Movie Monday: Nosferatu (1922)
What better way to end out annual Halloween film celebration than with a classic movie that has fundamentally influenced how the horror/science fiction genre operates today. Nosferatu is one of the most notable films within the horror genre, and it is seen as the foundation for a lot of future stories. So, without further ado, lets get into this Halloween review!
If you are comfortable with reading translated subtitles of the subtitles from this film, Nosferatu is the perfect Halloween film for you! Nosferatu is a silent film with the lines being shown in German because this movie also happened to be made in Germany. Therefore, if you are an English speaker like me and you do not know how to speak German, there will need to be a second set of subtitles for you.
Although I watched Nosferatu while reading subtitles of the subtitles, it was totally worth it in my opinion! To see all of the elements that modern films still use just tells you how important this movie is to cinema in general. Not to mention, you can certainly trace several horror movie characters that resemble the Dracula-like figure featured in this movie.
What I am really impressed by with Nosferatu is the use of shadows. Yes, silent films utilized this aspect of cinema in several ways, however, I feel like Nosferatu did it the best. The audience gets to see the vampire character’s shadow creep up the stairs with its long claws. How many times have you looked at a dark doorway at night and have been slightly terrified that a figure was standing there? Well, Nosferatu taps into that apparently timeless fear by showing a similar scene.
I think there is a lot that modern cinema can still learn from this movie. Personally, I believe that the art lighting in films has been lost. This is one aspect of cinema that can play a significant role in storylines, but now CGI is over used to substitute for the lack of lighting. So, I am urging everyone to take a moment and go watched Nosferatu not for the story, but for the cinematic beauty of lighting in film.
Much Love,
Sarah
