100 Years Later: Nosferatu

Director: F.W. Murnau
Starring: Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder
Running time: 94 minutes

Very few people are not aware of the tale of Count Dracula, whose mythology was created by Bram Stoker with his 1897 novel, Dracula. This mythos has been further cemented by an incredibly large amount of pop culture ranging from films, televisions shows, video games and literature. Dracula has, without a doubt, become one of the greatest and most well-known fantasy monsters and, with that, vampires have become one of the most popular creatures in folklore. 

One of the first on-screen representations of the infamous character is F. W. Murnau’s 1922 Nosferatu, which at 100 years of age has remained one of the most acclaimed films on the subject to ever be made. Murnau was a director mostly associated with the cinema of the German Expressionism movement, an early 1900s style of film that focused on high and unconventional camera angles, grandiose set designs with an emphasis on deep shadows, and using light to convey emotions and story. German Expressionism was a sort of anti-realist genre in which the films looked surreal and fantastical - something that aided a film like Nosferatu very well; it is a genre that has gone on to influence a vast amount of American cinema - most recently with Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth.

Many changes have been made to the lore of Dracula throughout the years, and Nosferatu is undoubtedly one of the least accurate adaptations (the most accurate probably being Coppola’s impressive 1992 adaptation). Firstly, the film's location is changed to Germany and the characters, the ones who haven’t been omitted, have their names changed i.e. Count Dracula to Count Orlok. There was speculation whether these were changed to avoid a lawsuit from the Stoker estate as the rights for the characters were never bought. However, it is mostly accepted that these changes were made to allow the film to be more marketable to a German audience. Nosferatu was an incredibly popular film on release and brought Murnau into the public eye - and is probably a large reason as to how he was able to emigrate to Hollywood in 1926. 

Max Shreck, who plays the creepy Count Orlok, gives arguably one of the most iconic performances in the whole of cinema. Visually, he looks absolutely terrifying with his long clawed hands, mouth full of sharp teeth and long pointy ears - not to mention the way he moves through the shadows and is often lurking, waiting for the viewer to notice him. His face almost feels entirely devoid of a soul and his deep stare penetrates into the very core of your body. It is interesting to note how unromantic the depiction of Orlok is in this film; in many subsequent adaptations, Dracula is a love-stricken monster who feels somewhat of a tragedy. Whereas in this he feels totally monstrous and on the prowl, looking to ravage. It is a testament to Shreck’s performance that, having only nine minutes of screen time, it remains one of the most influential performances of all time.

There are a number of especially unnerving scenes; some notable ones are where he rises out of his grave to attack an unaware ship worker, or the now famous scene of his shadow walking up a set of stairs. These moments are a real testament to Munrau’s phenomenal use of lighting and editing, which keep the film both spooky and beautiful despite its age. Having never made a non-silent film, Munrau has a clear skill for using breathtaking compositions to create emotion and convey the story in a way that feels genuinely engaging without the use of dialogue. Claustrophobic scenes combine with the Expressionistic sensibilities of strange camera angles and off-kilter movements to make for an incredibly melancholic atmosphere, capturing the true loneliness of the vampire in ways that are still to be bested. 

While Nosferatu isn’t going to scare audiences silly like it might have done back on its release, it remains today an incredible visual spectacle. The scope of the film’s legacy is unfathomable, and the following decades of cinema, both horror and various other genres, owe a gratuitous debt to the film - and also to German Expressionism in general. Having already one remake (Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre), a metafictional version of the production (E. Elias Merhige’s Shadow of the Vampire) and a potential second remake by Robert Eggers, the film’s influence only continues to grow in scale - especially when you consider that these films specifically take influence from Nosferatu, and not just the tale of Dracula itself.

Did you know? All known prints and negatives were destroyed under the terms of settlement of a lawsuit by Bram Stoker's widow. However, the film would subsequently surface through second-generation reels in other countries.