F.W. Munau’s 1922 horror classic “Nosferatu” was famously sued by Bram Stoker’s widow over copyright infringement. Murnau changed the proper names from Stoker’s novel “Dracula,” but the story and the characters are almost 100% the same. Stoker’s estate ordered that every copy of “Nosferatu” be destroyed. Luckily, some copies survived, and Murnau’s film might be considered one of the best horror movies ever made. Unique to Murnau’s version of “Dracula” was the rat-like appearance of Count Orlok (Max Schreck). Unlike the suave, aristocratic charmer played by Bela Lugosi in 1931, the 1922 version of Dracula was a terrifying being seemingly infused with filth and disease. Murnau’s film is a glorious, granular nightmare.
“Nosferatu” was famously remade in 1972 by Werner Herzog, who cast the maniacal Klaus Kinski as the vampire, and who shot in Czechoslovakia. That film wanted to highlight Murnau’s film as a new German national epic, capturing the dreamlike qualities of the original, but presenting them in a somnambulistic fashion. “Nosferatu, the Vampyre” is also excellent.
One might also count E. Elias Merhige’s “Shadow of the Vampire” with the remakes, as it’s about the production of Murnau’s film. John Malkovich played Murnau, and Willem Dafoe played Schreck. “Shadow,” however, posits that Schreck was actually a real vampire that Murnau hired for his production. It’s pretty brilliant.
Less well-known is David Lee Fisher’s remake starring Doug Jones, a film that had been in production for years, but didn’t premiere until 2023 at the Novi Film Festival.
And, coming in 2024, we’ll have the honor of witnessing Robert Eggers taking a swing at the classic. Eggers previously made muddy, dreamy, psychologically dense films like “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse,” so he seems particularly well-suited to the material. It will scare you, he claims. I cannot wait.
“Nosferatu” opens on December 25, 2024. (Witney Seibold)
