Nosferatu
A seminal Expressionist masterpiece veiled in dread and shadows. It evokes a primal terror through the visceral, pestilential silhouette of a creeping nightmare, inextricably binding the fragility of life to the eternal hunger of death.
Nosferatu
Nosferatu

Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens

"A symphony of horror."

16 February 1922 Germany 89 min ⭐ 7.7 (2,400)
Director: F. W. Murnau
Cast: Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder, Georg H. Schnell, Ruth Landshoff
Fantasy Horror
Death, Disease, and Pestilence The Power of Nature vs. The Supernatural Repressed Sexuality and Taboo Xenophobia and the Threat of the "Other"
Box Office: $24,194

Nosferatu - Movie Quotes

Memorable Quotes

Ist dies Ihre Frau? Welch ein schöner Hals! (Is this your wife? What a lovely throat!)

— Count Orlok

Context:

Orlok sees a miniature portrait of Ellen in Hutter's room at the castle and is instantly captivated by her, foreshadowing his deadly journey to Wisborg.

Meaning:

Establishes Orlok's predatory, vampiric nature and his immediate, terrifying fixation on Ellen.

Blut! Ihr kostbares Blut! (Blood! Your precious blood!)

— Count Orlok

Context:

Spoken to Hutter after the young man accidentally cuts his thumb with a bread knife while eating dinner at Orlok's castle.

Meaning:

Reveals the raw, unquenchable hunger of the vampire, stripped of the romanticism found in later genre adaptations.

Das ist der Vampir der Pflanzenwelt! (That is the vampire of the plant world!)

— Professor Bulwer

Context:

Bulwer demonstrates a Venus flytrap catching an insect to his fascinated students, drawing a direct parallel to Orlok's predatory behavior.

Meaning:

Thematically connects the supernatural concept of the vampire to the ruthless, parasitic realities of the natural world.

Hüte Dich es zu Sagen, sonst verblassen die Bilder des Lebens zu Schatten... (Beware you never say it – for then the pictures of life will fade to shadows...)

— The Book of Vampires (Intertitle)

Context:

Read by Hutter in the 'Book of Vampires' at the inn, warning of the psychological and physical consumption by the Nosferatu.

Meaning:

A meta-textual warning about the power of the occult and the danger of acknowledging the vampire's existence, blurring the line between myth and reality.