General Information

Original Title

Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens

Author/Creator

Murnau, Friedrich Wilhelm, director.

Language

. With intertitles in German, French

Published

Germany, 1921.

Physical Description

DVD-ROM (100 min.)

Digital ver. identifier

HU_OSA_00002499

Contents/Summary

Summary

As noted critic Pauline Kael observed, "... this first important film of the vampire genre has more spectral atmosphere, more ingenuity, and more imaginative ghoulish ghastliness than any of its successors." Some really good vampire movies have been made since Kael wrote those words, but German director F.W. Murnau's 1922 version remains a definitive adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Created when German silent films were at the forefront of visual technique and experimentation, Murnau's classic is remarkable for its creation of mood and setting, and for the unforgettably creepy performance of Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a.k.a. the blood-sucking predator Nosferatu. With his rodent-like features and long, bony-fingered hands, Schreck's vampire is an icon of screen horror, bringing pestilence and death to the town of Bremen in 1838. (These changes of story detail were made necessary when Murnau could not secure a copyright agreement with Stoker's estate.) Using negative film, double-exposures, and a variety of other in-camera special effects, Murnau created a vampire classic that still holds a powerful influence on the horror genre. Seen today, Murnau's film is more of a fascinating curiosity, but its frightening images remain effectively eerie.

Subjects

Genre

Fiction films

Bibliographic Information

Title Translation

Nosferatu, The Vampire – aka Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horror

Note

Duration: 01:40:00

Holdings

Item Type	Current Location	Call Number	Status	Shelving Location	Public Note
DVD-ROM	OSA Film Library	FL Record 0766	Available	-	-
Digital film	OSA Film Library	FL Record 0766 (HU_OSA_00002499.mp4)	Available		Access Copy, MP4 format