But for all its shortcomings, the film is nevertheless the first horror masterpiece, genuinely disturbing and appealing directly to the emotions in a way in which such earlier examples of the genre as The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and The Golem do not. Most of this appeal has to do with the on-screen presence of Schreck, a figure whom one could justifiably describe as coming from the world of nightmares. By comparison, the urbanely sinister Bela Lugosi and the suavely threatening Christopher Lee seem almost camp.

John Malkovich as director FW Murnau

Screenwriter Steven Katz obviously felt the same way. “About 10 or 11 years ago, I became very interested in Nosferatu,” he says. “I especially liked the fact that the film looks incredibly realistic, to the point that you almost think you are watching an old documentary about a vampire. I then got the idea of what would have happened if the actor who played the vampire in the film really was a vampire. I started to do some research on Murnau and I saw this amazing picture of him filming: all his crew were wearing lab coats and goggles. From that, I got the idea of Murnau treating the whole thing as a documentary - as a scientific project.”

To move from seeing the film as a quasi-documentary to a story in which Murnau, the perfectionist, does indeed hire a real vampire for the role of Nosferatu, promising him the blood of the lead actress in return for keeping himself under control until the final scene - that requires a particular kind of imagination. But then Katz has apparently always had a thing for vampires: one of his earlier efforts was a preliminary draft of the script for Interview With the Vampire. And the screenplay he wrote, entitled Shadow of the Vampire, has since been turned into one of the most original and engaging movies to come out this year.

Rapturously received at its international premiere in the Directors Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in May, Shadow of the Vampire is a film with a distinctly offbeat sensibility, a powerful cast (John Malkovich plays Murnau, with Willem Dafoe totally convincing as Schreck) and the ability - just like last year’s Being John Malkovich - to steer a course between its slightly tongue-in-cheek premise and some genuinely disturbing moments as it approaches its climax. “John and Willem had never worked together before,” says Nicolas Cage, who produces Shadow. “The film allowed me to team up two of my favourite actors and put them into the hands of a pure artist.”

The artist in question is director E Elias Merhige. Katz’s agent sent his completed screenplay to Cage, whom he knew to be interested in both silent cinema and vampires (he played one in Vampire’s Kiss). Cage was at the time looking for a project which he could produce with Merhige, and the fit was perfect. “I’d seen Elias’ first feature, Begotten, and found it completely compelling,” says the actor, who set up his own production shingle, Saturn Films, in 1996, and had been looking for projects ever since. “When I read Steven’s script, I saw it as the perfect vehicle for his talents.”