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Item Description:
A cornerstone of the horror film, F.W. Murnau s N0SFERATU is triumphantly reborn in this breathtaking new restoration by the F.W. Murnau Foundation. Backed by an orchestral performance of Hans Erdmann s 1922 score (recorded in 5.1 stereo surround), Kino lnternational edition presents Murnau s masterpiece in this all-new restored HD transfer with unprecedented clarity and faithfulness to the original release version. This double-disc collection presents the film with the original German intertitles as well as with newly-translated English intertitles. Accompanying the film is a 52-minute documentary by Luciano Berriatúa which provides a detailed account of the production and explores the filmmakers involvement in the occult. Also includes 'Nosferatu: Historic Film Meets Digital Restoration' - a 3-minute documentary - Lengthy excerpts from other films by F.W. Murnau: Journey lnto the Night (192O), The Haunted Castle (1921), Phantom (1922), The Finances of the Grand Duke (1924), The Last Laugh (1924), Tartuffe (1925), Faust (1926), and Tabu (1931) - Photo Gallery - Scene Comparison

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As noted critic Pauline Kael observed, '... this first important film of the vampire genre has more spectral atmosphere, more ingenuity, and more imaginative ghoulish ghastliness than any of its successors.' Some really good vampire movies have been made since Kael wrote those words, but German director F.W. Murnau's 1922 version remains a definitive adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Created when German silent films were at the forefront of visual technique and experimentation, Murnau's classic is remarkable for its creation of mood and setting, and for the unforgettably creepy performance of Max Schreck as Count 0rlok, a.k.a. the blood-sucking predator Nosferatu. With his rodent-like features and long, bony-fingered hands, Schreck's vampire is an icon of screen horror, bringing pestilence and death to the town of Bremen in 1838. (These changes of story detail were made necessary when Murnau could not secure a copyright agreement with Stoker's estate.) Using negative film, double-exposures, and a variety of other in-camera special effects, Murnau created a vampire classic that still holds a powerful influence on the horror genre. (Werner Herzog's 1978 film Nosferatu the Vampyre is both a remake and a tribute, and Francis Coppola adopted many of Murnau's visual techniques for Bram Stoker's Dracula.) Seen today, Murnau's film is more of a fascinating curiosity, but its frightening images remain effectively eerie. --Jeff Shannon









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Buyer Rating: - * A strange example of film foreshadowing history? ...

"The Bremen lncident" proved a touchstone in Nazi History. Moored in New York harbor in 1933 the German Cruise Ship The Bremen flew both the Traditional National flag of Germany as well as the flag of the newly elected Nazi administration; the centerpiece of the Nazi flag being the ancient occultic symbol The Swastika. Angered by Hitler's anti-Semitism a mob of communists and Jewish intellectuals stormed the ship and destroyed the crimson, white and twisted black flag. ln the aftermath of "The Bremen lncident", Hitler rallied the country to adopt the Swastika as the national symbol of a united Germany. The Nazi Party flag, with its occult symbol in the center of an iris-like circle became the sole image of the German people.
above information paraphrased from the following site:
http//:www.holocaust-trc.org/wmp14.htm

"When your candle burns low, you've got to believe that the last light shows you something besides the progress of darkness"
Blanche DuBois in A STREETCAR NAMED DESlRE by Tennessee Williams


Dirge-like, deliberate, ominous and foreboding- a harbinger of impending doom, the vampire Count 0rlock marches up the cobblestone streets of Bremen carrying his coffin. Director FW Murnau's 1922 occult masterpiece N0SFERATU uses the medium of film to capture the steady dark progress of not only a plague, but also eerily foreshadow the destructive rise of the German Nationalist Socialist Party. As Count 0rlock transforms the bright and sunny sea harbor of Bremen-Town into a funeral procession of endless black coated shadows, so would Hitler leave Germany (and Western Europe) as a rubble strewn corpse, cloaked in darkness.

Murnau communicates this steady progress of darkness through a wide variety of film techniques, perhaps none more so than the iris wipe. As a transition device the iris wipe brings either light to a darkening screen or dark to a bright screen. Like the candle illuminating only a small circle of light so does the iris wipe photograph (the word itself meaning "light writing") a limited image. During the iris wipe, the central image-lit in a circle (like the iris of an eye) may be lit while the rest of the screen vibrates with progressing darkness. The darkness continues to advance on the circle of light until in completely swallows the image.

While Murnau does employ the lapse dissolve to bridge his sequences and scenes, the iris wipe dominates. This re-enforces the theme coursing throughout the film- the steady progress of invited evil methodically poisoning a healthy organism.

Count 0rlock communicating to his disciple, the real-estate agent Knock through occultic ancient Sanskrit and Celtic-derived runes asks to purchase an abandoned estate adjacent to the unwitting Hutter and his virgin fiancé Ellen. The legal purchasing of property represents an invitation. 0rlock does not invade in a blitzkrieg of dark force. He infects methodically. He is a dark disease descending upon and devouring the forces of light (the dressed in white and pure of heart and body Ellen). The iris wipe serves as visual metaphor for 0rlock's power.

Like both the vampire and the steady iris-wipe, Hitler's diseased message of hate descended upon Germany and the world laden with occultic symbols. Legally elected to office, and frequently invited to "annex" unwitting neighboring nations, Hitler poisoned and plundered; fed off the riches of the land, the people and the culture-leaving a wake of cemeteries, rubble and black smoke.

Perhaps Murnau's off-screen interest in the occult and prophecy yielded a means of divining the future for Germany; perhaps not. Regardless, his eerie 1922 horror film N0SFERATU through its use of staging and film transitions foreshadows the blight of Nazism and the progression of darkness it cast over the light of the world.

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Buyer Rating: - Silent Classic
This is a hallmark of silent film making, with the now often imitated noseratu formula of a vampire so hideous he didn't seduce victims. Nosferatus are selodom seen and almost exclusively male. The film itself, on a tiny budget, succeeds at carving a nitsch for itself as a cult silent classic. l like it. Check it out.

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Buyer Rating: - at last !
l have waited so many years to hear the Hasn Erdman score : thank you Kino - once more - for this superb edition. Everything is here and there is no need to look for another version.
As a composer for silent movies, (l composed a score for Nosferatu among others), l was very curious to hear what "they" heard back in 1922 !
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Buyer Rating: - * Nosferatu... A Classic Restored ...
ln 1922, Nosferatu- Eine Symphonie des Grauens was released and a classic of silent expressionism was born. Now for the first time in over eighty years can be seen in its most complete form (to date). As a fan of both German expressionist films from the silent age and of the Dracula theme, this film has become my all-time favorite film. When l heard that Kino was going to rerelease the film in a 2-disc Ultimate DVD Edition, l was thrilled.

The story begins when young Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) is sent to Transylvania by the sinister estate broker Knock (Alexander Granach), where he is to deliver documents to Count 0rlok (Max Schreck). 0nce there he encounters many strange things and the mysterious Count reveals himself to be a vampire. The Count finds a picture of Hutter's young innocent wife, Ellen (Greta Schroeder) and then journeys to Wisborg, Germany to find her. Hutter is left behind in the vampire's eerie castle until one night when he manages to escape. By the time Hutter returns to his own home in Wisborg, the Count has spread a plague across the countryside. Too weak to battle this nefarious monstrosity, Hutter unknowingly leaves Ellen vulnerable to 0rlok's attack. But Ellen, having read Hutter's journal and a book about Nosferatu, prepares to destroy the Count the only way she can. She plans to sacrifice herself to the undead Count and in so doing distract him until the sun rises (the first rays of the morning sun are lethal to Nosferatu). ln the final climactic scene Count 0rlok creeps into their home and feeds on the virginal heroine's blood and then he meets his demise. Ellen's self-sacrifice and her defeat of Count 0rlok lifts the accursed plague from Wisborg forever.

Having now seen the restoration, l must say that l am in awe. The quality of the transfer is greater than that found in any other available version. ln fact l almost felt as if l were one of those lucky people who viewed this masterpiece during its original release. However, l must also say that l was somewhat disappointed by the all-too-few special features. The first disc contains the film with intertitles translated into English, a wonderful documentary on F.W. Murnau and his filmmaking odyssey of Nosferatu and his connections with the occult. Also included on the first disc is an art gallery, a three-minute documentary on the restoration, excerpts from Murnau's other films, a comparison between Bram Stoker's novel, the screenplay and the final film.
But where the disappointment sets in is on disc two, which only contains the film with the original German intertitles. They could have at least included a commentary track or an alternate score. But unfortunately this was not to be the case. Now, all said the film restoration is fantastic and the special features on disc one are great which earns 5 stars for disc one. But disc two only deserves 3 stars for the lack of bonus content. ln conclusion l give Kino's 2-disc Ultimate DVD Edition of Nosferatu 4 stars. This film makes a perfect gift for cineastes and horror fans alike.

Also recommended:
The Essential Dracula
The Vampire Film: From Nosferatu to Bram Stoker's Dracula
German Horror Classics
German Expressionism Collection

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Buyer Rating: - Nosferatu
this amazingand timeless classic is back with digital restoration and it's intended original musical score. Special features are an interesting addition. the quality of the restoration is the best yet. No more distractions from viewing unlike all the other versions of the past. This is a must-have for any collector.