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Nosferatu, Eine Symphonie
Des Grauens (1922, Germ.) (aka A Symphony of Terror/Horror)
In this influential German expressionistic film by
director F.W. Murnau, a silent film horror masterpiece and the first
genuine vampire picture, shot on location and an unauthorized film
adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula - remade by director Werner
Herzog as Nosferatu, The Vampire (1979):
- the opening scene was set in the late 1830s in the
German town of Bremen - the disguised driver of a black-swatched
coach was sent to pick up visiting Wisborg real estate agent Johannes
Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim), after he had been deposited as
close as possible into the Carpathian Mountains region filled with
fearful villagers; once they arrived up the hill at the Transylvanian
castle, the driver gestured and pointed for Hutter to enter
- as Hutter walked into the concrete castle through
various Gothic arches, the tall, gaunt, big-nosed, mysterious aristocrat
Count Orlok (Max Schreck) appeared and was there to greet him; he
was annoyed: "You have kept me waiting -- too long -- it's almost
midnight. The servants are asleep!"; the two entered the darkness
of the castle - at the end of Act I
- the most dramatic and remembered entrance of the vampire
came later, at the start of the next night, while Hutter was either
sleeping or rendered unconscious [Note: At the same time, Hutter's
wife in Wisborg sensed that something was threatening her husband,
and she called out his name.]
- the midnight appearance of the hideous
and evil Count Orlok was as Nosferatu (undead) vampire - a bald-headed
and cadaverous creature with claw-like/skeletal fingernails, long
teeth (or fangs) and bat ears); he was first seen glimpsed at a long
distance, but then approached quickly (through dissolves) toward
the horrified real estate agent Johannes Hutter; Count Orlok soon
completely filled the curved, pointed doorway with a Gothic arch,
revealing his ugly, scary figure
The Appearance of the Evil Undead Nosferatu Vampire
to Hutter
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Count Orlok
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The Shock of Real Estate Agent Johannes Hutter
(Gustav von Wangenheim)
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In Curved Pointed Doorway
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Shadows of Orlok's Pointy Fingers Above Hutter
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Count Orlok's Quick Unexpected Departure
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- the shadow of Orlok, with his outstretched pointy
fingers, soon began to envelop a sleeping Hutter, but then unexpectedly,
departed through the same doorway, which closed behind him
- a
similar scene of Count Orlok was of him rising straight up from his
earth-filled coffin in the cargo hold of the double-masted "death
ship" Empusa bound down-river to Wisborg - causing
the crazed First Mate (Wolfgang Heinz) (who was hacking into the
coffin) to run on-deck and hurl himself into the water; also, there
was a low-angle image of the predatory creature walking across the
prow of the ship (looking like a spider spinning his web in the rigging),
transporting him to his new home in the north German town of Wisborg
- in the film's most frightening sequence, the
shadowy approach of the vampire's elongated hand and body was silhouetted
as he climbed the stairs and reached out to a door and toward his
stalking victim - an awaiting possessed Ellen Hutter (Greta Schroeder),
Hutter's wife, who clutched at her left breast in fear; she knew
from a book that "Deliverance
is possible by no other means but that an innocent maiden maketh the
vampire heed not the first crowing of the cock - this done by the
sacrifice of her own bloode"
Count Orlok's Death Scene With Hutter's Wife
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- when Orlok entered her room, the shadow of his hand
covered her heart, and he began to suck blood from her neck; she
sacrificed herself to destroy Nosferatu, to trick him into being
preoccupied - and overstaying his welcome when a rooster crowed,
signaling dawn and the beginning of daylight; he was exposed to
the sun and died in front of her window, grasping his chest, and
disappearing (or fading away) in a small wisp of smoke
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Count Orlok Disguised as Coach Driver Outside Transylvanian
Castle
Hutter Greeted by Count Orlok
Count Orlok in Cargo Hold and On Deck On Double-Masted "Death
Ship" Empusa
Count Orlok's Approach Up Stairs to Victim, Ellen
Hutter
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