Nosferatu (1922)

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, All Movie Guide

Running Time: 93 mins
Nosferatu (1922)

Nosferatu
Being that this film was made in 1922, it is understandable that every technique was used to give films more creativity including some coloring of scenes and one scene of a negative image. I have always enjoyed that being a photographer but it has to be used very discretely. And the wagon going up a hill probably was not the right scene since they had already used the technique of speeding up the scene by taking out frames. The rising Dracula out of his coffin was a good effect and they used plenty of rats to get the image of filth.

Horror films are not my forte so I can not give this a high rating but still acceptable at 3.5 (/5).

There was not any commentator dialogue as one of the special features, but it did have some nice clips from other old films (1921-1931) by F.W. Murnau:
The Haunted Castle-1921
Phantom-1922
The Last Laugh-1924
Faust-1926
Tabu-1931
and I look forward toward watching these films if available.

It also have "Meeting the Count" where they compare the styles of the Novel by Bram Stoker, Screenplay by Henrik Galeen, Film by Murnau and the Radio Play by Orson Welles (loved his voice).