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| Seriously, that is just awesome. |
Starring Max Schreck
Produced by Jofa-Atelier Berlin-Johannisthal
The setting: a foreboding castle in eastern Europe. An eager young real estate agent takes on an eccentric old man as a client, an old man that causes the surrounding villagers to speak in frightened, hushed tones. The agent wakes up with strange marks on his neck and dismisses them as mosquito bites. Soon, he realizes that his new client may be more than he seems. However, it is already too late because the monster has designs on the young man's girl back home. And that foul creature's name was...
Well, it would have been Dracula, the most famous vampire in literary and cinematic history. But the filmmakers could not get the rights. So Dracula became Orlok and vampire became Nosferatu.
What a great movie.
Nosferatu gets its structure from Bram Stoker's Dracula, but the film is all about mood. It's about light and dark and the grays in between.
Nosferatu is a straight up horror movie. There's no Gary Oldman-Winona Ryder love moments. Orlok is a monster and he kills because he needs to. He's not conflicted. He's not misunderstood. He's just evil.
The cinematography is a clinic on using black and white. Even before Orlok is on screen, the shadows and camera set a mood of impending doom. There are some good practical effects including Orlok rising from his coffin that are effective for their time, but won't leave much guessing as to how they pulled the effect off.
I originally saw this 15 years ago and honestly, it did not stick with me. I watched it as preparation for seeing Shadow of the Vampire with Willem Dafoe. I wish I had paid more attention as a younger man because the movie is fantastic. There are individual moments from this film I could pause and frame to hang on my wall.
Smarter men then I have hailed this as a classic and I could not agree more. A definite must watch for fans of horror, vampire or just movies.
***** out of *****
Image from Wikipedia (yes, I was lazy with this one, but that shot is incredible) and Lists o Plenty
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