Nosferatu (1922)

It’s probably the first famous horror film. 1922’s Nosferatu remains a milestone in cinema. An adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, it ran into copyright issues and so had to make some key changes, but it’s those very changes which remain this silent slayer’s trademark. Instead of Dracula himself we get Count Orlok – a creepy, rat-like biped, played to perfection by Max Schreck.

For my money he is a more intimidating foe than the more famous Count, partly because of how familiar Dracula is, partly because of the strange Orlok is. There is something deformed about him, something diseased, and the fact we see him shuffle about in silence gives young eyes the impression they’re watching some ‘incident’ happen in the olden days. The classic shot of Orlok’s silhouette sliding up the staircase is also probably the first ever classic scene in cinema.

It wasn’t released in the United States until June, 1929 when ‘Talkies’ were about to become all the rage, and so to give it a bit more clout an orchestra was often present to help set the mood. I think it works just as well with music or as it was originally intended.

It was the work of German director, F.W. Murnan whose portfolio includes 1924’s The Last Laugh which is credited with the first point-of-view shot in cinema. The amount of classic shots in Nosferatu are more than adequate to demonstrate his talents behind a camera.

Never does it grow weary from re-watches. With that sepia tone of the film the scenes change like the pages turn on a well worn book. It has the timeless quality, an atmosphere which is never settled. But what’s perhaps spookiest of all is that only the bootleg version exists after Murnau was sued for copyright infringement by Stoker’s widow.

It’s as if something wanted it to live on…