Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Nosferatu Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 24, 2022

F.W. Murnau's "Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens" a.k.a. "Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror" (1922) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Reel Vault Inc. The only bonus feature on the release is a short promo for a TV screening of the film. Presented with English intertitles. Region-Free.

It is a legendary film that tells a legendary story. Young lawyer Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim, Fritz Lang's Woman In the Moon) is sent to Transylvania to meet the mysterious Count Orlok (Max Schreck) who wishes to buy a house in his home town, Wisborg. Before he leaves, Hutter arranges for his beautiful wife Ellen (Greta Schroder, Victoria the Great) to stay with a good friend.

High up in the Carpathian Mountains, Hutter stops at a small inn. The folks there become terrified when Hutter casually reveals to them where he is heading. Then much to his surprise, his coach driver also refuses to take him to Orlok's castle. But a new coach, sent by Orlok, appears from the woods and picks him up. (Some of the most atmospheric visuals in the entire film are here, right before Hutter enters the castle).

Orlok personally welcomes Hutton - supposedly because it is almost midnight and all of his servants are asleep. Inside the castle, he offers the young man some food. When he accidentally cuts one of his fingers, Orlok attempts to suck the 'precious blood' dripping from it.

Eventually, Orlok and his guest begin discussing the house in Wisborg. While Hutton hands him the purchase contract, Orlok notices the medallion with the photograph of his wife he carries with him. Her long and beautiful neck impresses Orlok. The contract is then quickly signed.

On the following day, Hutton begins exploring the castle. He accidentally discovers the coffin where Orlok sleeps and finally realizes who, or what, his host is. Orlok then promptly locks Hutton in his room and begins preparing for his journey to Wisborg, but the lawyer manages to escape and rushes back to warn everyone in his town about the great evil that is heading their way.

The atmosphere in F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu is quite simply extraordinary. The film is both very unsettling and at the same time indescribably beautiful. It is like a strange dream somehow captured on celluloid - you know that it isn't real, but while it lasts it genuinely feels like it is.

The structure of the film is also very unusual. It is subtitled 'A Symphony of Horrors', and rightfully so. Like a classical music piece, it is broken into different acts, each with a contrasting mood and themes (fear, lust, love, and pain) that appear in different variations before the powerful climax. There are even sequences that are used like true contrasting rhythmic motifs that emerge throughout the film. (See the sequences with Orlok's coach and the loading of the coffins which are done in fast-motion mode).

It is Schreck's iconic performance, however, that has made Nosferatu a legendary film. There is something indescribably eerie about the way he moves and looks into Murnau's camera. Considering the fact that his presence in front of the camera is extremely limited, this is indeed an extraordinary achievement.

Murnau's Noseferatu has inspired various directors to shoot remakes and other similarly-themed films. Arguably the best of them all is German director Werner Herzog's Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht a.k.a. Nosferatu the Vampyre, with Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, and Bruno Ganz.

*This new release from Reel Vault Inc. offers a presentation of Nosferatu with English intertitles that is approximately 86 minutes long. The release utilizes a BD-R disc.

Nosferatu Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Nosferatu arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Reel Vault Inc.

The only other release of this iconic film that I have in my library is this Region-B release from British label Eureka Entertainment. It was produced in 2013.

This brand new release of Nosferatu utilizes a BD-R disc. Also, it presents the film with English intertitles in a version that is approximately 86 minutes long. The Region-B release that I referenced above presents a different reconstruction and restoration of the film that was finalized at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. Also, this version of the film has different tints and is approximately 94 minutes long.

Even though this shorter version of the film has not benefited from extensive restoration work, it looks pretty good. For example, there are quite a few close-ups, like the one from screencapture #13, that boast very pleasing delineation. Select outdoor shots can match the quality of the close-ups as well. However, the extensive restoration work that was performed at L'Immagine Ritrovata makes quite a difference. There are basic stability enhancements, for instance, that very efficiently rebalance the visuals and produce a much more attractive overall appearance for the film. On this version, right from the get-go you will notice very light weaving on the intertitles that keeps popping throughout the entire film. There are small but noticeable drops in density levels as well. The tints are good, but they do not have the consistent fresh appearance that the tints on the restored version boast. In some darker areas, there is a small loss of detail as well. Finally, the encoding could have been better because grain exposure isn't stable. I noticed that from time to time every other frame struggles to keep the grain exposure from the previous frame. I think that the entire film should have been placed on a proper dual-layer disc and the encoding optimized as best as possible. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Nosferatu Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Music LPCM 2.0. The version of the film that is offered on this release utilizes English intertitles.

The film can be viewed with an exclusive new score composed and performed by pianist Keith Taylor. This score has a bit of a modern personality, but I thought that it was quite nice. The recording has a chamber quality, which means that its dynamic contrasts are very modest. Also, it is not a big studio project, so on this version the film the music really does have a supporting role.

Nosferatu Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Promo - a short promo for a TV presentation of Nosferatu. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).

Nosferatu Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This brand new release of Nosferatu will likely be of interest only to completists that want to have all versions of the iconic film in their libraries. It offers a presentation of Nosferatu with English intertitles and a brand new score composed and performed by pianist Keith Taylor. However, I personally am not a fan of BD-R discs, though it has to be said that Reel Vault Inc. has placed a decent price tag on its release.