Nosferatu

Directed by F.W. Murnau

Released in 1922 but was tied up in legal action by Bram Stoker's widow(what a bitch).She wanted all copies destroyed on the grounds of copy right infringement against Stoker's novel "Dracula". Which it basically is but with
the names and settings changed. Luckily for us the F.W. Murnau masterpiece has survived. Nosferatu is a German expressionist film heavy on light and shadow which sets a sombre mood and atmosphere

Nosferatu is a silent picture with a few captions to read, but is still very easy to follow the story line. The DVD I have ,the music soundtrack is from the band Type O' Negative, and suits the movie quite well IMHO even though they are considered Industrial music.The acting would be called wooden by today's standards, but this is 1922, film is still relatively new. Besides many actors of this era are coming straight from the stage to the front of a camera. Apparently the main actor Max Schreck as Count Orlock needed only the pointy ears and the fangs for his make up. He must have had a face only his mother could love.With this make up ,Orlock looked more like a rat,a dead one for that matter but still could charm the ladies,believe it or not.
For the era this film was produced in , the special effects are pretty amazing, most noteworthy and one of my favorites is when the Count rises out of his coffin, his back and legs stiff as a board, almost like his feet are nailed to the bottom of the casket.Stop motion photography and double exposures are also used to great effect.
This Count was like a walking disease, plagues would take over the towns and villages he passed through. Rats, thousands of rats would invade these same towns, I wonder to myself how these rats were kept under control by the film makers.
My Thoughts:I'm just thankful copies of this film has survived and we are fortunate to experience it today. For a fictional account of the making of Nosferatu, I recommend checking out the movie The Shadow of the Vampire starring John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe.
My Rating: 4.5 Go Go Girls out of 5