Rating: 
Summary: Creepy Atmospheric Classic
Review: I recall seeing this film as a child, around the age of 9 or so, and being scared witless by Max Schreck's Count Orlok. Schreck's vampyre still remains ultra creepy ~ those long, clawlike hands, those deepset eyes, those scraggly sharp teeth ~ and perhaps my favorite incarnation of the bloodsucking undead. The photography of the Carpathian countryside is breathtaking, adding authentic atmosphere to the setting. You are, actually, 'there'. The special effects are also impressive for the time, and the tinting of the film, I believe, is original. Many silent films were tinted: blue for night, red for danger, sepia or orange for bright day, green for other effects. I make a plug for Greta Schroeder, who did an admirable job of pacing distractedly, filled with awful foreboding. I was quite satisified with the choice of soundtracks on the DVD, and my 17-year-old son had a blast switching between them as the mood struck. You ought to see this at least once ~ it's the one that started them all.
Rating:
Summary: The scariest vampire of all time
Review: It is really difficult for me to pick my #1 favorite vampire film between F. W's "Nosferatu" with Max Schreck or Bram Stoker's "Dracula" starring Bela Lugosi. These two films are the perfect reminders of how lighting and atmosphere can have an effect on the moviegoer without a whole lot of special effects. I guess I would have to say "Nosferatu" is my favorite of the two films because Max Schreck simply gave me the creeps as Nosferatu. Nosferatu was nothing like Dracula. He was not handsome or suave like Dracula was. Nosferatu was and is the scariest looking vampire I have ever seen. None of the vampires today matches the scariness of Max Schreck and this movie was made in 1929. What also makes "Nosferatu" work so well is the gestures of Max Schreck's character like the way Nosferatu would look at someone (or something) before his head would turn. Then there is in the boat when he rises up from his sleep and out of his coffin. For a time when there was no CGI or any sort of high tech special effects, that scene alone was pure magic. I still get a lot of joy watching that particular scene. The film may be grainy and with a minimal storyline but I don't mind. I think it is still one of the best vampire films out there today. All the special effects in "Van Helsing" or even "Underworld" could not capture the eeriness or creepiness of "Nosferatu".
Rating:
Summary: A ROOM WITH A VIEW
Review: Lost, found, forgotten, remade and now the subject of a new feature film with a novel plot twist (which is... what if Max Schreck really was a vampire?) NOSFERATU is, put simply, one of the best. Release in 1921, a full ten years before Lugosi and UNIVERSAL released what the world would come to know as the modern vampire, F.W. Murnau gave Europe the original. Most have never seen this movie - and still more have seen parts of this film... from music videos (UNDER PRESSURE by QUEEN and David Bowie), to commericals, to politcal satire (check out BOO! on the UNIVERSAL FRANKENSTIEN DVD), to film references (in case you missed it, in BATMAN RETURNS - Batman battles not only Catwoman and Penguin - but Max Schreck, played by Christopher Walken). Now it gets it own DVD and it's a fine package all around. An excellent transfer/restoration of the film - as well as two musical scores. The first is by the SILENT ORCHESTRA which updates and adds some real emotion to go along with the visuals (in 5.0 Dolby Digital no less - beautiful). The second, and organ track by Timothy Howard that caputres the original movie house feel. Also included - a tour of locations used in the film both then and now. A map of Germany from 1921, as well a text information on effects and cast. Also included, and perhaps the highlight of all the features is an audio essay (and yes, it's an essay - scripted and timed with the film - it remains screen specific and never wanders), by Lokke Heiss - which is very informative, offers excellent background and insight on the making, the people and what you see on the screen. Be not afraid... NOSFERATU is must for collectors and an easy buy for the casual viewer as well. I can not recommend it enough.
Rating:
Summary: FIGURING OUT WHICH NOSFERATU TO BUY
Review: OK, Amazon lists a whole bunch of different versions of "Nosferatu". The only problem is, the reviews for the good editions end up on the pages of the cheap ones. There are only 2 good versions of Nosferatu to choose from - The version from Image, and the newer Kino edition (longer running time, bad music). All the other versions are cheap, public domain, fly-by-night crap! Hopefully this review gets spread around like all the other ones.
If this review was helpful, let me know.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best films of all time
Review: The earliest, and unauthorized, version of "Dracula" is a marvel. Nearly 70 years after it first crept onto movie screens, it is still a riveting piece of cinematic artistry.I must admit that I find Max Schreck's vampire much more comical than frightening. At one point in the film, where he peers out from a ship's galley, he looks like a deranged elf. The chills in the film really come from the wonderful use of light, shadow and symbolism. The skeleton clock, ghost ship, fields and Schreck's ominous profile on the staircase, among others, are all evocative images that stay with the viewer. The narration, visuals and sets all add to the eerie atmosphere. Even the little things stand out--check out the cryptic symbols on Renfield's letter and the black-hooded carriage horses on Dracula's coach. Among the actors, Gustav von Wangenheim stood out for me. As the overconfident and terrorized Jonothan (sic) Harker, Wangenheim gave a gripping performance. 'Nosferatu' is a wonderful reminder that the simple things--light, shadow and story--can knock the stuffing out of hi-tech hocus-pocus.
Rating:
Summary: Very Well Done!
Review: The original Dracula(names changed) film. Very well directed. The atmosphere definately drives this classic horror film, and what a job it does. This film definately makes a chill go down your back. A must watch
Rating: 
Summary: Great restoration, terrible scores
Review: This is one of the great works of silent cinema and Murnau was one of the great directors in all cinema. The film has had a hard life. DRACULA author Bram Stoker's widow obtained a court order to have all negatives and prints of the film destroyed in the 1920s when the bankrupt film company Prana could pay her no royalties, which she demanded when she learned that NOSFERATU was loosely based on her late husband's novel. She never saw the film, by the way. Luckily, prints did survive, though in various states of quality and length.
On DVD, there are two choices: Image and the present Kino versions. It's not an easy choice. The Image version was made from a fair 35mm tinted print in the 1990s and runs 81 minutes, the most complete source to that date. There are two musical scores provided on that DVD: a forgettable one by the "Silent Orchestra," and a brilliant organ score by Timothy Howard--surely the best score that has ever been composed for this film. The Kino version at hand is visually stunning, made from a recently discovered 35mm tinted *negative,* the survival of which is an unanticipated, wonderful surprise. Moreover, it runs 93 minutes, partly owing to a slightly slower and more natural projection speed, but also because more scenes survive in this version. It seems that the Kino edition represents the genuine film created by Murnau. Unfortunately, the Kino release is marred by two horrible musical scores: an electronic one that is more noise than music and is physically painful to the ear, and a foolish one that adds comic touches at inappropriate moments. It's a shame Timothy Howard's organ score on Image can only accompany the incomplete 81 minute version. The only solutions are to watch the Kino edition without music, the less complete Image version with the great organ score, or own both DVD editions, each for a different reason.
Rating:
Summary: The Original and the Best!
Review: This is the film that got me interested in silent films and it's still one of my most favourites. No matter how often I watch it, I'm always struck by the effectiveness of the film: the characters, make-up, movements and some special effects which, compared to modern films may seem very primitive and crude, but when used at the right time, however, create the perfect effect. There is also the simple matter of how Max Schreck, who plays the vampire, walks or stands, and being very tall and thin, wearing a sinister black coat, it's enough to already give you the creeps!
For novices to silent films I'd like to say that this film has much more depths that one might think, and you have to read the intertitles carefully to get the background or in-depth meanings that are intended. I got much more out of the film after the second and third viewing and paying attention to both the intertitles and other details, such as how Ellen was under Nosferatu's spell from a distance, and sensed when her husband was in mortal danger in Nosferatu's castle. There is also the interesting correlation between Nosferatu's presence and the Plague, and until science proved otherwise, people back then did believe that illnesses, especially a plague, were caused by evil, sinister beings.
For anyone who likes a film they can get their teeth into (pardon the pun) even if not a vampire/horror fan, this is a good one! And as far as silent films go, definitely also in the "classics" department and a must-have in your collection.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Dracula Movie Ever
Review: This movie is a beatifully shot and brilliantly told version of Bram Stoker's novel. Unfortunately for its makers, it was also an unofficial one, and they were sued by Stoker's widow. Maybe if she knew what some of the later Dracula movies would be like, she wouldn't have done that. I prefer "Nosferatu" to the Bela Lugosi version (which was not bad, but a bit cheesy even for an old movie), the Christopher Lee version "Horror of Dracula" (which was quite good), and the Gary Oldman version (which was weak in my opinion). "Nosferatu" is a silent film, so don't see it unless you're in the mood to read! I saw it on T.V. on Halloween, when I was recovering from surgery, and I was very impressed with the film. It's a truly different cinematic experience. The nature shots and castle shots are beatiful but eerie, and the title villian is chilling rather than corny. He's very menacing, with none of the romantic appeal often associated with Dracula but all of the sinister presence. Seeing the scene on the ship, it seems as though "Nosferatu" paved the way for the soulless killer archetype later represtented in "Halloween" (among other films). And boy, is he ugly! The scene where he looks at the guy who cut his hand is easily the scariest version of that scene ever filmed. I did find the ending a bit anticlimatic, but it is one of those endings that's anticlimatic in a somehow charming way (also similar to "Halloween," not in content but in feel). This atmospheric picture is not only a fun and spooky film to view, but it also appears to be quite influencial on the horror genre. WARNING: The soundtrack to this movie is horrible. Remember, back in the silent era of cinema the music was added by some guy at the movie theater playing the piano, so there was never any official original soundtrack to "Nosferatu." Still, the people who restored it could have done without the tropical island music that couldn't be more out of place in a 1922 German film. They might as well have put a hip hop soundtrack to the movie. I'm serious, it's really that out of place. However, this didn't bother me too much, and it shouldn't bother you. Why? Because it's a silent film. Just MUTE the [darn] thing!
Rating:
Summary: Primitive Fears
Review: Well, like thousands of frightened and astounded fans before me, Nosferatu impresses as a German-Expressionistic masterpiece. Certainly it should be ranked in the best twenty films ever made. The date of this version is 1929, but in a recent film about the making of this first vampire movie, Shadow of the Vampire, 2000, they claim 1921, which seems to me from the sets, lady's make up, technology, and photography, that 1921 is the correct date.
The score of this release certainly is driving and enhancing. The amazing death carriage scene done in reverse negative is unforgettable. Max Schreck is a geeky, malformed vampire. He is so deformed that Shadow of the Vampire suggests that Max actually believed himself to be a vampire and that Murnau was willing to sacrifice actors and crew members to Max's cravings. Yes, it's a funny idea, but trust me readers, after seeing Max's vampire, I'm not sure he doesn't dine on cast blood.
German Expressionism is the juxtaposition of cubic forms on everyday scenes to enhance an underlying dread. This dread in Germany after WW1 expresses primitive fears of a society in a tailspin, starvation, poverty, a fear that God has forsaken you to the forces of evil. Although Stoker's vampire is of the 19th century, it is difficult to tell whether we are watching rural Germany of the 19th or 20th Century. F.W. Murnau is one of the greatest directors of all time.
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