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.
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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.
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Summary: Let's REALLY set the record straight!
Review: Here's the daddy of all the boo-movies, the most foreboding, retina-burning, tentacle-fingered bloodsucker, bar none. However, the year this film was released was 1922, not 1929, as is repeatedly claimed on the Amazon site. I have no idea how all listings of this film consistantly claim that the great Rudolf Klein-Rogge appears in this film, either. He does not. I've just checked the credits on my copy and he is not listed in the titles at all. Klein-Rogge's own countenance is as memorable as that of Max Schreck's. That's why Klein-Rogge's cameo in "Das Kabinet" (der Caligari) is so easy to spot. As to the opening titles - 1922 is the first thing I see when running my copy of the film! Klein-Rogge was practically a Fritz Lang exclusive up until that great director fled Germany in the mid-1930's.
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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".
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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.
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.
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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
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Summary: A must have for a genre fan!!!
Review: I first saw this film in late October 2003 on TCM and was, quite frankly, overwhelmed. I have a commercial version of this film on VHS (approx. 68 minutes). I watched this particular version for TWENTY MINUTES before I saw a single scene from my edition. I even discovered scenes that are misplaced in my edition. If you are a fan of the silent, impressionistic film genre or a fan of vintage horror or vampire films, this piece is a MUST HAVE for your collection. The subtitles and the music have been greatly enhanced. BUY IT! I would've recorded it if I'd known what treasures awaited me on that night. This is not mere pieces of film spliced callously together. This truly is Nosferatu as it was originally intended to be seen!
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Summary: Definitive Dracula flick
Review: Other reviews will assure you of the wondrousness of this movie - only one caveat, which is, don't watch this before you watch Coppola's 'Dracula', as it might completely ruin what is actually not a bad movie.
I saw this at a film festival years ago, on a double bill with the Coppola version, and it really puts Coppola in the shade - as though you couldn't guess. Not quite like watching the Gus Van Sant version of Psycho, but not far off.
Hope this is helpful. Enjoy the movie - though try and watch it on the big screen if you can.
Rating:
Summary: Kino Edition Weakened By Poor Music
Review: Out of the two reasonable options, I purchased the Kino version of "Nosferatu" over that of Image Entertainment. There is much to enjoy in the film, of course, which is the basis of my rating; such can not be said of the accompanying music. Two soundtracks are provided: 1) a mediocre synthesizer effort by Sosin, which stupidly incorporates some annoying, occasionally comical, sound effects; and 2) a worthless track of noise masquerading as music, wholely contemptible. I've wondered if I made the wrong choice. A couple of reviewers have suggested that the music on the IE version is even worse. I find that hard to believe, but if so, there must be a conspiracy at work. Interestingly, I own a CD of glorious music composed-- by the late, great James Bernard-- specifically for this film. I wonder why his score was not an option on either version?
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