Nosferatu: 83 Years and Still Kicking

[ClassicHorror]

Nosferatu: 83 Years Of Horror and Still Kicking
By ClassicHorror

Nosferatu the Led Zeppelin of vampire films, the holy grail of bloodsuckers. Nosferatu has lasted 83 years and is still the most popular silent horror film. Though horror has been around since Georges Melies’s Devils Castle in 1896, horror has not gotten the fame it deserved until F. W. Murnau picked up a little Bram Stoker novel called Dracula, and decided to create a masterpiece. The novel’s centerpiece character was the bloodsucking prince of darkness himself….Count Dracula. Murnau then decided he needed the perfect actor to play this important role, not any ordinary actor would do…..but when we first saw Max Shreck with that makeup, and long taloned claws…we all knew deep inside that we were in store for a very special treat. Thus Max Shreck and F. W. Murnau created a landmark in horror history. But wait a second….Dracula isn’t the only character in this story….

The next person Murnau needed to cast was the character of Hutter a young clerk of a real estate agent…..the actor Alexander Granach fit the bill, and a legacy of horror was born…..
Now that we know the heroes of this story we must now know that this little flick almost DIDN’T survive, and the reason of that is because of Bram Stoker’s widow. Bram Stoker’s widow sued Murnau for making a film of her husbands novel without permission, the copies of the film were ordered to be destroyed…..years later a copy was found, and a true classic was saved from the clutches of the masses.
To protect the film, the title of the film was changed from “Dracula” to “Nosferatu”, and Max Shreck’s character in the film was changed to Count Orlock, thankfully these changes were made because horror today would be so different if the film was never showed to the world.

Nosferatu not only is a true classic which has influenced vampire films to come, but it is also a very enjoyable, and good film. Nosferatu is personally one of my favorite horror films in Classic Horror, and horror for that matter. Without Nosferatu I probably wouldn’t have been into horror the way I am today…nope that’s for damn sure. Nosferatu is filled with great lighting, wonderful music (the Symphony of Horror version is superb), great theatrics, wonderful visuals, spectacular plot, and unforgettable scenes of horror which live up to this day. Max Shreck’s performance is truly unforgettable, how can you forget the dinner scene at the castle when Hutter cuts his finger and Nosferatu stares intently at the bloody digit with piercing cat eyes, and what about the boat scene when the sailor opens up the crate only to have the count rise up from the crate looking to be so tall the head can’t even be seen on the TV screen, shortly killing the whole crew and the captain.

Nosferatu is also one of the closest adaptations of Bram Stoker’s novel. Most Dracula films leave out lots of great parts from the novel, but Nosferatu stays as close to the novel as a film possibly can, and I am glad afterall a novel so great deserves a great film.

As I’ve said its been 83 years and this film has managed to stay alive through countless acts of reproduction and memorabilia. The horror world is truly proud to carry such a fine film in its genre, a film which will be viewed by a countless number of generations to come.

RIP Bram Stoker
RIP Max Shreck (aka Count Orlock
RIP F. W. Murnau
RIP Alexander Granach (aka Hutter)

[phantomstranger]

One of the greatest films of all time. A true classic. Horror fans should be proud to have this one in our camp.

[iamragmar]

Despite Nosferatu being only half as good as I expected, it is probably my favourite horror film. There was a museum of gay recently and I wonder if Murnau and James Whale were included, his homosexuality was supposed to have great significance in the films he made.
I'm still shocked at how under-valued Faust is, on the whole I think it's much better than Nosferatu.
Aparently the only other horror he did was Der Januskopf, has anyone seen this and care to tell how good it is.
Also I think that there has been no other monster or even beautiful woman who has been much more satisfying to look at as Schreck as Nosferatu. Actually... has Schreck been in any other horror films? Because he obviously loved doing Nosferatu.

[werwulf]

This is a TRUE classic. I also belive that Shadow of the Vampire should also be put in this category. Willem Dafoe's acting was masterfull, as was Malkovich.

[phantomstranger]

Originally posted by werwulf
This is a TRUE classic. I also belive that Shadow of the Vampire should also be put in this category. Willem Dafoe's acting was masterfull, as was Malkovich.

I loved this movie! Great concept,great acting. If you haven't seen it, go out and rent it and then watch the original "Nosfeatu" and see how well they fit together.

[Pennywise8]

Nosferatu is the Led Zeppin of Vampire films, but Dracula is the Rolling Stones of Vampire films. Dracula is 1st place, but by a very thin hair.

[slasherman]

yeah..I saw this "new" version...with new electronic music...The dvd I have has to versions...

[bschulte]

Originally posted by phantomstranger
I loved this movie! Great concept,great acting. If you haven't seen it, go out and rent it and then watch the original "Nosfeatu" and see how well they fit together.

I do the Nosferatu/SOTV "double dip" every Halloween and some times in between. I loved the idea of Shadow of the Vampire, and Defoe as Schreck and Malkovich as Murnau were both great.

[alkytrio666]

...what an awesome and influential movie...

[MoonLit Meadow]

I was THIS close to buying a copy of this the other day, as I've wanted to see it for a long time.

But there are about a million versions of it out...I wanna say that I've heard Image Entertainment and Kino released the best versions...however, I've also heard that each have thier flaws....something like one of them has a better picture but really bad music...and the other one has great music but a bad picture?;) I don't know.

Anyone have any advice as to which version of the film to buy?:D