“The Master is near…..”
Released in 1922, F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu: A Symphony Of Horror is the first vampire film to ever grace the big screen according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A blatant rip-off of Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel, Murnau changed the names of the characters and the ultimate demise of the villain in order to avoid legal action by Stoker’s widow, Florence. These moves failed, however, and Florence’s legal team sought to have all versions of the film destroyed. Very few complete original prints of the film exist as a result. A number of secondary versions of the film which included “translations” of character names to the names of the original characters from Stoker’s novel did survive and many of them have been used to create multiple versions of the film.
The silent film stars Max Schreck as Graf Orlok, the vampire that becomes infatuated with Ellen (Greta Schroder), the wife of Orlok’s real estate agent, Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim). Orlok terrorizes the local town, murdering numerous people, as he attempts to take Ellen for his own. You’ll have to watch this legendary film in order to find out what happens!
This film truly is a silent masterpiece. It’s one of my favorite films of all time. I especially love the sad ending of the film and I highly recommend watching it. It is available for free across a number of streaming services. The biggest problem with the film today is that so many versions of it exist that it is very difficult to find an original German version of it with decent intertitles in English, Spanish, or other languages. Despite this, I still recommend seeking out a decent version of this film. It is excellent!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 