Nosferatu
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens ("A Symphony of Horrors" in German) is a German Expressionist film originally shot in 1922 by F.W. Murnau. He had wanted to film a version of Bram Stoker's Dracula, but his studio was unable to obtain the rights to the story. Murnau decided to film his own version and made only slight changes to the story. The resultant movie has many similarities to Stoker's original tale.
"Dracula" became "Nosferatu" (according to Stoker, the Old European word for "vampire" although not found in any European language before "Dracula") and the names of the characters changed, with Count Dracula changed to Count Orlok. The role of the vampire was played by Max Schreck. Other major actors in the film were: Gustave Von Wagenheim, Greta Schroeder, Alexander Granach
Stoker's estate sued for copyright infringement and won. The court ordered all existing prints of Nosferatu destroyed, but a number of copies of the film had already been distributed around the world. These prints were then copied over the years, resulting in Nosferatu gaining a reputation as one of the greatest movie depictions of the vampire legend.
This was the first, and last, film of the production company Prana-Film GmbH. With all prints and negatives ordered destroyed they declared bankruptcy rather than pay compensation to Florence Stoker, Bram Stoker’s widow.
With the influence of producer and production designer, Albin Grau, the film established one of two main lines of vampire depiction in movies. The "Nosferatu-type" is a living corpse with rodent features (especially elongated fingernails and incisors), is associated with rats and plague and can only be defeated by a virgin sacrifice; he is neither charming nor erotic but totally repugnant. The victims usually die and are not turned into vampires themselves.
The more common other line is the "Dracula-type" (established by Lugosi and perpetuated by Lee), a charming aristocrat adept at seduction and turning his victims into new vampires.
Parts of the film allegedly showing Transylvania were filmed in Slovakia, e.g. Nosferatu's castle is the Orava castle in northern Slovakia.
Murnau's Nosferatu is in the public domain, and copies of the movie are widely available on video -- usually as poorly transferred, faded, scratched video copies that are often scorned by enthusiasts. However, pristine restored editions of the film have also been made available, and are also readily accessible to the public.
Remakes
A curious sound remake, Die Zwolfte Stunde, ("The Twelfth Hour") appeared in 1930. No credit for director is claimed, but a reference to "artistic adaptation" is given to Dr. Waldemar Roger. He apparently re-edited the original film with some of Murnau's discarded footage and changed the characters’ names (Count Orlok became Furst Wollkoff). A new character and scenes were added. A young priest, Hans Behal conducted a Mass for the Dead, but censors cut the sequence because of its religious implications. Murnau probably knew the film existed, but it is unlikely that he ever saw this unauthorised adaptation, which unlike its original ended on a happy note.
In 1979, Werner Herzog directed a remake titled Nosferatu - Phantom der Nacht. Filmed on a shoestring budget (as was common for German films during the 1970s), and starring Klaus Kinski as the vampire, Herzog's Nosferatu was a critical success, considered by many to be a faithful homage to Murnau's original film. Herzog filmed two versions of the movie simultaneously, one in German and one in English. The actors spoke their own lines in English, meaning that their own voices are included in the English version of the film; they are not dubbed over by voice actors. Since by the time of Herzog's film the original Bram Stoker novel had gone into the public domain, Herzog used the character names from the novel.
Homages
In 2000, a Hollywood movie called Shadow of the Vampire told a fictional story of the making of the silent version of Nosferatu. Starring John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe, proposed the fantasy that Max Schreck was an actual vampire.
A spoof Nosferatu type character appears in the comedy The Fast Show. He is seen terrorising a young woman in bed, but he offers betting tips and says "Monster, Monster!"
See also: Nosferatu (White Wolf)