Nosferatu Film Review: A Symphony of Horror
Nosferatu is titled “a Symphony of Horror”, and a symphony of horror it is. Nosferatu, adapted from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, features Thomas Hutton, who travels to Transylvania to assist the mysterious Count Orlko with his purchase of a house across from Hutter and his wife, Ellen, in Wisborg. After leaving Hutter at his castle for Wisborg, Hutter rushes home to his wife, who he knows is in grave danger. Count Orlok by this time has reached Wisborg and haunts Ellen from across the way in his new home. Upon learning that Nosferatu may die if distracted by an innocent woman as the sun rises, Ellen manages to kill Dracula at the expense of being drunk from.
The film exhibits a masterful control of music on par with the tone of the film: with the carefree and childlike Hutter plays cheerful and upbeat music but as the night falls and Count Orlok creeps around the music instantly becomes ominous, rendering the audience unnerved at what is about to happen. The few lines produced throughout the film often carry double meanings that instill trepidation and dread. A casual remark to Hutton that “no one can outrun their fate” as well as Count Orlok telling Hutton that he will “sleep by day” and be “completely dead to the world” both foreshadow the perilous events to transpire as well as alarm the audience.
Nosferatu’s appearance itself does enough work at frightening the audience. With an unnaturally tall and lean frame, long, sharp fingers, and beastly teeth that jut out of the center of his mouth, Nosferatu is made to unsettle. Juxtaposed with the young and attractive Hutton, Nosferatu is made all the more hideous. Interesting to note is the large hooked nose he dons, and along with the rest of his features, an anti-Semitic undertone can be detected in the film with these stereotypical Jewish features.
One can go as far as to say that Nosferatu presented queer undertones as well. Count Orlok himself drinks from the youthful Hutton, whose blood he calls “precious.” He even asks Hutton, “Can we not stay together a little while longer, my lovely man?” Where Bram Stoker’s Dracula avoided such explicit same sex drinking of blood, Nosferatu presents it multiple times throughout the film. As Hutton examines the bite marks on his neck, it is his soft lips that capture the attention of the audience, infusing a sensual tone to the attack.
Even Ellen provides a progressive aspect to the film. Though originally portrayed as emotional and lost without her husband, Ellen is the one who learns how to defeat Nosferatu, effectively sacrificing her own blood to kill him. In this film, unlike Bram Stoker’s original Dracula, it is Ellen alone that accomplishes this feat. With this, Ellen renders Hutton and even Professor Bulwer, modeled after the heroic Van Helsing, useless. This was a nice touch and a win in an era where female characters must constantly be saved by men.
With the ominous foreshadowing and horrific appearance of Count Orlok, as well as accompanying music that masterfully sets the tone and builds suspense, Nosferatu is truly a terrifying film. The undertones of the film, both progressive and regressive, produce a film with multiple layers to dissect. Based on, yet distinct from Dracula, Nosferatu takes on a more sinister tone, rendering it a horror movie to be reckoned with.
Murnau, F. W. Nosferatu. Film Arts Guild, 1922.