Nosferatu (Silent)
F.W. Murnau
Open iTunes to preview, buy, and download this movie.
Plot Summary
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.
Credits
Director
Screenwriter
Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
97%- Reviews Counted: 61
- Fresh: 59
- Rotten: 2
- Average Rating: 8.9/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: Murnau proved his directorial artistry in Sunrise for Fox about three years earlier, but in this picture he's a master artisan demonstrating not only a knowledge of the subtler side of directing but in photography.
Fresh: Never mind that much of the story of this first important screen version of the Dracula legend seems corny and dated, for what counts is its atmosphere and its images, which are timeless in their power.
Fresh: Less frightening than haunting, Murnau's film conjures a persistent atmosphere of dread and decay, thanks in part to Max Schreck's immortal performance as Orlok.
Fresh: The metaphysical style is most vividly rendered by Murnau's obsessive use of point-of-view shots, which force a viewer to follow the characters into the abyss of their terrifying visions.
Customer Reviews
Watch it for FREE instead!
This is a classic film that everyone should watch, but why pay $3 for a rental? This is a public domain movie, and as such it is legally available on iTunes from the "Archive Movie Classics" podcast. Free video download! Now if someone would just upload Murnau's "Sunrise" as well, I would be set!
No reason to buy
This movie is public domain, go download it off google video! Save yourself $8.99
Great Movie, but
don't buy it on here, it's public domain. archive.org has it. And my opinion on this movie: They should have kept vampires looking like this instead of Abercrombie models.
Viewers Also Bought
![Dracula (1931)](https://s.mzstatic.com/htmlResources/F3F8/frameworks/images/p.png)
- Dracula (1931)
- Tod Browning
- View In iTunes
![The Bride of Frankenstein](https://s.mzstatic.com/htmlResources/F3F8/frameworks/images/p.png)
- The Bride of Frankenstein
- James Whale
- View In iTunes
![The Mummy (1932)](https://s.mzstatic.com/htmlResources/F3F8/frameworks/images/p.png)
- The Mummy (1932)
- Karl Freund
- View In iTunes
![The Wolf Man (1941)](https://s.mzstatic.com/htmlResources/F3F8/frameworks/images/p.png)
- The Wolf Man (1941)
- George Waggner
- View In iTunes