I’m not sure exactly when the law was passed, but at some point, all movie sites became obligated to highlight and celebrate “spooky season.” As it is already the middle of October, we’ll have to make up for lost time to retain our movie site license.
Now then, let’s go back to 1922, and one of the grandfathers of all horror cinema that followed: The original Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. The film is based on Bram Stroker’s novel Dracula, released in 1897, and is helmed by German director F.W. Murnau. Later, Murnau would move to Hollywood and direct Sunrise in 1927, lauded by many critics as one of the best movies ever made. (We’ll tackle that one after spooky season.)
A few notes on the version we’ve embedded below: There are several versions of the film on YouTube, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. In our opinion, this version best mixes a cleaned-up image, tinting (the original was tinted as well, although most copies are black and white.) and soundtrack to approximate the experience of seeing the film in 1922.
It is incredible how watchable this movie is over 100 years later. Think about a how rudimentary every aspect of production was then compared to today. If you’re a filmmaker, watch what Murnau was able to do, and how this film has managed to still captivate audiences today.
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