costume masks
nosferatu
f. w. murnaus landmark vampire film nosferatu isnt merely a variation on bram stokers dracula its a direct steal so much so that stokers 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 orloks sinister castle . while enjoying his hosts 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 hutters 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 orloks 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 schrecks 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 herzogs 1979 remake nosferatu the vampyre . hal erickson rovi .
dvd rating not rated runtime 81 color image entertainment 01 02 2001
actors wolfgang heinz guido herzfeld ruth landshoff max nemetz g.h. schnell max schreck greta schroeder aspect ratio 16 9 created by stage pcm created date 2014 08 22 21 17 08.0 director f.w. murnau duration 81 dvd region code 1 edition special edition languages english modified by stage pcm modified date 2015 03 27 19 37 08.0 mpaa rating not rated record label image entertainment release date 1221436800000 studio & production company sony pictures home entertainment