Nosferatu: A Symphony Of Horror

Friedrich Murnau's “Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens“, translated into English as “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” is one of the most important films in not only the horror genre itself, but cinematic history in its entirety. The film follows the story of a young married man, Thomas Hutter, and his journey to meet a client by the name of Count Orlok who may be interested in purchasing real-estate in his city. Upon arriving at his decrepit castle high in the Carpathian Mountains he becomes aware that Count Orlok may be a far more sinister character than he was lead to believe. He sleeps during the day, looms ominously about, and seems to have a strange obsession with a portrait of his wife; particularly her neck. An incident where Hutter cuts his thumb on a bread knife for example causes Orlok to grab his thumb in thirst, which leaves Hutter reeling in horror and he starts to question whether Nosferatu is indeed a member of the undead who feeds off the blood of the living. His suspicions are confirmed when he finds Count Orlok sleeping in a coffin in the basement one morning as he is exploring the castle. Hutter tries to escape, but becomes trapped within the castle while Count Orlok transports himself and …show more content…
At certain times they imply the darkness or light before they cut to the scene of it. For example, during the segment where Hutter is eating at a pub before his descent to Count Orlok's castle, the pub is cast in a warm yellow light, giving us the impression of a pleasant candlelit setting. When he gets up to pay and leave the manager warns Hutter of venturing too late at night and the film cuts to an intertitle that reads “You can't go any further tonight. The werewolf is roaming the forests.” (Marnau, Nosferatu) Soon after this, the film then cuts to an outside shot of the “werewolf” who is basked in blue. This is directly showing us that it is now evening in the