Nosferatu (1922)

Synopsis

The movie Nosferatu (1922), also known as Körkarlen, is a silent German film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife (Greta Schröder) of his estate agent (Gustav von Wangenheim) and brings the plague to their town. [4]

In the year 1838, in the fictitious German town of Wisborg, a man named Thomas Hutter is dispatched to Transylvania by his employer, a real estate agent named Herr Knock. His mission is to meet a new client, Count Orlok, who intends to purchase a house opposite Hutter’s own residence. As Hutter embarks on his journey, he halts at an inn where the mere utterance of Orlok’s name instills fear in the locals.

Hutter travels by coach to a castle, where he is greeted by Count Orlok. During dinner, Hutter accidentally slices his thumb, prompting Orlok to attempt to suck the blood from the wound. However, Hutter, repulsed, withdraws his hand. The following morning, Hutter awakens to discover fresh puncture wounds on his neck, which he attributes to mosquito bites. That night, Orlok finalizes the paperwork to buy the house and takes notice of a photograph of Hutter’s wife, Ellen, commenting on her “beautiful neck.” Reading a book about vampires that he had taken from the local inn, Hutter begins to suspect that Orlok is a vampire. With no means to secure the door, he takes refuge in his room as midnight draws near. The door mysteriously opens on its own, and Orlok enters. Hutter conceals himself under the bed covers and loses consciousness. Simultaneously, his wife awakens from her sleep and, in a trance-like state, steps onto the railing of her balcony, attracting the attention of her friend Harding. When the doctor arrives, she calls out Hutter’s name and seems to see Orlok in his castle, menacing her unconscious husband.

The subsequent day, Hutter explores the castle, but retreats back to his room after discovering the coffin in which Orlok lies dormant in the crypt. Hours later, Orlok stacks coffins on a coach and climbs into the last one before the coach departs. Hutter hurries home upon learning this. The coffins are loaded onto a schooner, where the sailors find rats in the coffins. The entire ship’s crew eventually perish, and Orlok assumes control. When the ship docks in Wisborg, Orlok disembarks unnoticed, carries one of his coffins, and relocates to the house he purchased.

Following Orlok’s arrival, numerous deaths occur in the town, which the town’s doctors attribute to an unspecified plague brought by the rats from the ship. Ellen reads the book that Hutter found; it states that a vampire can be vanquished if a pure-hearted woman distracts the vampire with her allure and willingly offers him her blood. She decides to sacrifice herself. She opens her window to invite Orlok in and feigns illness to send Hutter to fetch Professor Bulwer, a physician. After he departs, Orlok enters and drinks her blood, but the sun rises, causing Orlok to disappear in a puff of smoke. Ellen survives just long enough to be held by her grief-stricken husband.

Count Orlok’s castle in the Carpathian Mountains is later depicted as destroyed.

Cast

Max Schreck as Count Orlok
Gustav von Wangenheim as Thomas Hutter
Greta Schröder as Ellen Hutter
Alexander Granach as Knock
Georg H. Schnell as Shipowner Harding
Ruth Landshoff as Ruth

Trivia

Even though “Nosferatu” is the title character, he has only nine minutes of screen time. [3]

After Bram Stoker’s widow Florence successfully sued the film’s producers for plagiarism, the court ordered that all copies of the film be destroyed. About five prints survived, however. [3]

Reviews

“Despite the limitations of cameras at that time, the film remains absolutely gorgeous. The cinematography is masterful with every frame so packed with detail and purpose.” [2]

“There is a sense of mystical elegance to the shot; not just because of it’s iconic status and cultural significance – it is pure Gothic horror, unnerving through its visual majesty. ” [3]