Nosferatu, released in 1922, is a silent German Expressionist film that is regarded as one of the earliest and most influential horror movies in cinema history. Adapted from Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, the film was directed by F. W. Murnau and starred Max Schreck as the titular vampire, Count Orlok. Although the film faced legal disputes for copyright infringement, Nosferatu’s unique visual style and chilling atmosphere continue to inspire filmmakers and audiences alike.
Nosferatu The Origins of Nosferatu
When director F. W. Murnau set out to make a film adaptation of Dracula, he encountered a significant obstacle: the Stoker estate refused to grant him the rights to the story. Undeterred, Murnau and screenwriter Henrik Galeen decided to create their version of the tale, altering character names and details while retaining the overall plot. Thus, Count Dracula transformed into Count Orlok, and the story of Nosferatu was born.
The Plot...
Nosferatu The Origins of Nosferatu
When director F. W. Murnau set out to make a film adaptation of Dracula, he encountered a significant obstacle: the Stoker estate refused to grant him the rights to the story. Undeterred, Murnau and screenwriter Henrik Galeen decided to create their version of the tale, altering character names and details while retaining the overall plot. Thus, Count Dracula transformed into Count Orlok, and the story of Nosferatu was born.
The Plot...
- 5/1/2023
- by Movies Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind The Monster director Thomas Hamilton on his upcoming series Horror Icons on interviewing Roger Corman: “He not only worked with Vincent Price, he worked with Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, Lon Chaney.” Photo: Thomas Hamilton
Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, Conrad Veidt, Maria Ouspenskaya, George Zukor, Paul Wegener, Emil Jannings, Brigitte Helm, Gale Sondergaard, Gloria Holden, Claude Rains, Fay Wray, Duane Jones, Max Schreck, Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Lon Chaney Sr., Lon Chaney Jr, Fw Murnau’s Faust and Nosferatu, Arthur Lubin’s Phantom of the Opera, Rowland V. Lee’s Son of Frankenstein, George Waggner’s The Wolf Man, James Whale’s The Invisible Man, Lambert Hillyer’s Dracula’s Daughter, Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Paul Wegener and Henrik Galeen’s The Golem, Hanns Heinz Ewers and Stellan Rye’s The Student Of Prague, and George Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead...
Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, Conrad Veidt, Maria Ouspenskaya, George Zukor, Paul Wegener, Emil Jannings, Brigitte Helm, Gale Sondergaard, Gloria Holden, Claude Rains, Fay Wray, Duane Jones, Max Schreck, Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Lon Chaney Sr., Lon Chaney Jr, Fw Murnau’s Faust and Nosferatu, Arthur Lubin’s Phantom of the Opera, Rowland V. Lee’s Son of Frankenstein, George Waggner’s The Wolf Man, James Whale’s The Invisible Man, Lambert Hillyer’s Dracula’s Daughter, Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Paul Wegener and Henrik Galeen’s The Golem, Hanns Heinz Ewers and Stellan Rye’s The Student Of Prague, and George Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead...
- 4/1/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
A top movie monster is back from filmic perdition, restored to his full might and power. Rabbi Lowe’s answer to the persecution of the ghetto is a mysterious unthinking automaton capable of terrible destruction. Paul Wegener’s indelible clay statue stands as a core myth in Jewish lore. But he’s still here, usually in allegories about mankind losing control of its own creations. With its imposing architecture and impressive special effects, this early expressionist masterpiece is one of the design highlights of silent cinema.
The Golem
Blu-ray
Kino Classics
1920 / B&w with tints / 1:33 silent ap. / 76 min. / Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam / Street Date April 14, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Paul Wegener, Albert Steinrück, Lyda Salmonova, Ernst Deutsch, Lothar Müthel, Fritz Feld.
Cinematography: Karl Freund, Guido Seeber
Art Direction and design: Hans Poelzig, Kurt Richter, Edgar G. Ulmer
New Music scores: Stephen Horne, Admir Shkurtai,...
The Golem
Blu-ray
Kino Classics
1920 / B&w with tints / 1:33 silent ap. / 76 min. / Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam / Street Date April 14, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Paul Wegener, Albert Steinrück, Lyda Salmonova, Ernst Deutsch, Lothar Müthel, Fritz Feld.
Cinematography: Karl Freund, Guido Seeber
Art Direction and design: Hans Poelzig, Kurt Richter, Edgar G. Ulmer
New Music scores: Stephen Horne, Admir Shkurtai,...
- 5/5/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
[This Halloween season, we're paying tribute to classic horror cinema by celebrating films released before 1970! Check back on Daily Dead this month for more retrospectives on classic horror films, and visit our online hub to catch up on all of our Halloween 2019 special features!]
It comes down to the shadows; always has and always will. Horror hides from us in the unknown and unkempt, the terrifying and tantalizing, locked behind an impenetrable darkness that holds our deepest fears and regrets. But sometimes that darkness is released upon a world that just isn’t ready for what lies within. Such is the case with F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922), the silent classic that begat vampires upon the public in ways still felt today. Nearly 100 years has not quieted its brooding charms and ethereal dread.
It is a film that was almost lost forever; Bram Stoker (author of Dracula)’s widow got very litigious and all prints were thought to be destroyed. However, some did manage to make it out of Germany, and this foreboding art drifted across the world, landing in the Us some seven years later, safe from persecution.
What persecution, you ask? Well, Murnau...
It comes down to the shadows; always has and always will. Horror hides from us in the unknown and unkempt, the terrifying and tantalizing, locked behind an impenetrable darkness that holds our deepest fears and regrets. But sometimes that darkness is released upon a world that just isn’t ready for what lies within. Such is the case with F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922), the silent classic that begat vampires upon the public in ways still felt today. Nearly 100 years has not quieted its brooding charms and ethereal dread.
It is a film that was almost lost forever; Bram Stoker (author of Dracula)’s widow got very litigious and all prints were thought to be destroyed. However, some did manage to make it out of Germany, and this foreboding art drifted across the world, landing in the Us some seven years later, safe from persecution.
What persecution, you ask? Well, Murnau...
- 10/18/2019
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Special Mention: The Most Dangerous Game
Directed by Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack
Written by James Creelman
USA, 1932
Genre: Survival Horror
The first of many official and unofficial screen versions of Richard Connell’s short story of the same name, The Most Dangerous Game was made in 1932, in the era known as “Pre-Code Hollywood,” a time when filmmakers were able to get away with sexual innuendo, illegal drug use, adultery, abortion, intense violence, homosexuality, and much more. It was during this time that a film like The Most Dangerous Game was allowed to be made and shown to the general public without fear of censorship. The film was put together by producer Willis O’Brien while in pre-production on King Kong, and features several of the same cast and crew members, as well as props and sets from Kong. Despite these obvious cost-cutting measures, Dangerous Game never feels like a second-rate production,...
Directed by Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack
Written by James Creelman
USA, 1932
Genre: Survival Horror
The first of many official and unofficial screen versions of Richard Connell’s short story of the same name, The Most Dangerous Game was made in 1932, in the era known as “Pre-Code Hollywood,” a time when filmmakers were able to get away with sexual innuendo, illegal drug use, adultery, abortion, intense violence, homosexuality, and much more. It was during this time that a film like The Most Dangerous Game was allowed to be made and shown to the general public without fear of censorship. The film was put together by producer Willis O’Brien while in pre-production on King Kong, and features several of the same cast and crew members, as well as props and sets from Kong. Despite these obvious cost-cutting measures, Dangerous Game never feels like a second-rate production,...
- 10/30/2015
- by Ricky Fernandes
- SoundOnSight
There's one ironclad rule for mad scientist movies: if you show a monstrous caged ape-creature in the first act, that ape-creature must absolutely break loose and wreak havoc before the end of Act III. Just ask George Zucco or John Carradine, they'll tell you. It makes no difference if the film is being made on Gower Gulch, or at Germany's prestigious UfA Studios. Alraune Region 2 Pal (Germany) DVD Arthaus 1952 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 87 min. / Unnatural, Mandragore, Vengeance / Street Date July 6, 2007 / Available at Amazon.de / Eur 16,90 Starring Hildegard Knef, Erich von Stroheim, Karlheinz Böhm, Harry Meyen, Rolf Henniger, Harry Halm, Hans Cossy, Gardy Brombacher, Trude Hesterberg, Julia Koschka, Denise Vernac. Cinematography Friedl Behn-Grund Film Editor Doris Zeitman Costume Designer Herbert Pioberger Original Music Werner R. Heymann Written by Kurt Heuser from the novel by Hanns Heinz Ewers Produced by Günther Stapenhorst Directed by Arthur Maria Rabenault
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
- 9/8/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Throughout the month of October, Editor-in-Chief and resident Horror expert Ricky D, will be posting a list of his favorite Horror films of all time. The list will be posted in six parts. Click here to see every entry.
As with all lists, this is personal and nobody will agree with every choice – and if you do, that would be incredibly disturbing. It was almost impossible for me to rank them in order, but I tried and eventually gave up.
****
Special Mention: Gremlins
Directed by Joe Dante
Written by Chris Columbus
1984, USA
Gremlins gets a special mention because I’ve always considered it more of a comedy and a wholesome Christmas flick than an actual horror film. This tribute the 1950s matinee genre stands the test of time from a time when parents would take their children to family films that pushed the boundaries of the MPAA. Joe Dante is...
As with all lists, this is personal and nobody will agree with every choice – and if you do, that would be incredibly disturbing. It was almost impossible for me to rank them in order, but I tried and eventually gave up.
****
Special Mention: Gremlins
Directed by Joe Dante
Written by Chris Columbus
1984, USA
Gremlins gets a special mention because I’ve always considered it more of a comedy and a wholesome Christmas flick than an actual horror film. This tribute the 1950s matinee genre stands the test of time from a time when parents would take their children to family films that pushed the boundaries of the MPAA. Joe Dante is...
- 10/15/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
The problem with writing daily updates for a film festival such as Il Cinema Ritrovato is that you never find time to do it! The screenings start from 9 in the morning and continue ceaselessly till the evening, and then you can go for the outdoor projection which starts at 10 pm, and if it is something like the restored version of Roman Polanski's Tess, then the end of screening would be on the following day.
To begin, let’s start with a cinephile, rather than the films: Olaf Möller is a hard-to-miss cinephile who dresses in black (but his beard distinguished him from Johnny Cash), and when he talks about Mosfilm director, Ivan Pyr’ev whose retrospective Möller curated, it looks as if he discovered Solomon's mines. Olaf’s aim is to go beyond the officially acknowledged names in the Soviet Union cinema. In the technical mastery of Pyr’ev,...
To begin, let’s start with a cinephile, rather than the films: Olaf Möller is a hard-to-miss cinephile who dresses in black (but his beard distinguished him from Johnny Cash), and when he talks about Mosfilm director, Ivan Pyr’ev whose retrospective Möller curated, it looks as if he discovered Solomon's mines. Olaf’s aim is to go beyond the officially acknowledged names in the Soviet Union cinema. In the technical mastery of Pyr’ev,...
- 6/28/2012
- MUBI
In the 1920s those seeds planted the decade before took hold, and there are notable examples of early horror on both sides of the Atlantic. The most significant of these, and perhaps the most famous, is F.W. Murnau’s masterpiece, Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. It is the first of countless adaptations of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, though famously made without the permission of the Bram Stoker estate. Although included amongst the Expressionist movement, what’s startling today is the movie’s lyrical use of natural light and exterior shots (of running water, animals etc.); visually it is in stark contrast to Caligari’s jagged mindscapes. They both create otherworldliness in different ways, one by giving us distorted images we can relate to, and the other by alienating us with carefully employed images of nature.
The best vampire movies from this to Let the Right One In (2008) take the myth seriously,...
The best vampire movies from this to Let the Right One In (2008) take the myth seriously,...
- 10/16/2011
- by Adam Whyte
- Obsessed with Film
For many fans, independent horror filmmaking seems like a relatively new concept. So you may be surprised to find out the maverick spirit that fuels our beloved genre has been burning for almost 100 years now, since the 1912 version of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde was produced by the independently-run production house Thanhouser Company.
Since then, we’ve enjoyed countless films that bucked the studio system tradition and gave us bold, refreshing explorations of some of our greatest fears and introduced us to some pioneers in the entertainment industry. In honor of these achievements, we here at Dread Central are taking the entire month of March to celebrate all things indie horror.
To kick things off, over the next five days we’d like to take you on a historical journey through the last 100 years of indie horror by taking a look at 25 milestones that helped define the horror genre and, in many cases,...
Since then, we’ve enjoyed countless films that bucked the studio system tradition and gave us bold, refreshing explorations of some of our greatest fears and introduced us to some pioneers in the entertainment industry. In honor of these achievements, we here at Dread Central are taking the entire month of March to celebrate all things indie horror.
To kick things off, over the next five days we’d like to take you on a historical journey through the last 100 years of indie horror by taking a look at 25 milestones that helped define the horror genre and, in many cases,...
- 3/7/2011
- by thehorrorchick
- DreadCentral.com
Topol, 74, a Best Actor nominee for Norman Jewison’s 1971 blockbuster Fiddler on the Roof (above), is attached to star in a Yiddish-language version of The Golem, Screen Daily reports. The $5 million British/Czech/German co-production will be produced by Stuart Urban, who also penned the screenplay. Filming is scheduled to take place in Prague next year. In The Golem, Topol (born in Tel Aviv in 1935) will play a 16th-century Prague rabbi named Maharal, who brings to life a clay statue to protect the local ghetto from anti-semitic pogroms. Paul Wegener co-directed (with Carl Boese), co-wrote (with Henrik Galeen), and starred as the giant, Frankenstein-like Golem in a 1920 German version. Albert Steinrück played the rabbi in that film. Photo: United [...]...
- 5/20/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.