Nosferatu [Blu-ray]

This is considered the first horror/vampire movie. Based, not so loosely, on Bram Stoker's Dracula. So closely that Stoker's wife/widow sued the studio and ordered all prints destroyed. Thankfully, copies kept popping up. They took the least damaged of each copy and put together the cleanest version they could. This is a silent movie, but there is a couple versions with music that accompanied the original releases.This has classic imagery for vampires and vampire lore. If you're a fan of classic horror, this is for you. It's a classic for a reason.

A mid-silent era masterpiece by F.W. Murnau, Nosferatu almost became a "lost" film. Its production company, Prana, was sued by Bram Stoker's estate. The court ordered all its negatives and prints destroyed and Prana declared bankruptcy to get out from under the damage award. Nosferatu was the only film Prana produced. Seems a copy or two got buried in collections or archives, to be exhumed decades later bringing it back to life, ironically fitting for a vampire movie. A number of characteristics of vampires, as depicted in the movies (but not necessarily in the book), were established in Nosferatu, most notably the deadly allergy to direct sunlight.The grandfather of horror films, Nosferatu terrified its audiences. Banned in Sweden 1922-1972 for being too horrifying. The latter date is more related to its exhumation, resurrection and re-release than any great enlightenment taking fifty years. The movie serves today as a superb study in the use of cinematography framing and lighting with use of light and shadow, as well as post-production tinting and some other techniques, to help tell the story and express emotion in the silent era. The modest over-acting is what one normally expects in the silent era, but it's not as high an over the top melodrama as seen in other silents. This was not a high budget film and the special effects are nearly non-existent beyond makeup and Nosferatu's prosthetics. However, there was considerable thought put into every aspect that was filmed for the mood it created, particularly with use of light and shadow, and its contribution to the story telling. Murnau used the equivalent of story boards and the script contains considerable notes regarding locations used and production design, on location and at the Berlin Prana studios sets. Pacing is good and consistent for the silent era and intertitles. The story has a very logical sequence and doesn't bog down anywhere. Likewise, the character development is decent for the principals; while there is some for the major supporting roles, it's noticeably less, likely for efficiency and maintaining the pacing.Finally, the movie must be put into the context of Berlin in its early interbellum years. The war ended in 1918 with Germany's monarchy collapsing creating a political vacuum. German lands held since the 1870's and earlier were ceded by the 1919 Versailles Treaty to other countries, along with submitting to massive war reparation payments. Germany was in continuous political turmoil within the Weimar Republic, including rampant economic inflation induced by the crippling war reparations and restrictions on its heavy industry. Within a country trying to find a new identity and recover from a war, Berlin became a freewheeling "anything goes" social hotbed. It was in that environment the German film industry rose in prominence and the German Expressionist films were created. German Expressionist cinema production emigrated to the UK and US during the early 1930's with the rise of the Nazi party, its rabid antisemitism, and rigid absolute state control of all cinema production. The result was heavy influence on US and UK horror films, film noir, suspense and other crime films through the 1940's. Nosferatu is one of several silent era films that show the basis and origin of this influence. In particular, compare Nosferatu with Universal's 1931 Dracula.Nosferatu may have lost its ability to terrify contemporary audiences, but it hasn't lost its ability to entertain them and illuminate the basis from which the horror genre's basic principles originated and grew. Count Orlok is as repulsive an evil villain today as he was over 90 years ago.Blu-ray contains two discs, one with English intertitles and the other with German intertitles and English sub-titles. Blu-ray transfer is quite good given the condition of the source material, and includes some restoration work including missing intertitles. The sharpness and detail (within the limitations of the film source) is undoubtedly an improvement over the DVD. Recording of the original musical score is excellent. There are some extras that give a very good background about F.W. Murnau, Prana studios, the film's production, and Murnau's associates.

The only production of Prana Film, this is an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Because the studio was unable to purchase the rights to the source material, they made a series of alterations, though not enough to avoid a lawsuit from Stoker's widow. Fortunately, some copies survived the court-ordered destruction of the film, and so it is we have a marvelous production of a legendary horror story.The tumultuous legal history aside, the film itself is nothing short of magnificent. The pacing of the film is very good, the story split into a series of acts, and things move along steadily so that you never feel as if the film is milling about unnecessarily (part of its troubled production was its limited budget and shooting times, and you can compare the shadows in same-location scenes to tell the passing of mere hours). It's said that Murnau used a metronome to pace each scene's acting.One thing I enjoy seeing in silent-era films is what proves wrong the label of "black-and-white" films: that scenes are colored in different ways to match the mood or the time of day, such as night scenes being in black-and-blue or black-and-purple. While many black-and-white films have a good quality to them that can hold even in modern-made films such as The Artist, seeing these older pictures with more tonal coloring just adds a welcome touch that I really wish someone would try again. It really does make a difference.Another element is the lighting, or rather, the shadowing (Murnau famously called film-making the "language of shadows," as he felt shadows were more important than lighting). Seeing Court Orlok's shadow on the wall, or reaching upon someone's heart, is a chilling image and a brilliant storytelling technique, with a strong symbolism to it.Orlok himself, played by Max Schreck, is a very well-done character. His bald and subtly-misshapen head, his elongated ears, his bulging eyes and gaunt cheeks, his pointed nose, and his clawed hands present a thoroughly-unsettling form, and it's made all the more frightening by his fangs (laughable by modern standards, since they're basically his two front teeth rather than sharpened incisors). In the making-of, it's revealed that his makeup and overall costuming caused many locals to shun him and treat him like the Devil himself.The other characters are certainly well-done, with the crooked real estate broker, Knock, being a very comical imitation of Renfield, much to my satisfaction. The protagonist, Hutter (a mirror to Johnathan Harker), definitely gets points for being fairly courageous, in both his attempt to confront Orlok and his escape from the castle. The substitute for Van Helsing, Professor Bulwer, is a good figure as well, though I imagine many viewers might feel let down by his lack of action in comparison to any number of other Dracula adaptations; it should be noted that Dr. Seward's mirror shares comparable screen time and accomplishment.A special note for Ellen, Hutter's wife. Her likeness in a memento that Orlok sees causes on the film's most hilarious lines (admittedly the intent is to be alarmed by the Count's attention), and her emotional connection to Hutter causes her to display some nerve-wracking acts, causing other characters to believe her struck by unknown maladies. The ending scene with her, built up to by her reading of a very particular book, is especially stirring.I was going to ask for this for my birthday, but ended up refraining and instead using a birthday gift card to purchase it (which amounts to more or less the same thing, I suppose). I'm very glad I did get around to not only seeing but owning this, because I'd really like to watch it again one day and finish watching the extras, and perhaps even take the time to view the version on the second disc, which is the version with German intertitles.Very highly recommend.

Excelente calidad ... La mejor película de vampiros. No contiene subtítulos en español, pero no es difícil de entender, y si eres fan del libro te va a encantar.

I am a massive fan of the Dracula novel, and while flawed, I love the Bela Lugosi film by Universal. Nosferatu was the unauthorized version, and now sits rightly as one of the greatest horror films of all time.I first saw this film as a child, and it terrified me. Everything about the visuals were beyond creepy to me, and I could never get the image of Count Orlok out of my mind. Many years later, I bought a copy of the film on DVD, and was able to relive my childhood. The trouble is that the quality was far from great, and I never saw the film in the best way possible. This restoration does all that and more. The original colour tinting (some people dislike it; I rather enjoyed it) is present, which is a major upgrade to the smudged brown of my public domain copy. That in combination with the visuals, as well as the original music written for the film, was as if I was watching the film for the first time. It was such a special experience to watch it on the 100th anniversary on my big screen TV, with nice headphones, in the middle of the night. Truly wonderful.The special features, one of the major reasons why I love physical media, are lovely as well; the documentary, image gallery, and film excerpts being very enlightening. It allows us to see into the past in ways books cannot, for the obvious reason that we can actually see it rather than a facsimile. To that point, the preservation of history is vital, and for Kino to release this, is a blessing.Undoubtedly there will be many people who will hate this film—due to its age, it being a silent film (despite the film score), and the over-acting due to the theatre training—but I still encourage people to give it a chance. It's a great film and this is the best it's ever looked or ever will. Here's to 100 more years of greatness.

I still find this one of the creepiest Vampire movies ever. I had what I thought was a pretty good copy on DVD. I was wrong. For a film approaching it's 100th anniversary it looks stunning. The full 90 minute film has never looked so good. It has a beautiful 5.1 music score to accompany the film (also plays back in stereo). Uses colour too enhance the film. This is NOT colorized it uses colour to tint the whole frame. So it gives you a feel of being day or night, indoor or outdoor. I did not know if I would like this but I do think it works very well without destroying the black and white experience. At around $30 it is a little pricey but this was done by Kino. They are a studio that has put out some great classic films as well as excellent documentaries (Levon Helm, I Ain't In It For My Health). I usually hold off if a title seems pricey but Kino seems to throw the money at their next project. I really look forward to their next release!

Visually this is a newly mastered and restored colour tinted version of the original Murnau film and it includes titles in English and German. There are also additional materials including a documentary on the making of the original film. Max Schreck is unbelievably believable and frightening as the vampyre, no Bela Laghosi camping it up here!

A worthy addition to my bluray collection.