Blog Post #9 — Nosferatu’s Impact

The power of the imagination was iconically translated through early film in Nosferatu.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the framework for what seems to be a more simple adaptation of the original novel. The simple changes made the silent film work more smoothly, and Nosferatu is an impressive display of early videography. As Hetter, our adapted Jonathan Harker, travels away to “the country of ghosts and thieves”, we meet Nosferatu, better known as Count Orlock. There is a great depiction of the infamous Count, with claws, pointed ears, and an unsettlingly slender physique that leaves you wanting to turn around and run. The heavy use of foreshadowing and oversimplifying the story helped to make a comprehensible plot while retaining the horror and mystery of vampires. The visual shots of Nosferatu combined with the eerie film aesthetics and chaotic soundtrack provide an experience that would stick with you for days after a 1922 screening. I was spooked, confused, intrigued, and worried, all with a certain delight to be watching such a classic after all these years. This film was clearly distinct from Stoker’s novel, but I feel as though the film captured the essence of what Dracula meant at that time and did a great job of showing what horror had the potential to look like on a screen. I haven’t seen many silent films, but this is definitely well done.