The history of this movie alone makes it a classic. Nosferatu is the first vampire movie and one of the first horror movies ever made. According to numerous sources on the internet, this movie was based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. However, the makers couldn’t get permission from Stoker’s heirs, so they had to make enough changes to avoid copyright infringement. Most of these changes were in the names of places and characters, so it isn’t unusual for people to refer to the vampire in this movie as Dracula.

This movie is still creepy today. Count Orlok’s appearance has a lot to do with the film’s creepiness. It is amazing that in a movie this old that the villain/monster is still menacing looking today. As well, the black and white and the grainy film quality makes all the characters look a lot creepier than if this film had been made in the color era. I’m not a big silent movie buff, so I’m not sure if this effect was intentional or not. Even Hutter’s smile can’t help but be creepy, but again this may have been unintentional. Another awesome effect in Nosferatu is the use of shadow. This effect has been emulated in many movies since, but this is the movie that started it.

Count Orlok goes through most of the movie unopposed. It seems like he is unstoppable until Hutter’s wife, Ellen, finds out how to stop him in the Book of Vampires. That’s right, a woman defeats the deadly badass vampire. I’m sorry, but that can’t help but sound crazy considering the time when this film was made. Sure, Ellen gets herself killed in the process, but it’s a super gutsy move on her part. How many heroines in modern horror movies would let a vampire drink their blood just so he would lose track of time and get caught in the daylight? Is it a stupid move on her part? May be, but you can’t argue that it’s gutsy.

The fact that Nosferatu is a silent movie might turn some people off. I know people who hate movies if they’re black and white, so I’m sure there must be people out there who hate silent films. Personally, I don’t have an issue with this movie having no sound. I do have issue with the copy I have though, where a band called Type O-Negative provides the music. This movie just isn’t the same when it’s accompanied by heavy metal music. If you can find a version that features the old type of music that usually accompanied a silent movie, get that version instead of the one I have. I’m not knocking Type O-Negative as a band, but I just think their music doesn’t fit with Nosferatu.

It’s hard to gauge characterization in a movie like this. The fact that it is silent meant that the actors/actresses had to show what they were feeling instead of saying it. I think most of the actors/actresses accomplished this adequately, but it would be easy to think otherwise. It could easily be said that Hutter is nothing more than happy-go-lucky idiot, who makes a weak protagonist. I think such an appraisal is harsh, and that we need to be a little more forgiving with Nosferatu because of its age.