NOSFERATU

Despite being over one hundred years old, this film still packs a wallop! Nosferatu is a German movie released in 1922. Its history is almost as entertaining as the film itself.

Nosferatu is an archaic Romanian word meaning “vampire”. Though aspects of the story are altered, and all the character names are changed, there is no mistaking that its source material is Braham Stoker’s novel, Dracula. This was even noted in the film’s intertitles. Because the use of the novel was unauthorized, Stoker’s heirs sued, and a court eventually ordered all copies of the film to be destroyed! As fate would have it, several copies survived, and the film has gone on to be highly regarded by cinephiles the world over. It is regularly cited as one of the most influential movies of its genre.

As a teenager, I went through a phase where I was enthralled with classic horror films. Frankenstein with Boris Karloff, Dracula with Lon Chaney, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy, The Invisible Man… there were just so many. Most of these movies had fallen into public domain so they would regularly be featured on popular schlock theater-type broadcast blocks on weekend network TV. Given my high regard for the genre, it’s odd that I hadn’t sought out Nosferatu before now. But now I have. And it didn’t let me down. What a great flick.

Given the mastery of both wide scenic shots and the lighting details in closer scenes, it’s difficult to comprehend that this entire movie was filmed on a tiny budget using one single camera. Its content was considered controversial, the film was moderately received when it originally debuted, and the production company filed for bankruptcy shortly after Nosferatu was released. This would be their only completed project.

The original musical score has been mostly lost. When the film began to see a resurgence, several different composers would create scores for it. Depending on which version of the film you see (many bootleg versions were created through the years), the score could be completely different. The version I watched started off with a soprano singer and it immediately felt anachronistically jarring when juxtaposed with the original footage. Thankfully the score soon morphed into a more appropriate orchestral one, which better melded with the visuals.

The acting in silent-era films is most often over the top, and that’s certainly the case here. But when Count Orlok (this film’s version of Count Dracula) is on screen, he’s so reserved, slow-paced, and still, that it enhances the sinister nature of his character. Make no mistake, he’s evil.

Though the movie is titled for a vampire, Count Orlok’s time on screen is rather limited. The true story centers on Thomas Hutter (a realtor who travels to Transylvania to meet with Count Orlok) and his wife Ellen. Thomas travels to Transylvania to sell Count Orlok a piece of property. It’s only after Count Orlok relocates to his new property (which is across from the Hutter’s home), that plague and death begin to take over the town. It falls upon Ellen, with whom Count Orlok has become obsessed, to take matters into her own hands in an attempt to end this curse upon her community.

Current and future film lovers should be elated for years to come that some copies of Nosferatu survived the court ruling issued in 1925!