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About this movie

Genres:
Classics, Horror
Language:
English
Running time:
1:24:20
Partner rating:
PG-13
Released:

Cast & Crew

Cast

  1. Lon Chaney The Phantom
  2. Mary Philbin Christine Daae
  3. Norman Kerry Vicomte Raoul de Chagny
  4. Arthur Edmund Carewe Ledoux, the Persian
  5. Gibson Gowland Simon Buquet
  6. Max Schreck Graf Orlok, Nosferatu
  7. Alexander Granach Knock
  8. Gustav von Wangenheim Hutter, His Employee
  9. Greta Schroeder Ellen Hutter
  10. G.H. Schnell Harding, Shipowner

Directors

  1. Rupert Julian
  2. F.W. Murnau

Producers

  1. Carl Laemmle, Jr.
  2. Carl Laemmle, Sr.
  3. Albin Grau

Nosferatu

F. W. Murnau's landmark vampire film Nosferatu isn't merely a variation on Bram Stoker's Dracula: it's a direct steal, so much so that Stoker's widow went to court, demanding in vain that the Murnau film be suppressed and destroyed. The character names have been changed to protect the guilty (in the original German prints, at least), but devotees of Stoker will have little trouble recognizing their Dracula counterparts. The film begins in the ... F. W. Murnau's landmark vampire film Nosferatu isn't merely a variation on Bram Stoker's Dracula: it's a direct steal, so much so that Stoker's widow went to court, demanding in vain that the Murnau film be suppressed and destroyed. The character names have been changed to protect the guilty (in the original German prints, at least), but devotees of Stoker will have little trouble recognizing their Dracula counterparts. The film begins in the Carpathian mountains, where real estate agent Hutter (Gustav von Wagenheim) has arrived to close a sale with the reclusive Herr Orlok (Max Schreck). Despite the feverish warnings of the local peasants, Hutter insists upon completing his journey to Orlok's sinister castle. While enjoying his host's hospitality, Hutter accidently cuts his finger-whereupon Orlok tips his hand by staring intently at the bloody digit, licking his lips. Hutter catches on that Orlok is no ordinary mortal when he witnesses the vampiric nobleman loading himself into a coffin in preparation for his journey to Bremen. By the time the ship bearing Orlok arrives at its destination, the captain and crew have all been killed-and partially devoured. There follows a wave of mysterious deaths in Bremen, which the local authorities attribute to a plague of some sort. But Ellen, Hutter's wife, knows better. Armed with the knowledge that a vampire will perish upon exposure to the rays of the sun, Ellen offers herself to Orlok, deliberately keeping him "entertained" until sunrise. At the cost of her own life, Ellen ends Orlok's reign of terror once and for all. Rumors still persist that Max Schreck, the actor playing Nosferatu, was actually another, better-known performer in disguise. Whatever the case, Schreck's natural countenance was buried under one of the most repulsive facial makeups in cinema history-one that was copied to even greater effect by Klaus Kinski in Werner Herzog's 1979 remake - Nosferatu the Vampyre.

Reviews by Rotten Tomatoes

Scored 'fresh' by Rotten Tomatoes

98%Tomatometer score: 98% positive reviews from professional critics.

percent positive reviews

  1. Positive review
    Variety Staff, Variety Murnau proved his directorial artistry in Sunrise for Fox about three years earlier, but in this picture he's a master artisan demonstrating not only a knowledge of the subtler side of directing... – Full review External link
  2. Positive review
    Kim Newman, Empire Magazine A visual and emotional treat. – Full review External link
  3. Positive review
    Anton Bitel, Film4 FW Murnau's expressionist horror - and the world's first vampire film - still casts its long shadow over the history of both Germany and cinema – Full review External link
  4. Positive review
    Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader The film shows Murnau's uncanny mixture of expressionism and location shooting at its finest. – Full review External link
  5. Positive review
    Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader A masterpiece of the German silent cinema and easily the most effective version of Dracula on record. – Full review External link
  6. Positive review
    Geoff Andrew, Time Out Murnau's classic vampire movie, though not his best film, remains one of the most poetic of all horror films. – Full review External link

Read more reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

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