Nosferatu is an eerie silent movie retelling of the Dracula story. It was made when the original book as still in copyright and so makes numerous changes to the original story and characters. Not enough, however, for the Stoker estate which successfully sued the makers and the court ordered all copies to be destroyed. Thankfully, they weren't victorious in this respect, and we can still watch this iconic image-laden tale.I had to laugh when an estate agent turns out to be one of the bad guys who comes under the spell of
It does suffer from some of the outside night time scenes obviously being shot in brilliant sunlight although the locations are often evocative. This is a problem Hammer would later share.
The tinting adds some clever touches. For example, there is a shot of Hutter going to bed and lighting a candle. The tint abruptly changes from blue to orange adding genuine atmosphere.
But it's Shreck as Nosferatu who really stands out. He gets all of the best trick shots and most thoughtful expressionist compositions - and frankly is one of the ugliest vampires committed to celluloid. It's hard to imagine any teenage girls fawning over him.
The blu-ray from Masters of Cinema makes this near one hundred old film look amazing for its age, and the additional inter titles improve the narrative considerably.
Verdict: Haunting vampire classic.
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