Our ongoing series reviewing the greatest Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror movies. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.
Directed By: F.W. Murnau
Produced By: Enrico Dieckmann, Albin Grau
Written By: Henrik Galeen, Bram Stoker (novel, uncredited)
Starring: Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder, Georg H. Schnell, Ruth Landshoff
Original Release: 1922
Reviewed By: Aaron Hammonds
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)
Synopsis: The film begins with Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) being sent by his employer Knock (Alexander Granach) to the Carpathian Mountains to visit a new client of theirs, Count Orlock (Max Schreck), leaving behind his wife Ellen (Greta Schröder) with their friends the Hardings (Georg H. Schnell & Ruth Landshoff). The people living near Orlock’s castle are terrified at the mere mention of his name & the local coachmen refuse to even take Hutter there. Hutter is eventually carried to the castle in a mysterious black coach by an anonymous driver (who we quickly realize is Orlock himself). Hutter is greeted at the castle by Count Orlock, who explains that all his servants have retired for the evening. Orlock serves Hutter a late supper, then tries to suck the blood when Hutter accidentally cuts himself with a knife while slicing bread. Hutter is horrified by Orlock’s behavior and goes to bed.
The next morning, Hutter awakens to find what appears to be an empty castle and fresh puncture marks on his neck, which he attributes to mosquitoes. Later that evening, Orlock signs papers that make him the owner of the home across the way from Thomas & Ellen. Musing on Orlock’s strange behavior (and the mysterious wounds on his neck), Thomas leafs through a book called The Book of the Vampires and realizes Orlock is one of the undead. He makes this discovery too late to prevent Orlock from making his way to Hutter’s village and preying on its citizens, until Ellen decides to make the supreme sacrifice to rid them of him.
Review/Commentary: In 1922 Prana Films in Germany released what is still considered one of the greatest horror films of all time, F.W. Murnau’s vampire classic Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. It is often cited as one of the greatest examples of German Expressionism from the silent era, as well as one of the most controversial films of that period.
Did the plot sound familiar? It should to any horror fan; this was the first feature-length adaptation of Bram Stoker’s seminal horror novel Dracula. Murnau and his associates used the novel as the template for their film, changing only the names of the characters and the settings. Unfortunately, they did so without first getting permission from Stoker’s estate (copyright laws regarding film adaptations of literary works were still somewhat murky at the time; film, after all, was still a relatively new art form). Ultimately a judge ruled that the filmmakers had violated copyright and ordered all prints of the film to be destroyed. Fortunately for us, copies survived the attempted purge and the Stoker family eventually paved the legal way for the film to be shown (and now owned).
Much of the language of classic horror films which we take for granted today comes from the German Expressionist movement & this film in particular: dark castles, frightened townspeople, evil forces hiding in the shadows, vampires as creatures of the night who cannot survive the light of day. Orlock himself has become a horror icon, even though some people don’t know him by name. Orlock does not fit the mold of the suave, debonair vampire popularized by Bela Lugosi a decade later in Dracula. He looks more like a rat than a ladies’ man, which is actually more in line with Stoker’s characterization of Dracula himself.
Speaking of rats, one of the creepiest and most clever ideas Murnau came up with was the analogy of Orlock’s arrival to the advent of a plague; when the ship carrying Orlock to the village arrives, Orlock invades the town in the form of thousands of rats. To European audiences who actually grew up in areas that had been ravaged by the Black Death and were still recovering from the nightmare of the War to End All Wars, the image must have been terrifying.
Nosferatu is a classic not only of horror, but of cinema itself; it is usually named among the most important films ever made, regardless of genre. If you’re looking for more than just a slice-n-dice slasher film, if you’re interested in genuine suspense and masterful storytelling, check out this film…
Check out Aaron Hammonds’ blog Aaron’s Movie Madness where he reviews his favorite movies.
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