Nadja (1994)

RottenPop Revisits the Works of David Lynch (Tie-In)

Nadja is an American experimental horror film by Michael Almereyda, produced by David Lynch. It’s a retelling of the classic Dracula tale, updated for Gen-X, though it feels much more like a reboot of the forgotten Dracula sequel, Dracula's Daughter. The film stars Suzy Amis, Galaxy Craze, Martin Donovan, Elina Löwensohn, and Peter Fonda; it premiered on September 13, 1994, at the Toronto International Film Festival. October Films distributed it a year later, releasing it on a limited number of screens on September 1, 1995.

Nadja Movie Poster

The production behind this film is intriguing. It seems Michael Almereyda had been seeking funding for years but ran out of capital. That’s when David Lynch entered the picture. After a meeting with Almereyda, Lynch agreed not only to a cameo but also offered to bankroll the entire project. Needless to say, his influence truly helped elevate this from a standard arty vampire movie to a midnight cult movie that picked up a mild amount of steam.

This is a vampire film that takes numerous characters, settings, and thematic elements from the 1897 novella, Dracula by Bram Stoker. It’s presented in an arthouse style with black and white photography, pixelated camera effects, and a tremendous mix of modern (for the time) songs from artists like Portishead, My Bloody Valentine, and Spacehog. And damn if it doesn’t make smoking look uber-cool.