History Film / Nosferatu

There are a number of myths about the film, and particularly its star. Firstly, it ''was'' Max Schreck in the title role, not an unknown or [[Film/{{Metropolis}} Alfred Abel]] under a pseudonym. It was also ''not'' Max Schreck's only role; he appeared in over 20 films and hundreds of stage productions, all in Germany. For that matter, it wasn't even Schreck's only role for Murnau, as the two collaborated again on ''Die Finanzen des Grossherzogs'' two years later. E. Elias Merhige utilized many of these myths to craft the 2000 film ''Film/ShadowOfTheVampire'', which portrays Schreck as an actual vampire. It also takes inspiration for its depiction of the relationship of "Murnau" and "Schreck", not from the real Murnau and Schreck,[[note]]Schreck was no method actor and according to production accounts, was totally normal and friendly off-camera - which somehow made it even stranger, since he had to remain in his Orlok makeup![[/note]] but from the famously insane and violent relationship between Herzog and Kinski.

* TorchesAndPitchforks: One of the earliest instances on film, when the villagers organize a mob to hunt down Knock, mistakenly believing that he is the vampire. Unable to find him, they settle for tearing apart a scarecrow. Some film scholars have interpreted this scene as a comment on the atmosphere of misdirected, unproductive rage that was building in Germany at the time, and would

* CaptainErsatz: Since the film was an unauthorized adaptation of Creator/BramStoker's ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', Stoker's heirs sued over the adaptation, and a court ruling ordered that all copies of the film were to be destroyed. However, a small number of prints survived, preserving the film for future audiences.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When the first mate goes into cargo hold and sees Count Orlok rise from one of the coffins, he immediately freaks out, runs back atop the ship and jumps into the ocean, much to the confusion and horror of the captain.

Another remake is currently being planned, to be helmed by Creator/RobertEggers.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When the first mate goes into cargo hold and sees Count Orlok rise from one of the coffin, he immediately freaks out, runs back atop the ship and jumps into the ocean, much to the confusion and horror of the captain.

* AdaptationalUgliness: While Dracula wasn't all that attractive in the original novel, he at least looked relatively normal. Orlok, on the other hand, looks like the plague-bearing monster he really is.
* AdaptationalBadass: In the book, Dracula has to visit each of his victims directly and personally bite them on the neck. Orlok, however, is a vampire of the post-WWI, post-1918 flu epidemic world, and simply by [[BrownNoteBeing being in Wisborg]] he seems to be able to dish out sickness and death on an industrial scale.
* AdaptationalDumbass: In the book, Jonathan Harker ignored some red flags while making the journey to Castle Dracula, but once he'd actually stayed in the castle, he quickly figured out that Dracula wasn't human and began trying to escape. Thomas Hutter, by contrast, [[CaptainOblivious completely fails to notice that there's anything off about Orlok]] until after Orlok has made his way to Germany.
* AdaptationalLocationChange: The vampire chooses the German city of Wisborg for his new home base rather than London as in Stoker's novel.
* AdaptationalWimp:
** Dracula in the original book was merely weakened by sunlight, while Orlok [[spoiler:just straight up died from it]].
** Prof. Bulwer is broadly analogous to the book's Van Helsing, but is much less effective against the vampire menace, to the point of being effectively DemotedToExtra.
** In the book, Jonathan Harker was an intelligent gentleman who showed no hesitation in risking death to protect his wife. His movie counterpart Thomas Hutter is an IdiotHero and DirtyCoward. And unlike Harker with Dracula in the book, Hutter ''doesn't'' get to be the one to kill Orlok in the end.

* AdaptationalUgliness: While Dracula wasn't all that attractive in the original novel, he at least looked relatively normal. Orlok, on the other hand, looks like the plague-bearing monster he really is.
* AdaptationalBadass: In the book, Dracula has to visit each of his victims directly and personally bite them on the neck. Orlok, however, is a vampire of the post-WWI, post-1918 flu epidemic world, and simply by [[BrownNoteBeing being in Wisborg]] he seems to be able to dish out sickness and death on an industrial scale.
* AdaptationalDumbass: In the book, Jonathan Harker ignored some red flags while making the journey to Castle Dracula, but once he'd actually stayed in the castle, he quickly figured out that Dracula wasn't human and began trying to escape. Thomas Hutter, by contrast, [[CaptainOblivious completely fails to notice that there's anything off about Orlok]] until after Orlok has made his way to Germany.
* AdaptationalLocationChange: The vampire chooses the German city of Wisborg for his new home base rather than London as in Stoker's novel.
* AdaptationalWimp:
** Dracula in the original book was merely weakened by sunlight, while Orlok [[spoiler:just straight up died from it]].
** Prof. Bulwer is broadly analogous to the book's Van Helsing, but is much less effective against the vampire menace, to the point of being effectively DemotedToExtra.
** In the book, Jonathan Harker was an intelligent gentleman who showed no hesitation in risking death to protect his wife. His movie counterpart Thomas Hutter is an IdiotHero and DirtyCoward. And unlike Harker with Dracula in the book, Hutter ''doesn't'' get to be the one to kill Orlok in the end.

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: In the book, Dracula get from Romania to England by stowing away on a ship, where he gradually picks off the crew. The movie keeps this plot point, but changes Orlok's and the crew's route to instead be from Romania to Germany, raising the question of why they were travelling by sea in the first place.

* PuffOfSmoke: [[spoiler:Orlok's fate as the sun rises on him.]]

* AnimalMotifs: Orlok has a very subtle (yet obvious in hindsight) connection with rats and, through them, the plague. His fangs are rat-like incisors rather than the elongated canines usually used for vampires, his pointed nose and thin face give his facial features a rodent-like quality, and even his taloned hands call to minds the grasping paws of a giant rat.

''Nosferatu'' (rarely used full title: ''Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens''[[note]]English: ''Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror''[[/note]]) is a German silent horror film and the first known [[VampireFiction vampire movie]], released in 1922. Director Creator/FriedrichWilhelmMurnau cast [[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0775180/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1 Max Schreck]] as Count Orlok, with the veteran character actor [[LooksLikeOrlok wearing a costume that left him bald, with huge pointed ears and long sharp fangs]]... In short, one of the most frightening characters in film history. This movie is also notable for influencing the cinematic depiction of the idea that [[WeakenedByTheLight vampires can be killed by sunlight]].

* AdaptationalWimp: Dracula in the original book was merely weakened by sunlight, while Orlok [[spoiler:just straight up died from it]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:While Ellen's plan to destroy Orlok via causing him to attack her in her bed works, due to his feeding on her he forgets about the rooster's crow as the sun rises while she ultimately dies.]]

[[caption-width-right:280:[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E16GraveyardShiftKrustyLove He was the one flickering the lights]].]]

The film is {{public domain}} and may be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC6jFoYm3xs in its entirety]] on Website/{{YouTube}}. A re-scored version with ProgressiveRock music by Creator/IsaacBaranoff can be viewed online. In 2017, a version called ''[[http://nonsilentfilm.com/en/ Nosferatu: The Non Silent Film]]'' was created by Brazilian agency [=AlmapBBDO=] and Punch Audio, which not only re-scores the film but also layers on sound effects and voice clips from Getty Images' massive audio library (a trailer can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFUbKJ64BKo&t=25s here]]).

''Nosferatu'' was originally intended to be a direct adaptation of Creator/BramStoker's ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', but Stoker's widow, who owned the copyright, refused permission. So Murnau and his team [[CaptainErsatz changed the characters' names]], [[note]]Some later English-language prints "restore" the character names to their ''Dracula'' originals.[[/note]] simplified the plot, and tried to pass ''Nosferatu'' off as an original story – though the original opening credits still acknowledge being "freely adapted" from Stoker's novel.

''Nosferatu'' was originally intended to be a direct adaptation of Creator/BramStoker's ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', but Stoker's widow, who owned the copyright, refused permission. So Murnau and his team [[CaptainErsatz changed the characters' names]], [[note]]Some later English-language prints "restore" the character names to their ''Dracula'' originals.[[/note]] simplified the plot, and tried to pass ''Nosferatu'' off as an original story - though the original opening credits still acknowledge being "freely adapted" from Stoker's novel.

There are a number of myths about the film, and particularly its star. Firstly, it ''was'' Max Schreck in the title role, not an unknown or [[Film/{{Metropolis}} Alfred Abel]] under a pseudonym. It was also ''not'' Max Schreck's only role; he appeared in over 20 films and hundreds of stage productions, all in Germany. For that matter, it wasn't even Schreck's only role for Murnau, as the two collaborated again on ''Die Finanzen des Grossherzogs'' two years later. E. Elias Merhige used many of the myths to craft the 2000 film ''Film/ShadowOfTheVampire'', which portrayed Schreck as an actual vampire. It also takes inspiration for the relationship of "Murnau" and "Schreck" not from the real Murnau and Schreck[[note]]Schreck was no method actor and according to production accounts, was totally normal and friendly off-camera - which somehow made it even stranger, since he had to remain in his Orlok makeup![[/note]] but from the famously insane and violent relationship between Herzog and Kinski.

* CueTheSun: The sunlight is gradually shown increasing over the rooftops the morning after Orlok attacks Ellen.

* DeathByAdaptation: In ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', Mina survives. In this film, Ellen [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices her life]] to destroy Orlok.
* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: Literature/{{Dracula}} is killed with a SlashedThroat and a stab through the heart. Orlok is [[WeakenedByTheLight killed by sunlight]] when Ellen distracts him from the dawn by [[HeroicSacrifice letting him feed on her.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: Ellen reads in the book that Hutter brought back from Transylvania that a vampire can be killed when "a sinless maiden makes the Vampire forget the first crow of the cock - if she was to give him her blood willingly." Thus, she deliberately lets Orlok feed on her to distract him until [[WeakenedByTheLight sunrise]], and she dies soon after.

** Most modern releases of the movie come with two soundtracks: A conventional period orchestra score, and an organ score. On paper, this sounds like a great idea, due to the instrument's association with vampires, and it fitting the theatrical nature of silent films. The problem lies with the fact that 75% of the soundtrack consists of extremely dissonant [[ScareChord scare chords]] played at full volume, often times with ''{{Music/Yes}}''-esque baroque arpeggios. This works well in actually scary moments, when the music progression is natural and unexpected. However, when mundane or even happy moments are scored in the exact way, it not only leads to mood dissonance, but it actually nullifies the scare impact of the music, as most listeners will just grow fatigued of it.

* SoundtrackDissonance: Some versions of the film feature a near-constant usage of a strange, cheerful little tune that sounds more like it would belong in an old WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse cartoon than a classic horror movie. It becomes increasingly hard to get into the mood of the film when this song is in nearly every other scene, even in perfectly innocuous ones, such as the simple act of walking up stairs.

''Nosferatu'' was originally intended to be a direct adaptation of Creator/BramStoker's ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', but Stoker's widow, who owned the copyright, refused permission. So Murnau and his team [[CaptainErsatz changed the characters' names]], [[note]]Some later English-language prints "restore" the character names to their ''Dracula'' originals.[[/note]] simplified the plot, and tried to pass ''Nosferatu'' off as an original story.

* HaveAGayOldTime: The soil in Orlok's coffins (that allows Orlok to travel away from his grave) is referred to as goddamned soil.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Count Orlok is shown loading his coffins onto a horse-drawn wagon by himself (whereas Count Dracula had hired gypsies doing this in the book and [[Film/BramStokersDracula the 1992 film]]). He's even shown carrying his coffin to his new home later on. Of course, the absence of any noticeable servants at his residence should be some cause for concern on Hutter's part, if the innkeeper's warnings and the [[LooksLikeOrlok Count's]] [[ObviouslyEvil appearance]] hadn't already been.
* SettingUpdate: From 1890s England to 1830s Germany. At least one restoration of the film gives it a time stamp of 1838, approximately 60 years before ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' was set and published. This does track with some of the visual details like Ellen's hair and dresses, as well as the less advanced science and technology in the narrative.

* SwarmOfRats: Orlok brings them with him aboard his ship.