An unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, F.W. Murnau’s Expressionist masterpiece imbues the figure of the vampire with dread and fascination, transcending nearly all later interpretations. Largely avoiding Christian iconography, Nosferatu contributed the deadly power of sunlight to vampire lore. Thanks in part to Max Schrek’s unclassifiable performance, Nosferatu’s vampire resists Freudian and behavioral interpretations (vampirism as sex, as id, as veneral disease), remaining simply, unsettlingly itself.
—Steven D. Greydanus
Arts & Faith Lists:
2012 Top 25 Horror Films — #4