168: Halloween Special IV: Nosferatu and Silent Horror

History That Doesn't Suck

“His Lordship from Transylvania would like to purchase a nice house in our small town . . . it will take a bit of effort . . . a bit of sweat and perhaps . . . a bit of blood . . .”

This is the story of the Great Death in Wisborg in 1838.

Nosferatu is a 1922 classic horror film, one of the first ever made. It sort of recalls Bram Stoker’s Dracula—enough to build a copyright lawsuit—but, fortunately for us, Nosferatu weathered the controversy via unlicensed copies and has survived into the twenty-first century. The film isn’t just Dracula revamped though, it contributed brand new techniques to the horror genre. The cinematography is also state-of-the-art for the 1920s, tastefully employing physical film tricks (à la Georges Méliès) and practical effects.

We’ll take you through the film so you can truly appreciate it, following Herr Thomas Hutter and his young wife Ellen as they meet Count Orlok and face the consequences. Without spoiling too much: it gets bloody.

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