Review of Nosferatu (1922) by Dustin D — 30 Oct 2017

Nosferatu was perhaps cinema's first vampire film, and probably its best. The vampire looks like a monster, not a cheap Halloween costume. While you will never jump out of your seat in fright, or find your blood pressure much elevated by the end, the image of Max Schreck's dead stare will stick in your memory, and you might find yourself looking apprehensively in the shadows at night when you get up to use the bathroom. The idea that evil can fester and grow in the shadows is a more haunting and realistic takeaway than most horror films have.

The only criticism I have of the film is the inter-titles are repetitive and too long, which slows down the narrative. Identical inter-titles are shown only minutes apart, and left on the screen long enough to read carefully, reread to make sure you understood it, leave you waiting to return to the action, check Facebook, like a few status updates, reply to a few text messages, read half a Wikipedia article, then return to the film. I'm not sure if this was in Murnau's version, or a fault of restorations. Anyway, it was a visionary film for its time, and hasn't been topped by the subgenre since.