This expressionist German milestone called Nosferatu-Eine Symphonie Des Grauens -Nosferatu a Symphony of Horror- turns out to be a hit in the history of world cinema and especially in terror cinema . It deals with newlyweds named Jonathan and Lucy Harker who are saddened when Harker is sent to Transylvania by employer Renfield to arrange for Count Dracula's purchase of a house across the street from the Harkers' house. Harker travels to Transylvania where he stays with the Count , is sucked by the Count, and eventually escapes from the castle. Jonathan returns to Lucy but spends all his time sitting on a chair in the living room. Nosferatu moves into the house across from the Harkers' and goes to Bremen in a ship called Demeter . The rise in deaths is accredited to a plague thought to have arrived with the Demeter. Only a woman can break his frightfull spell , a woman pure in heart who offer her blood freely to Nosferatu and will keep the vampire by his side until the cook crowed . As the vampire meets his doom when Lucy manages to keep him until after cockcrow.
This German all time classic silent horror-movie from 1922 is a captivating and eerie experience with creepy images , imaginative sets and exciting touches . Max Schreck is perfect as Nosferatu with his rat face, long nails , pointed ears and skeletal frame . The story brilliantly conveys the loneliness , despair sadness of the characters .The landscape is moody and lovely and the sets are gorgeous as well as creepy , especially the phantom castle of The Count , the ship and Bremen town . The slow, somewhat exaggerated reactions of his characters brilliantly echo the performances given by the silent actors . One day, the great Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau was talking with Max Reinhardt. Reinhardt introduced Schreck to Murnau. Murnau saw talent in Schreck and hired him to play Graf (Count) Orlok in the fledgling Prana Film's first production, "Nosferatu; Eine Symphonie Des Grauens" -Nosferatu; A Symphony Of Horror- .The regards to Max Schreck are a mystery, he made a few pictures and we don't know anything about his life. His performance as the bald, bat-eared, close fanged Orlok remains one of the most frightening film characters in history . This brilliantly eerie motion picture is originally and compellingly directed by F.W. Murnau .
This vampire masterpiece is remade in 1979 titled ¨Nosferatu the Vampyre¨ by Werner Herzog with Klaus Kinski ,Bruno Ganz and Isabelle Adjnani in which Count Dracula is the victim , he does not enjoy his immortality and wants only to live, love and die like a human ,this version of Nosferatu, in places almost a frame for frame remake , it results to be an enjoyable homage . Followed by ¨Nosferatu in Venice¨ by Augusto Caminito and Mario Caiano with Christopher Plummer , Donald Pleasence and also with Klaus Kinski . Furthermore ¨Shadow of the Vampire¨ with Willem Defoe and John Malkovich ; it is a film about the making and production of Nosferatu ; it had to deal with a lot of strange things ,some crew members disappeared, some died, this movie focuses on the difficult relationship between Murnau, the director, and Schreck, the lead actor.
