Although this is a fairy-tale blog, sometimes I can't resist a deviation from the theme. Today, it's cold, rainy and gray in Northern Indiana, and since it is October, I'm in a Nosferatu kind of mood. Because ...
before there was Edward and Bella
before there was Coppola's regrettable Dracula in 1992
before there was Stephen King's super-awesome 'Salem's Lot, and a pretty good mini-series by the same name
before Dark Shadows
before all of those outstanding Hammer Studios vampire films
before, even, Bela Lugosi in 1931's Dracula
but after Bram Stoker's Dracula...
There was Max Schreck in the creepiest silent movie ever made, Nosferatu.
Those are some of its stills above. The film was made in Germany and released in 1922, as Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horror. Schreck's Count Orlok or Nosferatu, was no urbane, suave, seducer of women. He was the creepiest of killers -- no blood bank assisted abstinence for him. No glittery Edward's pining for passive Bella's. He's a smelly, rotten old killer.
He still scares me. After all these years. He's the only movie creep besides the zombies in George Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968), who really freaks me out.
So, a tip of the bat's wing to my old silent pal, and two bonus movies:
The excellent remake of Nosferatu directed by Werner Herzog and released in 1979, and Shadow of the Vampire, a movie released in 2000 about making the 1922 movie -- and the plot involves Schreck as a real vampire! Also delightfully creepy!
Happy October!
21 comments:
Great movie picks!
And I love the pictures.
Rapunzel
Terrific Halloween-themed movie pick. I watched this one Halloween and found it wonderfully creepy. He really was just a blood-thirsty ghoul.
This is one of the best Dracula movies I have ever seen. This movie is actually a reason I started being obsesses with vampires, Dracula’s and any other creatures of the night. “One of the creepiest movies ever made” would be an excellent description of the movie, because it is. My first viewing of it was probably when I was 8 and there was no sleep for me that night, because every shadow and smallest sound that came out or into my room was a warning.
Best part of the whole idea is that the movie is probably the whole idea behind waves and waves of Vampire movies of today, which helped many people, become obsessed with Creatures of The Night like myself, creating this new “race” of people who stay up all night and do nothing good.
This is the most famous scene in the movie.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/ba/NosferatuShadow.jpg
Nosferatu is awesome, I love scary movies and books and pretty much anything i can get my hands on. Actually, Halloween is my favorite holiday, it surpasses Christmas by far and I get to dress up in any way I like (usually scary) and go out trick or treating. This year i get to take my daughter and she is dressing up as a fairy. I am so excited i cannot wait!
Julia C
I used to love scary movies and books when I was a teenager. I liked watching period vampire movies.
But I have always been terrified of possession. Like "The Exorcist." I cannot watch it. I've tried over the course of my life several times but I can't get through it.
--Amy C.
I was terrified of "Children of the Corn" too. And Village of the Damned.
I guess I can't watch kids under demonic control. I'm not even religious I just am wigged out by it. Children aren't supposed to be creepy.
I will have to check out a nosferatu movie, I've never heard of the character.
Thank goodness someone else out in the world isn't seduced by all of this glittery Twilight madness.
I'm a huge fan of the Herzog version, though I have yet to sit down and watch the original, and Shadow of the Vampire (Willem Dafoe was robbed of the Oscar that year; truly terrifying performance).
Though it isn't germaine to the discussion of vampires, I'm going to crib off another movie-themed post on this blog and recommend Pan's Labyrinth. If that isn't a perfect example of the fantasy medium, I don't know what is.
I have to agree with the Pan's Labyrinth comment. That movie owes a lot to Nosferatu and is awesome. What about the guy with the eye-hands? Which then reminds me of the Stephen King super-awesome short story "I am the Doorway" from Nightshift.
Anyone's hands itching?
I have yet to watch Nosferatu but I have seen Shadow of the Vampire which was excellent. Like Dragon I LOVE vampires – movies, books, cartoons, really anything that has to do with vampires will entertain me. My love began with watching Interview with a Vampire when I was around 10. My mom told me to shut it off because it was too scary but I just changed the channel whenever she came in. I was not afraid I was amazed. The vampires in this movie seemed so beautiful yet so dangerous and strong and living forever does not sound half bad. After watching this movie I watched as many vampire movies as I could get my hands on. Then just last year I read the whole Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice something I had been meaning to do for years but could not pull myself away from Stephen King long enough to do. I love how Anne Rice and the characters she created - Lestat is one of my favorite characters of all time. I also fell under the spell of Twilight but I love those books in a completely different way than I do Rice’s books. Being a huge Stephen King fan I read ‘Salem’s Lot which creeped me out at night which Rice has never done for me. But that is why I love King he creeps me out and keeps me on edge at night – one of the best and worst feelings.
As several others have mentioned, I am also a huge Vampire fan. I can actually name the first vampire I was obsessed with at the tender age of four! (The Count on Sesame Street) I’ve never really found any vampire all that frightening. Creepy on occasion, yes, but terror inducing? Not so much. Zombies on the other hand are freaky and disgusting. An interesting observation I’ve made over the years is that people fall into one of two categories, either they’re fans of vampires and zombies freak them out, or the opposite. I’m a vampire fan and find no appeal to zombie movies, and my husband is the other way around… Which makes for sitting down to watch a good horror movie a bit difficult. There aren’t that many good ones out there that don’t fall into one category or the other.
Like a lot of people I love vampires. I love reading about them and usually I want to strangle the girl who always says no to the too good to be true vampire that loves her, even if he is bad. However I realize that the original vampire, long before Dracula was a horrifying disgusting zombie. The original vampires I wouldn't want to share the same continent with, but I think they changed because over time people changed. They were originally something that needed to be. They were the effect of an improper burial, or and sinful person who wouldn't lay to rest in the minds of people. Vampires were the explanation. Now days we have science and actual explanations. So we don't need that nasty vampire zombie. Now we want good stories with superhuman strength that are also very good looking. I love the old vampires, but I do love the new ones too!
Dracula is a historical character and very interesting I have not have the opportunity to watch any movie of Dracula of few parts. However, the stories of vampires are stories full of suspend and when I usually read or watch a movie of vampires I really enjoy that moment. Also every time that there is a fogy night my first thought is about vampires. As every one when we are young we are big funs of vampires because we believe that they are strong, smart, fast. Now that I’m older I still thinking that the vampires are strong, smart, fast, but also very seductive
Ever A.
Oh, I saw this entire movie on Google videos. Man, I feel that everyone looks like a zombie in the flick!
Very good article. If you have time and just have a look at http://goodwatches.blog.com !
Very good article. If you have time and just have a look at http://goodwatches.blog.com !
wow we like halloween to
we also luv ur blog we will try to talk to u asap plz talk to us at the party time blog luv u lolz
I’ve never seen the movie, but have seen many vampire movies. And overall I can say that they are much better than most horror movies now a days. I can agree one of top I have ever seen is Night of the Living dead, and still to this day it is one of top horror movies ever. I remember the first time I ever saw the movie as a kid, my brother thought it was a good idea to have me watch it with him and I was no more than 7 or 8. Well we’ll just say that by end of night I didn’t want to sleep and my mom wanted to kill him. But by the time I watched it as a young teenager; I thought it was the best movie ever. Now we all know we always say that when we first see a good movie, but it was that good. I’ve been really disappointed by what they call horror movies now, and don’t get scared by them but get bored. You always know what’s coming, and there seems to be no true story in them at all.
John J
Although this post comes much after Halloween, I have to say how much I LOVE scary movies, especially vampire movies. This especially is one of those movies that really makes you really consider checking underneath your bed. But, what I can’t understand is with movies like Nosferatu, Salem’s lot, and all the good (not cheesy) Dracula movies, how can someone honestly want to see a romantic, caring and not to mention sparkly vampire like those from Twilight. I don’t understand what is appealing or even technically what makes these characters vampires. They can go out in the light (not a trait I thought that ANY vampire would ever have) but, they don’t because their sparkly skin would be a dead giveaway that they’re vampires!? I don’t know about everyone else but that doesn’t scream vampire to me? And most of all they DON’T eat humans? If they only eat animals, what honestly separates them from humans? I just know that prefer my vampires to be blood-thirsty, heartless monsters.
Alyssa H
I have to admit that I have been in love with vampires since I was a child. I just like the overall essence of vampires. They are mysterious, dangerous, strong, fast, overpowering, and creepy. In high school, I would hurry home and watch the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer everyday. I have seen almost every movie about vampires, but incredibly I have not seen Nosferatu. It sounds amazing! I actually hate scary movies because every movie that I have seen that is supposed to be scary has utterly failed to scare me. I have yet to see a movie that as you say "freaks me out."
Like most of the women in the world, I too am obsessed with Twilight. Alyssa H. stated above that she doesn't understand why people are interested in the Twilight books. I like the books because they are so different than the normal stereotype of vampires. I think it is endearing that the Cullen family chooses not to kill humans. They did not choose the life they live so they try to live as if they were still human. I also love how Bella and Edward can trust eachother so much. I mean Edward could eat Bella and Bella could tell people who the Cullen family is. I think if people truly trusted eachother and loved eachother as Edward and Bella, there would be far less divorces than there currently are. A girl can dream...
Whitney M.
Many people have noted l a shift in the monsters of our culture. Cuckoldry is sensationalized, murder is made to look cool, and what can I say about violence and media that wouldn’t be so redundant as to appear downright cliche.
When I consider the Twilight series juxtaposed with the vampires from the “good old days” I can’t help but have some concern. What kinds of values are being transmitted to these teenage girls anyway?
Some complain that fairy tales are troublesome for the ears of young ladies. Scenarios of Princesses being bound in helplessness until a rescue scenario is played out by a Prince is an example. The basic gist of Twilight is a girl so obsessed by the object of her infatuation that she is willing to give up her human soul to be with him. Of course, the story itself is not to blame so much as the power of this type of meme in our culture. What does that say about our romantic ideals? Are they healthy for the young ladies in our society?
I just had a thought on villains and the bad guy when I looked at these pictures from Nosferatu. I just thought it was interesting how the look of Count Orlock is drastically different form the ones we see now a day. The vampire from Nosferatu has more of a smeagol look to him than it does of a look of the vampires from Twilight. While I will have to admit I have seen the first Twilight film, I have not seen Nosferatu, which I should be ashamed to admit. Just think about it though, most vampires of recent films are handsome, good looking men that women want to fall in love with. One look at Count Orlock and I doubt most women would want him to sweep him off her feet. It is interesting how imagery really plays a role in how we perceive someone or something even if at heart they are truly evil or truly good. Maybe that is what Nosferatu is really about. Dan S.
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