Customer Reviews

Nosferatu

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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Since the introduction of the talkies in the 1930s, it is not the easiest job in the world to watch silent movies, especially full-length features. It is interesting, rather than entertaining, to see how they overcame the limitations in telling a story using only moving pictures: exaggerated facial expressions; brief storyboards; simplified story lines; and expressionistic camera angles. German director F. W. Murnau's classic vampire movie, Nosferatu, made in 1921, is a case in point. Murnau pulls out all the stops and shows just why the German film industry of the 1920s was considered so innovative. He effectively creates an atmosphere of menace through using every visual effect imaginable, including the use of time lapse photography, speeding up the film, the use of shadow to suggest menace, filming through a microscope, and many other techniques, some of which are impressive even by today's jaded standards.

Max Shreck is an intriguing Nosferatu. His pointed nose and ears, emaciated body, staring, shifty eyes, rats' teeth, and bald pate with just a tuft of grey hair behind the ears, is both menacing and humorous. This is not the suave embodiment of evil as portrayed by Bela Lugosi, but a vision of evil as corrupt and foul as his taste for blood. You can almost smell the centuries of decay emanating from him.

An interesting film that is easy to admire. Murnau, his crew and cast deserve credit for creating a celluloid masterpiece. It is little wonder that silent movies sit uncomfortably with modern audiences. Films cry out for sound. I never forgot for a moment that I was watching a silent movie. However, silent movie making is an art in itself, and a difficult one. These early filmmakers deserve full credit for laying down the techniques for future filmmakers. The Germans led the field. Hitchcock learned a lot from the Germans, as did every filmmaker from the 1930s to the present day. This film shows why.

For those who are interested in the history of film making, it might be an idea to watch this back to back with Shadow of the Vampire. Shadow of the Vampire was made in 2001 and is based loosely, oh so very loosely, on the making of Nosferatu. It is based on the interesting premise that Max Shreck was not an actor but a real vampire. A fun idea and effectively carried through. However, it does recreate the atmosphere and conditions of early filmmaking. Shadow of the Vampire is an excellent film in its own right, but if you watch this film after watching Nosferatu, then it will help make you appreciate the craft of those silent movie makers of old.

Incidentally, when I recently saw this is the Soho Curzon in London, it has a live accompaniment of an accordion and a cello, composed by the Dane, Helle Solberg. Scene by scene it captured the spirit of the story exactly. It is a pity that a version of this film has not been released using that score.

We must all be extremely thankful that Stoker's widow couldn't completely destroy this film, because we in the Vampire-Fanatics Community would be nowhere without it. Bela Lugosi may have turned Stoker's monster into a suave ladies man, and since then Dracula has been famous for that role, but Max Schreck as the Dracula-based Graf Orlock IS Stoker's MONSTER. With the bald head, white skin, bat-like ears, gnarled teeth, and bony fingers, no one has ever been as scary him. If you were face to face with Satan he'd probably be easier to look at than Orlock. Honestly, though, that's the high point of the movie is Schreck as Orlock. The plot is relatively the same as all Dracula movies, seeing as how they're all based on Stoker's novel, but if you have to judge which is best, and you can't because the plot is all the same, then this one gets high points for Schreck's grotesque masterpiece. If there had ever been a movie with Schreck and Lugosi as vampires, both the stars, it would rule over all, but would ego's clash?

(by the way, i hate the 1979 remake version and i hate the Dracula version that has the Phillip Glass score. These classics are great as they were made....

This slient film masterpiece,desinged by Albin Grau and directed by F.W Murnau,one of the three masters of the German cinema,is an adaption of Bram Stoker's classic novel Dracula.

In the 1830's,Harker,the young clerk of a real estate agent,leaves his wife Mina in order to conduct the sale of some property with the mysterious Count Dracula(Nosferatu-undead)in Romania.He falls in the clutches of the count but escapes.Leaving his castle with a number of earth-filled coffins,the count travels by ship to Mina's town.The entire crew of the ship dies,and when it arrives in port a swarm of rats descends upon the city.Meanwhile,Harker has returned to Mina whith his tale of Count Dracula.She resolves to destroy the vampire by keeping him at her bedside until sunrise,when the sun's rays will destroy the monster's body.

Murnau's inspired editing,lighting,and direction and poerformance by Max Schreck as the vampire with taloned fingers,long pointy ears and jerky walk makes"Nosferatu" a true "Symphony of Horror" NOT RATED 1922 Starring Max Shreck and Alexander Granach. Black and White,silent.

The English language version of Friedrich Murnau's 1922 masterpiece, Nosferatu, marketed through Amazon, is recommended for fans of vampires, vampire movies, Bram Stoker's book, and silent movies.

The movie is based on Bram Stoker's book, Dracula. The English text translation (a silent movie has no direct dialogue) is somewhat different from what I expected. In the original German version, to avoid copyright and legal problems, the producers changed the names of Stoker's characters. Dracula became Count Orlock, for example; John and Mina Harker became, in the 1922 German version, Thomas and Ellen Kuller, and London of the 1890's became Whisburg of the 1830's. This version has returned the names of most of the characters: Dracula, Renfield, John Harker, and others, with the exception of Mina, who somehow became "Nina". This version is set in a town called "Bremen". I find it interesting that a reference is made to a "plague"; it is my understanding that the word "Nosferatu" is a German corruption of two slavic words meaning "disease carrier". Some creative license is taken with the characters; for example, John and "Nina" are already married at the beginning of the movie. (Probably the movie closest to the plot of the original Stoker book is "Bram Stoker's Dracula", released a decade ago by Francis Ford Coppola.)

The acting is typical of the silent film era: exaggerated facial expressions and gestures compensate for the lack of voice dialog; make-up is designed to enhance facial features which would be lost in the high-contrast film of the day.

Friedrich Murnau was, in my humble opinion, a genius, and the appearance of the Vampire most closely resembles Stoker's original description of the Dracula character, portrayed here by Max Schrek, whose erie interpretation of the character at Murnau's direction has been unmatched to this day. Gustav von Wagenheim gave a credible performance in the role of Harker. The lovely Greta Schroeder, portraying "Nina" Harker, might still increase the heartrates of a few of us old romantics with this 80-year-old performance.

The photography is exceptional considering the film emulsions and technology of the day: in one scene the actions of a venus fly-trap are captured with remarkable clarity. The upper part of the Count's head is unfortunately out of camera in one scene. Since the movie had to be shot and processed before it could be previewed, the special effects were remarkable. The text, translated into English, is of course quite clear, being edited into the film most likely during preparation of this version. The actual text is, in some cases, somewhat different than in older preparations of this film; I should like to see the original German text used (if still in existance) and see how it translates. In fact, the only German in the film is seen on a rug that "Nina" is embroidering: "Ich liebe dich" (I love you).

I might mention here that I much prefer text insertions used in silent movies to the modern subtitles when translating a movie from one language to another; this way I miss neither the performance nor the dialogue.

The music is well-orchestrated and seems appropriate to a movie made in Europe in the 1920's; even so, I had rather imagined the original musical score for a movie house then and there to be provided by an organ. (In the United States, I believe, movie theatres traditionally employed a piano player for silent movies).

And, no, I'm not going to reveal the ending, for the many who have not seen Nosferatu.

For about fifteen dollars, any fan or student of vampirism, the Dracula legend, or horror movies can have an understandable version of a movie long thought to be forever lost (which is another story). I recommend this VHS tape without reservation.

The top-notch acting, the creepiness of the black and white, it's all there. What more can I say that the other viewers haven't? Nosferatu is a masterpiece in every way, and is first in it's class.

If you want good vampire horror, then check this film out, this beats Bram Stoker's Dracula, Dracula (1931), and all three From Dusk Till Dawn movies combined! It's black and white, it's silent, it's awesome! I was truly impressed by Schreck's work as Nosferatu/Graf Orlock. I thought Gustav Von Wagenheim did an okay job with playing Harker, but he was a little arrogant and cocky to the people that took care of him, even Graf Orlock. But he wasn't THAT arrogant and cocky, just a LITTLE eansy weansy bit. Greta Schroder was good as Nina, she too was an example of old-fashioned acting, by turning her head and then leaning it back showing her white neck, and petting her boquet of flowers as if they were kittens. But oh well, I guess I have to remember that it was made in 1922 and that it is an example of showing beauty. Get the movie and watch it, see for yourself just how good it is.

This movie is when actors did not talk, they just acted out their emotions, sometimes to the point where you could just laugh out loud. The neat thing about the film is that Max Shrek, really really really looks like a vampire. He doesn't come across as so much scary, almost resigned to have to live like an animal, but really creepy. The movie follows the same plot as Bram Stoker's Dracula. It is easy to follow and is entertaining. I guess the main thing about the film is that Murreu used alot of different camera shots that had not been used before, like having several different scenarios going at one time. This is now just normal but back than it was really fabulous and made hem famous. Another neat thing is that I watched "Shadow of the Vampire" first than watched the original, Nosferatu. It was fun to compare the two and think about the director as I watched the original. It was also fun to remember Greta in The Shadow and to to see her in this film. Also it helps to either have read Bram Stoker's Dracula or watched it. There is a good one with Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves. I liked it, it was directed by Francis Ford Coppola. This film is worth a look, if you can handle black and white and narration.

Lisa Nary

I LOVE this movie. Really. i am just about as big a film buff as you can get, and this is a movie that just GLOWS for me. I don't need to tell you the plot (it's printed above), but I will say this: The story strays slightly from the Bram Stoker novel (I've read it), but it is still THE BEST FILM INTERPERETATION OF THE "DRACULA" STORY IN ALL HISTORY!!! Well, it's also tied with the 1979 re-make, which was also a peice of genius. Now, some things that just slightly let the movie down:

THE ACTING:
Well, the acting is actually pretty good. Max Schreck is just Bram Stokers brainchild personified. But that Gustav von Wagenhiem is a little...clownish. I mean, I know in silent movies you have to overact. But that doesn't involve laughing your head off and chucking a book on the floor is if it were some sort of beast from a Steven King novel. Oh, well. I guess the times are starting to change.
THE DIFFERENT DISTRIBUTERS:
Not belonging to any one distributer, there are about a kajillion different versions of it on both video and DVD. The video I have is great. But, there are better versions. For example: My video is in stark black-and-white, VERY HIGH CONTRAST. The title cards are just plain "Arial Bold" text on a black background. And the music is an awesome full orchestra with few flaws (except for electric guitars at points, and Harkers theme is like circus music or something.) Now, I recently saw, on AMC, The same film. This had the film filtered different colors to show differences between day and night, and make the atmosphere better. The title cards are insanely creepy, spidery fonts on parchment paper, with a big, ugly bat head above the text. The music was an AMAZINGLY PERFECT gothic, rich, pipe organ score. The AMC version was WAY better. Now, also. My video has the charecters names like they are in the novel, like "Count Dracula". The AMC has the names the way F.W. Murnau had them, like "Graf Orlok". So, which one is better? The AMC version, in my opinion.
NOW, WE MOVE ON:
MY FAVORITE SCENES IN THE MOVIE:
(1) When Dracula enters Harker's bedroom.
(2) Any scene from the ship. Especially,
(3)...when he rises up from the coffin.
(4) When Dracula walks up the staircase and kills Nina.
THE FINAL WORD:
A genuinly scary, surreal and stylish, extremely well-crafted motion picture. A definate recommendation.

I adore the imagery and expressionist values of this film. When I saw that they re-released the film here in the U.K., I thought, brilliant! My version of this classic has a sepia tint, which I thought added to the sinister feel, but my complaint is the music score by 'Art Zoyd'(I think thats how it's spelt). Although I like electronic/Ambient etc style music, it didn't somehow fit well with the film. Personally I felt it should have had a organ soundtrack, something more melodic. The film often seems obscure at times and it can be easy to lose interest. One of my other favourite silent horrors is the excellently sinister 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari', another example of German expressionism. I also enjoyed the 1979 Herzog version in which Gary Numan look-a-like, Klaus Kinski plays the titular character. I think Max Schreck makes a convincing and creepy vampyre. His performance will live long in your memory long after the film. Bram Stokers wife tried to have this film destroyed, luckily fate stepped in, and the rest is history.