“Nosferatu” was officially released in 1922. It received massive praise as a cornerstone to vampire films. To this day, the film’s often brought up in film schools. Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman) will direct a remake of Nosferatu with Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlock. Lily-Rose Depp, (Johnny Depp’s daughter) Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Nicolas Hoult, Emma Corrin & Willem Dafoe signed on. It’ll be released on Christmas Day.
I have a big confession. I never watched a silent film in my entire life. I’m aware of Charlie Chaplin & Buster Keaton. I’ve never seen any of their work. I decided to give Nosferatu a watch to gear up for the remake. First time I heard of Nosferatu, was an episode of “SpongeBob SquarePants” known as “Graveyard Shift.” You know that one scene at the end where Count Orlock flickers the lights on and off?
If you wanna learn history surrounding the film, check out Angry Video Game Nerd’s analysis on his YouTube video. He’s a passionate Horror movie fan.
Alive & Dead Qualities
Alive: Max Schreck did a decent job for his performance as Count Orlock.
F.W. Murnau did a solid job directing.
- Fun Fact 1: Nosferatu’s basically the same plot from Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” but with alterations. For instance, most of the story takes place in Germany, instead of London. Transylvania’s retained from the book.
- Fun Fact 2: Nosferatu entered the Public Domain in 2019. You can watch it anytime anywhere. Don’t worry about copyright infringement. Every 96 years, a work expires. Meaning, the author doesn’t own it anymore.
- Fun Fact 3: This is the first vampire film to feature sunlight as a weakness. It became a main staple within the vampire lore.
- Fun Fact 4: Guillermo Del Toro mentioned Nosferatu as one of his favorite films.
Scare Factor still holds up for a film from 1922. America’s biggest geek, Patton Oswalt mentioned a crowd of little kids watched the film at a library. Not kidding. He talked about on a Podcast series called, “Films to Be Buried with Brett Goldstein.” I highly recommend subscribing Brett’s podcast series.
Prosthetic Makeup transformed Max into the main villain.
Set Pieces and Costume Designs were manually constructed.
Practical Effects were heavily involved.
Pacing didn’t take too long. I was fully invested since the beginning.
Orlock climbing up the stairs with a shot of his shadow is arguably the infamous scene setting the standards of Horror films.
Dead: If you never watched any silent film, you may not like this one. Talkies weren’t around prior to 1928. “The Jazz Singer” changed cinema forever. I’ll let this con slide. Look how far filmmaking has come along.
The Final Verdict: A, FOR APEX!
Nosferatu still holds up. If you’re a passionate movie lover, it’s a must-watch. If you’re a film professor, show this to your students. Are you on the hype train to see the remake? I know I am!
Nickthemoviecritic.com 