There are two, count them, TWO versions of Nosferatu being released this year. One is a slightly new take by Robert Eggers and the other is meant as a direct remake of the 1922 version using modern technology.
It’s an interesting story. Nosferatu was an unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula. So unofficial that Stoker’s widow sued the makers of the new version. There were minor changes to the story and names (for example, Count Dracula became Count Orlok), but many elements made it from page to screen.
- Werner Herzog’s 1979 version retains much of the plot from the novel and Murnau’s film. While it follows the original closely, it lacks much of the dramatic lighting and scares that made the 1922 version what it is. There are some minor changes that helped make it a fresh adaptation.
- You can see a very heavy influence the look of Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, mostly through the heavy use of the vampire’s shadow.
- Shadow of the Vampire is yet another take – it portrays the actor playing Orlok in Murnau’s movie as an actual vampire.
- Both the 1979 and 2024 versions of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot use Orlok’s look as inspiration for their main vampire (Kurt Barlow).
1922 by F.W. Murnau (full film on Vimeo)
1979 by Werner Herzog
2024 by Robert Eggers
2024 by David Lee Fisher
1992 Francis Ford Coppola
2000 by E. Elias Merhige
Stephen Quirk 