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NOSFERATU
Prana-Film, 1922The creepiest of all
vampire films -- the one that can paralyze a viewer with dread -- is, remarkably, also one
of the earliest. F.W. Murnau's silent adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula
doesn't gussy up its bloodsucking antihero in a tux and hari pomade, a la Bela Lugosi.
Instead, Count Oriok (Max Schreck) is a bald, ratlike, cadaverous monster -- and
still he exerts an unnerving erotic pull. Unfolding with the inarguability of a
dream, Nosferatu presents Death as the ultimate lover with high style and no
illusions: In a very real way, it's the missing link between 19th-century gothic and
late-20th-century Goth.
| PRINCIPAL CAST |
Gustzv Botz, Max Schreck |
| DIRECTOR |
F. W. Murnau |
| PRODUCER |
Enrico Dieckmann, Albin Grau |
| SCREENWRITERS |
Henrik Galeen |
|
 This film ranked
80
on the EW Top 100. |