F.W. Murnau’s singular adaptation of Dracula is one the greatest horror films of all time, and a defining classic of the silent era.
In 19th Century Germany, Hutter, a young real estate agent, is dispatched to Transylvania to conclude a business deal with the mysterious Count Orlok. Arriving at the Count’s castle, Hutter soon realises that all is not what it seems. When Orlok stows aboard a cargo vessel to Germany to pursue his obsession with Hutter’s wife Elena and bring death to the local population, Hutter must travel home to confront and destroy this terrifying evil.
The first ever film adaptation of Dracula, Murnau reimagined Bram Stoker’s story of love and bloodlust as a nightmarish vision, thematically influenced by the occult and the horrors of World War One. Orlok – played by an unforgettable Max Schreck in one of cinema’s most iconic performances – is no handsome count, but a monster bringing death, plague and disease to his new domain.
With astonishing sets and expressionist atmosphere, Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror would go on to define the genre, and remains one of the most influential and terrifying of all horror films.