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Nosferatu (1922)
BUY NOSFERATU
This sound version of the film was produced by Jeff Cooper (Demon Board, Fortune Teller). This is the English version of the film using the original names from Bram Stoker's Dracula. In order to adapt the film for a sound version, the film had to be broken down and completely re-edited with an adapted screenplay written by Jeff Cooper. All of the male voiceovers were performed by Jeff Cooper and the female voiceovers were performed by Eva Hamilton. Orchestral scores were written and conducted by Richard Band (Stargate SG1, Puppet Master)
The story of Nosferatu is similar to that of Dracula and retains the core characters; Jonathan and Nina Harker, the Count, etc., but omits many of the secondary players, such as Arthur and Quincey.
In contrast to the Dracula novel, Count Dracula does not create other vampires, but kills his victims, causing the townfolk to blame the plague, which ravages the city. Also, Dracula must sleep by day, as sunlight would kill him. The ending is also substantially different from that of Stoker’s Dracula. The count is ultimately destroyed at sunrise when the "Nina" character sacrifices herself to him.
Filming began in July 1921, with exterior shots in Wismar. A take from Marienkirche's tower over Wismar marketplace with the Wasserkunst Wismar served as the establishing shot for the Wisborg scene. Other locations were the Wassertor, the Heiligen-Geist-Kirche yard and the harbour. In Lübeck, the abandoned Salzspeicher served as Nosferatu's new house in England, conveniently situated directly across from Harker’s house.
The Count's house as it stands today... with new windows!
Further exterior shots followed in Lauenburg, Rostock and on Sylt. The film team travelled to the Carpathian Mountains, where Orava Castle served as backdrop for Orlok's half-ruined castle. Orava Castle is situated on a high rock in Slovakia, which was constructed in the 13th century. Until recently these scenes were thought to have been shot in Transylvania.
Orava Castle as it stands today. Apparently still inhabited; if you look closely, you'll
see a television antenna on the highest roof top. I bet they get a good signal!
Orava Castle from a different angle. Written records for the castle date back to circa 1267.
Nearby locations also served:
Hutter's stay at Dolný
Kubín; the river journey with the coffins filmed on the
Váh River; and the panoramas of the High Tatras mountain range.
The team filmed interior shots at the JOFA studio in Berlin's
Johannisthal locality. and further exteriors in the Tegel forest. Parts
of the film set in Transylvania were also shot in Slovakia.
For cost reasons, cameraman Fritz Arno Wagner only had one camera available, and therefore there was only one original negative. The director followed Galeen's screenplay carefully, following handwritten instructions on camera positioning, lighting, and related matters. Nevertheless Murnau completely rewrote 12 pages of the script, as Galeen's text was missing from the director's working script. This concerned the last scene of the film, in which Nina sacrifices herself and the vampire dies in the first rays of the Sun.
Nosferatu was the first and only production of Prana Film, founded in 1921 by Enrico Dieckmann and Albin Grau. Grau had the idea to shoot a vampire film. The inspiration arose from Grau's war experience; in the winter of 1916, a Serbian farmer told him that his father was a vampire and one of the Undead. Prana Film declared bankruptcy after Bram Stoker's widow sued for plagiarizing Stoker's Dracula and the courts ordered that all copies of the film be destroyed. Happily, for us, a few english copies, outside of the courts jurisdiction, survived.
The ending of Nosferatu single-handedly created the concept that vampires can be physically harmed by sunlight. While this was a common element of many other mythical creatures, pre-Nosferatu vampires disliked but could endure daylight; for instance, a part in the original Dracula novel shows its count in a London street by day. Since Nosferatu's release, the vampire legends have quickly incorporated the idea of fearing, or being destroyed by, the sun.
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Nosferatu (1922)
 |
BUY NOSFERATU
Nosferatu
is a German Expressionist vampire horror film, directed by F. W.
Murnau, starring Max Schreck as the vampire, Count Dracula. The film,
shot in 1921 and released in 1922, was in essence an unauthorized
adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, with names and other details
changed because the studio could not obtain the rights to the novel
(for instance, "vampire" became "Nosferatu" and "Count Dracula" became
"Count Orlok". At least one English language print features title cards
with the actual names from Stoker's novel including "Count Dracula".
This sound version of the film was produced by Jeff Cooper (Demon Board, Fortune Teller). This is the English version of the film using the original names from Bram Stoker's Dracula. In order to adapt the film for a sound version, the film had to be broken down and completely re-edited with an adapted screenplay written by Jeff Cooper. All of the male voiceovers were performed by Jeff Cooper and the female voiceovers were performed by Eva Hamilton. Orchestral scores were written and conducted by Richard Band (Stargate SG1, Puppet Master)
The story of Nosferatu is similar to that of Dracula and retains the core characters; Jonathan and Nina Harker, the Count, etc., but omits many of the secondary players, such as Arthur and Quincey.
In contrast to the Dracula novel, Count Dracula does not create other vampires, but kills his victims, causing the townfolk to blame the plague, which ravages the city. Also, Dracula must sleep by day, as sunlight would kill him. The ending is also substantially different from that of Stoker’s Dracula. The count is ultimately destroyed at sunrise when the "Nina" character sacrifices herself to him.
Filming began in July 1921, with exterior shots in Wismar. A take from Marienkirche's tower over Wismar marketplace with the Wasserkunst Wismar served as the establishing shot for the Wisborg scene. Other locations were the Wassertor, the Heiligen-Geist-Kirche yard and the harbour. In Lübeck, the abandoned Salzspeicher served as Nosferatu's new house in England, conveniently situated directly across from Harker’s house.
The Count's house as it stands today... with new windows!
Further exterior shots followed in Lauenburg, Rostock and on Sylt. The film team travelled to the Carpathian Mountains, where Orava Castle served as backdrop for Orlok's half-ruined castle. Orava Castle is situated on a high rock in Slovakia, which was constructed in the 13th century. Until recently these scenes were thought to have been shot in Transylvania.
Orava Castle as it stands today. Apparently still inhabited; if you look closely, you'll
see a television antenna on the highest roof top. I bet they get a good signal!
Orava Castle from a different angle. Written records for the castle date back to circa 1267.
For cost reasons, cameraman Fritz Arno Wagner only had one camera available, and therefore there was only one original negative. The director followed Galeen's screenplay carefully, following handwritten instructions on camera positioning, lighting, and related matters. Nevertheless Murnau completely rewrote 12 pages of the script, as Galeen's text was missing from the director's working script. This concerned the last scene of the film, in which Nina sacrifices herself and the vampire dies in the first rays of the Sun.
Nosferatu was the first and only production of Prana Film, founded in 1921 by Enrico Dieckmann and Albin Grau. Grau had the idea to shoot a vampire film. The inspiration arose from Grau's war experience; in the winter of 1916, a Serbian farmer told him that his father was a vampire and one of the Undead. Prana Film declared bankruptcy after Bram Stoker's widow sued for plagiarizing Stoker's Dracula and the courts ordered that all copies of the film be destroyed. Happily, for us, a few english copies, outside of the courts jurisdiction, survived.
The ending of Nosferatu single-handedly created the concept that vampires can be physically harmed by sunlight. While this was a common element of many other mythical creatures, pre-Nosferatu vampires disliked but could endure daylight; for instance, a part in the original Dracula novel shows its count in a London street by day. Since Nosferatu's release, the vampire legends have quickly incorporated the idea of fearing, or being destroyed by, the sun.
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