Title: Nosferatu
Year: 1922
Director: F.W Murnau
Country: Germany
Language: German
F.W Murnau’s 1922 classic Nosferatu stars the creepy Max Schrek, who plays a merciless
vampire named Count Orlok. The vampire is interested in a new castle in which
to lure his victims and, more importantly, he lusts for the blood of his real
estate agent’s wife.
Nosferatu won’t
just scare you, it will haunt you. Murnau will take you to a place where
madness lurks around every corner and your worst nightmares become reality. The
film is about all the things mankind has worried about: death, insanity,
disease, war. It is shocking yet brilliant. One of the reasons it is so
shocking is because of Max Schreck, an ugly man whose already tall stature and ugly
look made him perfect to fill the role of the immortal vampire. Unlike Bela
Lugosi, who played a flamboyant vampire in Todd Browning’s 1931 version of
Bram Stroker’s novel, Schreck is anything but that. He plays the vampire like a
rabid creature that is filled with hunger and hate. He is a remorseless predator
that exists only in the bowels of hell.
Like most vampire movies,
Nosferatu is filled with sexual undertones. However, unlike most vampire
movies the sexuality presented in Nosferatu is rather terrifying. It holds us
in our fear of AIDS and rape, both of which continue to be present in our
modern society. The vampire is an unholy being, who has desires that stretch
far beyond finding a mate. It stalks
after the innocent and those who find themselves in the wrong place at the
wrong time.
Many film historians believe that the expressionistic style
of Weimar-era Germany reflected the mood of the German people following World
War One. Considering the pessimistic
tone of the film, it’s not hard to believe that Post war Germany must have been
an awful place to live. Though it’s full of despair, Nosferatu
is a classic that certainly stands
the test of time. See it immediately and buy the brilliant Masters of Cinema blu-ray edition. Praise it! 5/5
I’m a reader of film reviews, and such reviews as this are those that take me to the very core of the film…thank you
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