Nosferatu (1922)

Date Of Release: 4^th March 1922

Director: F.W. Murnau

Producer: Enrico Dieckmann & Albin Grau

Starring: Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schroder, Alexander Granach, Ruth Landshoff, Wolfgang Heinz  

Running Time: 94 minutes

Distributor: Film Arts Guild

Review
 

This iconic German horror movie was an unauthorised adaption of Bram Stokers Dracula. The studio was not able to obtain any rights to the novel so names, places and other little details had to be changed. Count Dracula became known as Count Orlok and a Vampire became known as the Nosferatu. Despite this and all of the legal battles that went with it, it not only became one of the first vampire movies, but developed an enormous cult following that kept it alive as one of the most popular horror movies ever.

What many people from our generation don’t realise is that, the film is a silent film in the sense that it has no speaking parts whatsoever. There is music that helps to set the scene and written dialogue to help you with what is going on in the story. This unfortunately, puts a lot of people of, and in turn, the film is not given a chance and brushed to the side as boring. For those who do give the film a chance however, are not disappointed. The scenery is amazing. They were shot in various places in Slovakia. The film had a whole dark romanticism to it, making it very appealing for horror fans.

One of the most iconic scenes in the film is where you see the shadow of Count Orlok ascending a stair case with his arms almost stretched out. Scenes like this may not scare today’s audiences but back then, it would have certainly caused a few sleepless nights. This image of this devil like creature, breaking into an innocent persons home to feed upon them had many people in hysterics. The vampire myth was almost being relived again.

This is the only film of its kind. If I’m being honest, I could not watch another film made in this way. I unfortunately have grown up in a society that likes noise! This film however has stayed with me ever since I first watched it, due to the fact that it used to scare me but now that I can appreciate its beauty. This film has managed to stand the test of time and I’m pretty sure that it will continue to do so.

Rating: 9/10 – If this film is Nos-fer-you then I suggest you give it another try!