One of the silent era's most influential masterpieces, Nosferatu's eerie, gothic feel -- and a chilling performance from Max Shrek as the vampire -- set the template for the horror films that followed.
One of the silent era's most influential masterpieces, Nosferatu's eerie, gothic feel -- and a chilling performance from Max Shrek as the vampire -- set the template for the horror films that followed.
F. W. Murnau's landmark vampire film Nosferatu isn't merely a variation on Bram Stoker's Dracula: it's a direct steal, so much so that Stoker's widow went to court, demanding in vain that the Murnau film be suppressed and destroyed. The character names have been changed to protect the guilty (in the original German prints, at least), but devotees of Stoker will have little trouble recognizing their Dracula counterparts. The film begins in the Carpathian mountains, where real estate agent Hutter
(Gustav von Wagenheim) has arrived to close a sale with the reclusive Herr Orlok (Max Schreck). Despite the feverish warnings of the local peasants, Hutter insists upon completing his journey to Orlok's sinister castle. While enjoying his host's hospitality, Hutter accidently cuts his finger-whereupon Orlok tips his hand by staring intently at the bloody digit, licking his lips. Hutter catches on that Orlok is no ordinary mortal when he witnesses the vampiric nobleman loading himself into a coffin in preparation for his journey to Bremen. By the time the ship bearing Orlok arrives at its destination, the captain and crew have all been killed-and partially devoured. There follows a wave of mysterious deaths in Bremen, which the local authorities attribute to a plague of some sort. But Ellen, Hutter's wife, knows better. Armed with the knowledge that a vampire will perish upon exposure to the rays of the sun, Ellen offers herself to Orlok, deliberately keeping him "entertained" until sunrise. At the cost of her own life, Ellen ends Orlok's reign of terror once and for all. Rumors still persist that Max Schreck, the actor playing Nosferatu, was actually another, better-known performer in disguise. Whatever the case, Schreck's natural countenance was buried under one of the most repulsive facial makeups in cinema history-one that was copied to even greater effect by Klaus Kinski in Werner Herzog's 1979 remake - Nosferatu the Vampyre. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Murnau proved his directorial artistry in Sunrise for Fox about three years earlier, but in this picture he's a master artisan demonstrating not only a knowledge of the subtler side of directing but in photography.
As vampire movies go, few are more memorable than Nosferatu, which is not only the first screen version of Dracula, but, in some ways, remains the best.
Before there was Bela Lugosi, there was Max Schreck. Grab this ultimate edition of one of the greatest of all horror films, preferably during daylight hours.
After the destruction was ordered of all negatives and prints, the story of Nosferatu's survival beyond death is almost as preternatural as Count Orlok's own shadowy existence.
Oft-homaged silent horror film from 1922 Germany is fantastically eerie, relevantly creepy, even in the 21st century. Somewhat based on Bram Stoker's late-19th century literary horror classic Dracula, it tells the story of Thomas Hutter, who travels to Transylvania and is welcomed into Count Orlok's castle. Little
does Thomas know that Orlok has a maniacal and arguably violent obsession with Ellen, Thomas's own wife.Full Review: http://wp.me/p1Urcx-w3
November 14, 2011
Alexander Diminiano
Super Reviewer
Images from this film will be forever burned into my mind.
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