it. It's the ultimate vampire film since vampire journals. Peter Fonda gives it a lasting performance, as well as Lynch's cameo, which makes the film its eerie mood. all in all it kicks ass! What appealed to me was the girl on girl action in the film, very beautiful. This film is similar to 'the hunger' its that awesome. I enjoyed every bite to the jugular vein after another. and on and on. The film wasn't frontin(g) at all. damn it's got to be on DVD. it's hot. The plot was that of momento and sin city. her lips were red as roses. sink your fangs into this morsel, you won't regret it. some movies shot in black and white are classic, but nadja isn't only classic it's just damn sexy!bloody kisses, Jade

As I just said in my Summary, this is just a comment to comment on the comments that have been made about the movie. This is not the typical vampire movie. It's NOT action packed. It is filmed in black and white using techniques that are meant to mimic an older movie while adding a touch of modern film-making at the same time. You can see a bit of Lynch's influence in the way that Michael Almereyda directs the camera.The actors in the movie don't do their absolute best but do a very good job. And Elina Löwensohn's eyes really are hypnotic. They are truly the eyes of a real Dracula descendant. The real female Dracula would need to have those eyes and facial expressions. Casting her was a very good decision.In my opinion it's a good movie that is meant to disappoint normal vampire-movie buffs. Keep an open mind and remember that this is a real horror movie(like the older films. There are no screaming adolescents waiting to be killed in a very stupid way). It's not a terror or action movie. Now, ten years after it was released I give it an 8 out of 10

I'm probably one of the few people who saw this movie in the theater on its release... and I never, ever want to see it again. Easily one of the worst movies I've ever viewed. There are some good people in this cast, but how can they do anything with such awful, angsty, pretentious, self-important twaddle? And how can they act against terrible "performers" like Galaxy Craze, who delivers the worst acting job of the decade? (I see she's still working, I hope she has improved!) To make matters worse, a few weeks after seeing this, I saw Ferrara's "The Addiction" and it just brought up bad memories of this one again. I'm not sure which one is worse... on second thought, at least this one gave me a laugh or two toward the end.