Director Herzog claimed when he saw the silent movie "Nosferatu" by Murnau, that "it was quite possibly the greatest movie to ever come out in Germany". Since he preferred this version to Stoker's film, we see many thematic elements echo from film to film. Herzog, in addition to being the director, was also the producer. Operating on a low budget, his cast consisting of under 20 members and he himself filmed many scenes in the movie. In addition to this, low-budget also led to Herzog shooting in different locations than originally thought off (not only due to traveling costs and restrictions but also the act of releasing over 5000 rats simply for a film).
Stylistically, Herzog preferred to have a dream-like character in the film. In the dreams of both Lucy and Jonathan, we see no distinct boundary between real-life and the dream. Herzog himself said "For me, genre means an intensive, almost dreamlike stylization on screen, and I feel the vampire genre is one of the richest and most fertile cinema has to offer. There is fantasy, hallucination, dreams and nightmares, visions, fear, and of course, mythology."
The mythological emphasis was seen very clearly in fine detail. Traditional descriptions of vampires included elongated nails and teeth which were seen in both Jonathan's final form and throughout the Count's description. This attention to detail more closely resembles the nature of silent films and ignored Hollywood's plot centered style.
Lastly, Herzog's style makes this movie more so a visual spectacle than a horror film. Most of the movie's eventful scenes leave the audience feeling sad and surprised, less so angered and spiteful.
