Well, the leaves have started to change and October is finally here! I'm wearing nothing but flannel and hoodies, the seasonal beers keep getting better, my crock pot is constantly being used... I could go on forever, seriously! I love everything about this time of year and being a fan of the horror genre, it's extra special for me.
It wasn't very difficult for me to choose which movie I was going to start this blog with. In fact, I made the decision the day after wrapping up my last 31 Days of Horror. When I think about the beginning of horror films, there's only one that stands out above all the rest. Inspired by Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, Germany's 1922 silent classic Nosferatu set the bar for horror cinema.
Photo Credit: IMDB
"To watch ``Nosferatu'' (1922) is to see the vampire movie before it had really
seen itself. Here is the story of Dracula before it was buried alive in
cliches, jokes, TV skits, cartoons and more than 30 other films. The
film is in awe of its material. It seems to really believe in vampires." - Roger Ebert
F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu came close to being banned from the screen when the widow of Bram Stoker sued the producers for unauthorized use of her husband's novel in a lawsuit that has haunted the film's history. Wanting to distance themselves from the finished product, the producers sold it to Deutsche Film Produktion who edited the content without Murnau's consent. The film was then altered further for its 1929 American release, making the search for the original, uncut version an obsession of horror fanatics around the globe to this day.
What I love most about Nosferatu is that it's a silent film, leaving much room for the imagination to fill in the voids left by the absence of the characters' voices. I'd like to think of it as if the director puts me in the control of the emotions and overall experience of viewing this horror staple; each time is a different roller coaster of suspense, shock, and fascination. And of course the pipe organ and symphony orchestra are the icing on the cake, creating the perfect soundtrack to Thomas Hutter's encounter with Count Orlok.
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 98%
FUN FACT: Omaha natives Todd Fink (The Faint), Orenda Fink (Azure Ray), and Ben Brodin (Before the Toast and Tea/recording engineer at ARC Studios) formed a band called Others. This band formed specifically to provide music for silent films at an independent theater located in downtown Omaha called Film Streams. It just so happens one of those silent films turned out to be this one during the month of October in 2011.
-Colby.
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