F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu is a century old today

[More_Badass]

Released in Germany on March 4th 1922, this unofficial Dracula adaptation gave cinema and media in general some of its most lasting horror imagery, vampire tropes (ie sunlight kills bloodsuckers), and timelessly creepy turn of Max Schreck as the verminous Count Orlok

In the 100 years since, the striking German expressionist visuals and unnerving Count of Murnau's classic has haunted horror cinema, its influence found in various vampires movies and shows since, from the terrifying Barlow of Tobe Hooper's Salem's Lot to the creeping shadow of Coppola's Dracula and more

​

Beyond the homages of shadowy figures and spidery fingers, Klaus Kinski and Willem Dafoe have embodied the Count themselves for radically different interpretations in the haunting Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) and meta Shadow of the Vampire (2000) respectively

​

Nosferatu is in the public domain in the US, so for intrepid viewers or classic film fans, it shouldn't be hard to find. But Kino Lorber's edition is arguably the best way to watch, HD mastered from the 35mm restoration with an orchestral performance of the original 1922 score. That version can be found streaming on Shudder, Kanopy, Arrow, and elsewhere

​

 

[TransEuropaExpress]

Even with more modern films (obviously) available, I remember seeing this on a local channel when I was probably 12 or so and still found it really unnerving and creepy.

I must have like five different copies of Nosferatu and even own a shirt of the Herzog remake poster art.

 

[DonNadie]

Happy birthday you rascal:

 

[Hoggle]

Great film. I'm on a folklore horror spree at the moment and I've rewatched this recently. Also the Herzog version which is also great (although the Shout Favtory blu ray looks awful. Buy the BFI version if you can).

 

[Nappuccino]

Great film and a good time.

Watching the Invincible Czars accompany the film with an original score is a treat and a half.

 

[zuf]

I've had the blu ray for a while but it's the colour tinted version, which kinda detracts from the experience imo. I need to track down a standard print.

 

[AuthenticM]

I really should fucking watch this movie.

 

[Glasgow Mega-Snake]

Thanks for the recommendation!

I've been watching some early German films, M or Metropolis are great, so I'll definitely try and check this out

 

[xxracerxx]

The film is so good. It has some amazing shots.

 

[Crossing Eden]

I really should fucking watch this movie.

Click to shrink...

I watched it for the first time as part of the curriculum in college. Shit's terrifying and o had trouble sleeping for a couple days.

 

[Disco]

wow 100 years, and still such dope imagery. I've only seen this once but I'm definitely going to rewatch it before that Eggers remake hits.

 

[CoolAssGoat]

Awesome movie. Max Shreck does a wonderful job and his extremely gaunt appearance gives the film a rather unnerving feel.

 

[DarkSora]

Happy birthday you rascal:

Click to shrink...

NOSSSSFERATUUUUU...

 

[Tavernade]

I love this film. I think it's the only silent film I've rewatched.

I do think a lot of it holds up because of how inherently creepy old silent films are, but that's not its fault.

If anyone ever makes that much spoken of horror fighting game, Nosferatu better be in or there's no point.

 

[Violence Jack]

Such a classic and still impressive film that I watched as a kid. This and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari are my two favorite silent films.

 

[More_Badass]

I've had the blu ray for a while but it's the colour tinted version, which kinda detracts from the experience imo. I need to track down a standard print.

Click to shrink...

Color tinted is the standard intended film. Silent films used tint to indicate time of day/tone/etc

 

[swoon]

I've had the blu ray for a while but it's the colour tinted version, which kinda detracts from the experience imo. I need to track down a standard print.

Click to shrink...

the movie was originally tinted and it's somewhat well documented.

in some of my silent film classes, we would watch silent movies without soundtracks because contemporary scores are typically most dissimilar to how it was originally shown because the sheet music wasn't well documented and can drastically change the tone of the film. but that's a pretty miserable way to watch anything.

 

[Aske]

I imagine this is much the same as the way we feel knowing that old statues were painted: we've become accustomed to them without paint, especially the eyes, and the idea of them with paint feels horribly tacky. Same deal with colour tinting black and white film.

 

[zuf]

Color tinted is the standard intended film. Silent films used tint to indicate time of day/tone/etc

Click to shrink...

Ahh that's interesting, didn't know that. It's the BFI blu ray.

Still, I'd like to see a standard black and white version as I'm not a huge fan of the different sepia tones, even if that is sacrilege.

the movie was originally tinted and it's somewhat well documented.

in some of my silent film classes, we would watch silent movies without soundtracks because contemporary scores are typically most dissimilar to how it was originally shown because the sheet music wasn't well documented and can drastically change the tone of the film. but that's a pretty miserable way to watch anything.

Click to shrink...

That's how I first watched Vampyr and yeah, it wasn't a particularly memorable experience. Though there is some dialogue in that iirc.

 

[Mariachi507]

I knew it was coming up but didn't realize it was so soon.

Happy centennial day to a pure classic!

I hope I can hold up half as well at half that age.

 

[Rosebud]

Love this film, happy bday Nosfie

 

[Mr. Bad Example]

Such a classic and still impressive film that I watched as a kid. This and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari are my two favorite silent films.

Click to shrink...

The neighborhood we used to live in had an ongoing classic film night at the local church hall, and we saw both Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari with live musical accompaniment by a guy who had the most tricked-out high-tech accordion I've ever seen in my life. It was awesome.

 

[Fat4all]

in some of my silent film classes, we would watch silent movies without soundtracks because contemporary scores are typically most dissimilar to how it was originally shown because the sheet music wasn't well documented and can drastically change the tone of the film. but that's a pretty miserable way to watch anything.

Click to shrink...

did your class watch the F. W. Murnau silent film Sunrise?

it used Fox's Movietone system, so the music and effects you hear on a modern release is the same you would have heard in 1927

pretty rare for silent movies

 

[Hrodulf]

This thing was legitimately terrifying to me as a child. Even as an adult it is still creepier than basically anything else that comes out today.

 

[swoon]

tinted color film looks really rad though, not like greek statues.

i remember going to the Acropolis and they talk about protecting/restoring parts of it to the level of ruin people expect, though

did your class watch the F. W. Murnau silent film Sunrise?

it used Fox's Movietone system, so the music and effects you hear on a modern release is the same you would have heard in 1927

pretty rare for silent movies

Click to shrink...

no, i don't think it was easily available, yet. DVD were out, but we still mostly had to watch 16mm and VHS. I've seen it since however, and it's wonderful.

 

[Fancy Clown]

One of the GOATS (though I do prefer Herzog's remake by a hair). One of my last theater experiences pre COVID was seeing Nosferatu with a live score from one of the members of Goblin. Excited to see what Eggers does with his version.

 

[TaySan]

Watched on Shudder recently. Creepy and holds up pretty well for its age

 

[misho8723]

The castle scenes were filmed 20 km from my home, on the Orava Castle - Northern Slovakia .. they have a Count Orlok wax figurine in there too

 

[Team_Feisar]

Such a great film. The Orlok Design is also simply great and strikes a perfect balance of being very old-worldly creepy but not overtly monstrous like most modern "Nosferatu"-like vampires. I still find the film genuinely creepy in some scenes.

 

[Chained Prometheus]

One of the GOATS (though I do prefer Herzog's remake by a hair). One of my last theater experiences pre COVID was seeing Nosferatu with a live score from one of the members of Goblin. Excited to see what Eggers does with his version.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I adore Nosferatu. Both Murnau's original and the Herzog remake are two of my favorite films ever. Really hyped to see Eggers eventually do his spin on the film.

 

[SchrodingerC]

Still an iconic and somewhat creepy film. Can't wait to see Robert Eggers' take on Nosferatu.

Also I find it interesting Ellen is the hero of the movie, even if she dies in the end.

 

[mattiewheels]

I always imagine how audiences back then must've pissed their pants in fear, this is freaky even by todays standard.

My first rental of this had a really awesome creepy industrial synth score that I could never track down the version of again, everything since has just had a standard orchestral score. This is probably the first film I saw that got me into the idea of black and white film photography, the images in this are so inspiring and creepy.

 

[Deimos]

 

[AaronD]

Still creepy after all these years.

 

[4CornersTHSA]

Will never forget watching this as a young teen and being completely unnerved and creeped out. Outstanding film.

 

[Sacrilicious]

Oh, wow! That's quite an achievement - does this make it the first century-old film that's still relevant and influential?

I had the opportunity to see this with a live piano soundtrack (ages ago), it was one of the first movies that kicked off my interest in classic film. It was surprisingly well-produced, creepy and captivating.

 

[Hoggle]

Oh, wow! That's quite an achievement - does this make it the first century-old film that's still relevant and influential?

Click to shrink...

Haxan is 100 this year as well and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is 102 this year.

 

[BloodRayne]

Awesome movie

 

[Ariakon44]

I always liked the movie's portrayal of the vampire as a symbol of plague. They've become so romanticized (which I like just fine, particularly some of the Anne Rice novels) that it's interesting to get a cinematic representation of some of the plague imagery that was in Stoker's novel and that surrounded the concept of vampirism as a whole.

 

[BLEEN]

Downloading the Kino Classics version now.

That's better than the BFI one?

 

[Marvie]

Absolutely love this movie. It's so interesting visually.

 

[kess]

The weird old warehouse that Nosferatu was leering out of still looks freaky as shit, from the outside, anyway. Max Schreck lives up to his name.

If you like freaky old warehouses, as you should, you'll love The Golem, which features set designs from a guy who looked at architecture like that and actually made a career out of making imposing, vaguely disturbing buildings like this.

 

[More_Badass]

Oh, wow! That's quite an achievement - does this make it the first century-old film that's still relevant and influential?

Click to shrink...

Chaplin's The Kid turned 100 last year, the Fairbanks' Zorro and Keaton's One Week came out 1920, Fritz Lang's The Spiders created pulp adventure cinema and that release in 1919. Among others