First released in March 1922, F.W. Murnau’s NOSFERATU: A SYMPHONY OF HORROR is turning 100 this year. A cornerstone of the horror genre and a landmark of German Expressionism, Murnau’s unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula remains the most unsettling vampire film ever made for many viewers.
Viewers can watch the seminal vampire film the best way possible with Kino Lorber’s HD edition mastered from the acclaimed 35mm restoration by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung. Let’s be frank: Many other versions of the film exist, but none match the visual and audio quality here. Color tinted and backed by an orchestral performance of Hans Erdmann’s original 1922 score, this edition of the film offers unprecedented visual clarity and historical faithfulness to the original release version.
NOSFERATU: A SYMPHONY OF HORROR is available on Blu-ray and DVD, and to rent or own on all major VOD platforms, including iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, and Kino Now. It is also available to stream on Kanopy.
NOSFERATU
Directed by F. W. Murnau
Germany |1922 | Color Tinted | 95 Min.
An unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, NOSFERATU: A SYMPHONY OF HORROR is the quintessential silent vampire film, crafted by legendary German director F. W. Murnau (Sunrise, Faust, The Last Laugh). Rather than depicting Dracula as a shape-shifting monster or debonair gentleman, Murnau’s Graf Orlok (as portrayed by Max Schreck) is a nightmarish, spidery creature of bulbous head and taloned claws – perhaps the most genuinely disturbing incarnation of vampirism yet envisioned. Nosferatu was an atypical expressionist film in that much of it was shot on location. While directors such as Lang and Lubitsch built vast forests and entire towns within the studio, Nosferatu‘s landscapes, villages and castle were actual locations in the Carpathian mountains. Murnau was thus able to infuse the story with the subtle tones of nature: both pure and fresh as well as twisted and sinister.