Everyone knows the classic Dracula played by Bela Lugosi. His image is scary, his performance is creepy, and he became a horror icon that we see countless times. Most people seem to think that Lugosi was the first Dracula to ever be put on film. Well you know what, they're some what right because he is the first official Dracula, but the first Dracula is Count Orlok from the classic silent horror film...
Even though his name is not Dracula, he still is Dracula. The reason why is the film tells the same story and the reason why he's not called Dracula is because the director had to change the names of the characters due to legal issues. However, there are different versions of the film where they do call him Dracula. There are also versions with crappy music that sounds modern and out of place with most scenes; and when the films is shown in Black and White you can tell that some of the scenes with Orlok were shot at day time, instead of night. I've been looking for the perfect version of the film, and I finally found it, which is the KINO version. It has the original score; more title cards that tell the story including subtitles of the things that our character's write; and while still being in glorious black and white, the screen changes into different colors that symbolize night and day. Yellow for day or a lit room; bright pink for when the sun is rising or setting; and blue for night time. The film is only an hour and 34 minutes, but it has five acts, so I'll be reviewing the film in each act.
ACT 1
Our main character Hutter (Jonathan Harker) is asked by a crazy man named Knock (Reinfeld) to sell a house across from Hutters house to Count Orlok (Dracula) who lives in a castle. Hutter agrees and goes on the journey to Count Orlok's castle while leaving his wife Ellen (Mina Harker) with his friend Harding (Arthur Holmwood) and his sister Annie (Lucy Westenra).
Our main character Hutter looks like a heroic character, but throughout the whole film we see him almost in the claws of Orlok. I'm not going to go any further with the characters until later into the movie. However, I will say, his acting is over the top, which does make the character seem childish than a hero, but I personally don't mind it as much as other people do. But I'll admit that characters like Harding and Annie are very forgettable
Hutter's journey to Orloks castle just builds up the suspense. When he mentions Orlok's name all the people at the inn are terrified. The coach driver stops in the middle of the woods and turns back. And there are werewolves out in the woods (which some people think that Orlok has the ability to transform into a werewolf). We also see Hutter read a book about Vampires before he goes to bed and believe me the book he reads will be important later on. When we first see Orlok, he's in disguise as a coach driver to take Hutter to the castle and when he stops he creepily points to it. Once Hutter gets inside the castle we see Orlok again as himself and the two of them disappear in the darkness setting up for the second act.
ACT 2
Act 2 is about the Hutter's encounter with Orlok and finding out who he really is. This whole second act is freaking creepy as hell while being subtle at the same time.
Every scene with Count Orlok is scary and unsettling. When he sees Hutter cut his finger that's oozing out blood, Orlok has an uncomfortable look on his face and tries to suck Hutter's blood. In another uncomfortable scene with Orlok and Hutter, he sees the picture of Hutter's wife and tells him with a horrifying look that his wife has a "lovely neck". One of the scariest scenes with Orlok is when he uses his powers to open a door that's as tall as him and slowly comes out of the darkness, walks through the door and is about to suck Hutters blood while casting a horrifying shadow over him. The design for Orlok is so scary that people still get freaked out about it today and as a little fun fact, the actor Max Schreck wore his make up all day on the set and stayed in character while scaring the other actors. The cool thing about Orlok is he has powers to make things move, which the effect may look funny in today's standards, but amazed a lot people when the film came out.
The scenes with Hutter make you worry about him. The scene when he wakes up to find bite marks on his neck make you feel uncomfortable. And when he finds Orlok laying lifelessly in a coffin it just gives you a bit of "Goosebumps", especially the close up shot of Orlok's face in the crack of the coffin. We also find out in this act that Ellen somehow has the power to see Orlok with her mind where the tension for those scenes with her throughout the film just builds and builds.
ACT 3
The 3rd act mostly takes place on a ship that's carrying cargo and one of those boxes is actually a coffin with Orlok inside it. We also get to see more of Ellen, Knock, and Professor Bulwer (Van Helsing). This whole act just keeps the adrenaline going up as crew members are killed off one by one (Off screen) until when it's just the captain and his shipmate who are petrified. Orlok just keeps getting scarier and scarier in each scene. How Orlok rises out of the coffin while rats are coming out is unforgettable, and how he slowly walks on the ship while killing his victims is just creepy as hell. There's even shot when a sailor has a vision of Orlok and sees the ghostly image in front of him as it vanishes.
The scenes when Ellen tells people that Orlok is coming makes you wonder what he is going to do? The scenes with Professor Bulwer showing his students his experiments are interesting to watch and I get a small chill when he compares his experiments to Vampires and Phantoms. Then there's Knock who turns out to be Orlok's slave and is locked in an asylum eating bugs for blood. All the scenes with Knock (Just like Orlok) are scary and uncomfortable. Even when we first meet him in the beginning you know there's something not right with him.
ACT 4
There's really nothing to say about this act. It's just the people finding the dead bodies on the ship and a Plague starts to spread because of Orlok's arrival. Meanwhile, we see Orlok sneak around in the dark carrying his coffin and moving into the house in front of Hutter's. It's mostly just setting up for the final act, so let's move right along.
ACT 5
This is our climax. We see people in town dying; Knock has escaped from prison; and Orlok is after Hutters wife. Again the scenes with Orlok are unforgettably scary, we see him looking out the window, staring at Ellen, comes out of the darkness and see his amazingly scary shadow creep up the stairs and is about to enter Ellen's room. I won't tell you how it ends, but I will say what follows is one of the best death scenes in cinema.
Even though some of the characters are bland and the story can get very confusing from time to time, "Noseferatu" is still defiantly a rich horror film. The whole film is like one big nightmare because all the images with Orlok looks like something from your subconscious. I'm not sure if it'll scare you by today's standards, but it's still an important part of film horror history and it's defiantly something a lot of horror fans must check out. It has a great story (Despite being a Dracula rip-off); awesome Make-Up; excellent camera work and Gotheic sets; a nice score; horrifying scenes; good acting (for the most part); and subtly builds up the tension in a quiet environment.
Before I rate it let me tell how big it is in pop culture.
In 1979, there was a remake called "Nosferatu The Vampyre"
In 2000, there was film called "The Shadow Of The Vampire" which was about the director making the film, but actually having a real Vampire play the part instead of having an actor play the role.
Speaking of Max Schreck, in Tim Burton's film "Batman Returns" there's a villain played by Christopher Walken who's modeled and named after the actor who played Orlok.
In season 2 of "Are You Afraid Of The Dark" there's an episode that pays a wonderful tribute to the film where the characters watch the film in theaters and Orlok comes out of the screen and tries to kill our main characters.
The shadow of Orlok has been parodied a lot. My favorite is Grover casting a creepy shadow on "Sesame Street" as he climbs up the 39 Stairs.
The first time I've seen Orlok (Probably like most kids) I saw him on "SpongeBob" in the episode "Graveyard Shift" which turns out Orlok has been flickering the lights while character say the Romanian name for Vampire "Nosferatu".
This is a horror film that won't soon be forgotten.
RATING (FOR THE KINO VERSION) 5/5
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