W When many people first think within the world of vampires the first thing that comes to mind is Dracula. The original wrote in 1897 by Irish novelist Bram Stoker had ended up giving imagination into the film world when F.W. Murnau wanted to take a story of this nature and lay it out on the screen. Many can imagine that making a silent film is just as hard as one would be with sound; however the production of this film took roughly a year to complete, starting in 1921 and finally being released in 1922. When it was found out this was an unauthorized copy of the original by Stoker many details about the story line were changed as the studio was unable to obtain rights to the original. An example of this is the word vampire which was changed to Nosferatu. Another being that the setting for which the storyline takes place was changed from the original England setting to the newest in Germany. This was done only as the original heirs of the Dracula line did not give their permission for any copies to be made. It was asked during the times of two lawsuits from the widow of Stoker than any copies of this movie to be destroyed. This movie once produced ended up going widespread so quickly there would have been no logical way to collect and remove each copy from circulation. While Stoker’s widow did win the court cases by the time the lawsuits were won during 1924 & 1929 the movie was far to spread in any attempt to collect and destroy each copy.

Thomas Hutter is a worker for a real estate firm in the (fictitious German town of Wisborg, which is a reference to a real town in Germany called Wismar), living with his wife Ellen. By his employer Hutter is sent to Transylvania to arrange Count Orlok’s purchase of a new home and finalize all work needed. While on his multiple month journey we see Hutter arrive at an inn and when mentioned to the locals the name of Orlok all become frightened and attempt have Hutter halt his travels and turn back around to go home. Briefly in the film you will notice Hutter about to rest for the evening and see a glimpse of a book called The Book of the Vampires on the nightstand; not paying attention to it Hutter just falls asleep. At this time, close to his destination Hutter ends up being refused service to cross over a bridge onto Orlok’s property and is instead met by his coach with a driver who hides his face moving at an unnatural speed for any living thing. Once arrived at the castle doors that seem to open on their own, Hutter is greeted by the Count who seems as just an eccentric gentleman however the same as the driver, the Count's disfigurements are hidden at this early time in the film.

The first night seems like an easy night but there were a couple of odd things that Hutter had noticed. At first while dinning with the Count he had refused to eat, another time when a bell rings to toll midnight Hutter gashes his thumb and the Count attempts to suck the blood from him. As being repelled from a cross that Hutter wears around his neck the Count finally gives up and Hutter we see falls fast asleep in the parlor room. Once awoken and finding two puncture wounds on his neck thinking they are from misquotes in the castle, Hutter continues about as nothing is has happened. Once the day passed and the evening begins Hutter finds himself near another book (The Book of the Vampires) this time in his luggage and begins to think Orlok is Nosferatu putting two and two together. During this entire time weather by marital or women’s intuition Ellen begins to worry about her husband Hutter fearing that he is in danger at the same time sleep waking then found in a comatose state by a friend screaming her husband’s name. At the same time of her screams doing stop Orlok from bothering Hutter who came into the room now hiding nothing of being a vampire. Hutter ends up searching through the castle to find coffins where Orlok will rest during his dormant state and ends up confirming his suspicions.



This movie, whether intentional or unintentional theft of intellectual property, was indeed years before its time – even decades if you must. The thought went into this film makes it the most thought of movie early on with death and the Nosferatu, being told with visual affects, a well planned plot all making this silent film golden. While many characters are altered for this film from the original novel by Stoker, some of the secondary characters were omitted. One was being that Van Helsing’s character who is known for being Dracula’s arch enemy and recently was made into a movie of its own in 2004. There were many influences for this, as the producers wanted to make sure key parts were shown; the Nosferatu was to be a living corpse & with rodent like features. During the end of Nosferatu the very fact shown that daylight and the suns rays can harm him continued on in other movies, novels and games alike. Before Nosferatu came about, it was suggested in novels (like Stoker’s) that vampire likes were only able to endure some sunlight, this now after Nosferatu has changed the way we think for this characters limitations. Many of his victims were not turned but were killed instead, never becoming a vampire afterwards. Nosferatu was never charming like Dracula is depicted in the Stoker novel, nor is he erotic or charming. There have been well over a dozen key references in TV and film since Nosferatu came about. Adding to the cultural influences has landed its way into music, video games and even the role playing games like Vampire: The Masquerade.