Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror

1922

NR

October is finally here and I wanted to start the spookiest month of the year off with a review of a horror film. Today we are travelling all the way back to 1922. Yes, you read that correctly. This film was originated in Germany in 1922 and is a silent film, but didn’t reach the United States until 1929 with English intertitles and subtitles. It is credited as being one of the most influential horror films of all time and it is one of the earliest film adaptation of Dracula, but we’ll discuss that later on. This is the first time I have seen this film, so let’s break it down.

The story revolves mostly around three main characters; Count Orlok (Max Schreck), Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wagenheim), and Ellen Hutter (Greta Schröder). The setting is in the fictional German town of Wisborg. Thomas Hutter (referred to as Hutter in the film) works in Real Estate and his boss, Herr Knock (Alexander Granach), tells him that he must travel to Transylvania to meet up with a potential new customer, who happens to be Count Orlok. Hutter informs his wife, Ellen, that he must leave on official business and that she should stay with their good friends Harding (Georg H. Schnell) and Annie (Ruth Landshoff). Hutter starts his travel, but stops in at the local inn/hotel for dinner, but ends up staying the night. He was talked into to doing so by the local townspeople due to werewolves prowling at night and the mere mention that he was headed to Count Orlok’s castle. In the morning, a carriage driver drops him off at the bridge as nighttime is approaching, but he finally reaches his destination and is greeted by Orlok that night.

Hutter has dinner with Orlok, but things don’t seem quite right. Hutter accidentally cuts his thumb and Orlok is quickly trying to suck out the blood. He pulls his hand away, but is reluctant to be around him for the rest of the visit. The next morning, nobody is stirring in the castle and everything seems odder than it did the night before. Hutter writes a letter to Ellen informing her about his experience at the castle and tells her that he noticed a couple of “mosquito bites” on his neck. Orlok doesn’t wake up until dawn and signs the papers to move into his new estate in Wisborg, which happens to be across the way from Thomas and Ellen. Orlok spots a picture of Ellen and says that she has a “lovely neck”. Caught even more off guard, later that night Hutter breaks out his book about vampires and notices that there are a lot of similarities between the things described in the book and Count Orlok. He spends the rest of the night worrying that he may be a victim and quickly after reading an excerpt, Orlok appears at Thomas’s doorway. At the same time at the Harding home, Ellen goes into a trance and it seems as if she knows exactly what is happening at Count Orlok’s castle. She is awakened from her sleepwalking and suddenly faints.

The morning after, Hutter discovers that Orlok sleeps in a casket during the day and is terrified when he discovers this. When dawn approaches, he notices Orlok loading numerous caskets in a coach to be sent to his new estate and Orlok happens to climb into the top one. As soon as Hutter sees Orlok leave, he escapes the castle through the upstairs window. Although he escapes, he is knocked out by the high fall. He wakes up in a hospital and when he is ready to leave, he returns home as soon as he can. The rest of the film shows Hutter’s struggle to get back home and keep his wife safe and Count Orlok’s plan to find Ellen, drain her blood, and destroy the rest of Wisborg.

I had a good feeling I already knew how Nosferatu was going to be laid out before watching the film. It is the foundation in which not only vampire films are based upon, but a lot of horror films in general. As far as the horror genre is concerned, this film is as classic as can be. The biggest question I had before watching was if this nearly 100-year-old film is entertaining in 2020 and my ultimate conclusion is that it is still fairly entertaining. Now for an even bigger question, is this nearly 100-year-old film still relevant in 2020? And for the most part, I would say it is largely out of touch with the current horror product. While it is an interesting film and one that set a precedent for the majority of horror films that succeeded it, 2020 viewers of this film aren’t likely going to be enthralled with this movie and this is largely due to the fact that there is no sound other than the musical score. I do have to say though, the musical score in this film is fantastic and it really sets the mood for the entirety of it.

Earlier I mentioned that this was an adaptation of Dracula and it happened to be one of the earliest film adaptation of the popular novel, but this film was done without the permission of the late author’s widowed wife, who was in charge of his estate. The author of the novel’s estate wasn’t pleased with the similarities in his book and this film and ordered for the copies of the film to be destroyed after a court ruling in the author’s estate’s favor. Although all copies of Nosferatu were ordered to be destroyed, some copies survived and it happened to become one of the biggest influences on the horror genre. Along with its controversy, there were some Anti-Semitic undertones in the film and if history tells us anything, early-to-mid 20th Century Germany wasn’t exactly the most accepting of people of the Jewish faith. To see these undertones in this film however, you would really have to be looking for it. It isn’t exactly in plain sight.

I personally think the film was fine for what it was and I was excited to watch it for the first time, but I can’t honestly say that I am rushing to watch it again. I am glad I watched it and I think any fans of horror should definitely watch it, but I think most viewers would agree that it isn’t worth it to watch over and over. The only reason I even knew of Nosferatu was because I grew up watching SpongeBob Squarepants. It was on many must see lists of horror films and I’m glad I took a chance on it. One thing that I totally didn’t understand about the film were the scenes that somehow characters knew what was going on with other characters in another setting. For example, Ellen somehow knew that Hutter was in danger at Count Orlok’s castle even though it was a 2-day trip to get to his castle. This isn’t like an instance where somehow someone has a feeling that their loved one is in trouble, she fully understood what was happening. Did they have telepathy? What was going on? There was another scene like that towards the end and I realize that this is a minimal thing, but this is a big question mark regarding the storyline.

Would I recommend Nosferatu? Sure, but I wouldn’t say that it is a must watch unless you absolutely love the horror genre. This film is more of an appreciation of how far the industry itself has come in the last 100 years, rather than focusing on the quality of the movie. In many ways, Nosferatu was a groundbreaking film and although Count Orlok looks like something that nightmares are derived from, it isn’t a scary film whatsoever by 2020 standards. Now was it scary in 1922? I would say so. I would feel safe saying people of all ages should be fine watching this film, but children aren’t likely going to be interested in a film with no dialogue other than having to read intertitles and subtitles.

GRADE: 3.0/5

Yacs

Movie Review: Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror