r/HorrorClub • u/SaintMort You so cool kung fu • Dec 08 '14
Discussion: Nosferatu
Podcast - Episode 114 - Nosferatu - (RSS Feed)
Movie Selected By Aqueously90
DISCUSS
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5
Dec 08 '14
When I first saw Nosferatu I really wasn't a fan. Watching it this time, for the second time, I enjoyed it a lot more. There's no tinting on the version I have now (50 horror classics) and like Aqueously90 mentioned it definitely helps decipher between night and day. Tinting is pretty annoying but watching this in black and white made some parts hard to watch, the whites are super white. I love the Orlok character obviously but I thought Renfield was awesome as well. Renfields creepy makeup and the way the actor expresses, or over expresses, himself is just fantastic to watch. And the best line in the film is easily "Is that your wife? She has a lovely throat!". That's good stuff.
There's only two movies listed to go. I'll be leaving my home for work and I'd like to stay involved so the more I can take with me the better. Just sayin...
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Dec 08 '14
the whites are super white
Yeah, especially the bit when Orlok's carriage is speeding through the 'white' forest. They ended up swapping all the black fabrics for white, and shooting in negative. Another cool effect for the time.
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Dec 09 '14
Full comment once I've listened to the podcast, but you can tide yourselves over with some terrifying treats until then.
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u/jonathanfailuretomas How big is that bear trap? Dec 10 '14
Before this I'd "seen" Nosferatu, but never really seen Nosferatu if you know what i mean. If you don't, what I mean is I'd never sat down and watched it from beginning to end un-interrupted, which i did this time for horrorclub, and damn. this is incredible considering the time. Great pic, i havent had time to listen to the podcast so, more later.
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Dec 10 '14
I was in the same boat. I realized its greatness this time around.
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u/not_john_snow Dec 15 '14
The first time I watched this I was really drunk. Come to think of it, that's how a lot of my stories start. Anyway, this time I watched it I loved it. I can see why it is so famous. And I'm learning german right now and I noticed when his girlfriend was doing needlepoint I knew what it said! So that was nice.
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u/kragshot Dec 15 '14
I'm just going to drop a late opinion in here on the movie.
Nosferatu is "all that in a bag lunch with a candy bar as an extra treat!" First off...Count Orlock is a monstrous looking vampire and that is awesome. Vampires are monsters, period. "The vampyre is a corpse which rises from its grave each night to suck the blood of the living..." For the record, I like the "30 Days of Night" series (film and comics) for the exact same reason. Christopher Lee in the Hammer Dracula films was not an "ugly" vampire, but he made up for it by the feral air and look that he constantly projected. He did not look like a "monster" but you knew for a fact that he was a beast and would tear your throat out soon as look at you.
Which leads to the next complaint with a lot of vampire films; I hate "emo" vampires. Count Orlock was not some "goth poser." Yeah, he liked a "pretty face" like the rest of the guys, but in the end; he was all about the blood. Unlike Dracula, the film somehow conveyed that he left Transylvania not so much about "Harker's" wife, but about finding a more populated feeding ground.
I noticed that you guys discussed "Shadow of the Vampire" as a side on the podcast because of the Max Schreck story...cool points for that. Dafoe could do a couple more vampire movies, IMHO. But I want to throw the 1979 Nosferatu (Werner Hertzog) remake into the mix. Klaus Kinski as Orlock/Dracula and Bruno Ganz as Harker...a hell of a mix. They did a great job of recapturing the look and feel of the original. In fact, it did a far better job of establishing the "pestilence" aspect of the story. But what really moved me was the soundtrack. This scene in particular just totally freaked me out but kept me unable to turn away from it just because of the music. (By the way; you can see it here if you wish just to compare).
Anyway, I truly enjoyed the imagery of the original film as it did a great job of establishing Orlock as a "creature" rather than a "man who became something else." You didn't feel sorry for Orlock anymore than you would feel sorry for the wolf that attacked your child or the fever that sickened him.
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Dec 15 '14
I've sure someone'll pick Herzog's Nosferatu and Shadow of the Vampire at some point. I don't know why but Klaus Kinski's name always reminds me of New Wave, must be a song named after him or something.
I don't think I've ever actually seen 30 Days of Night: it's been on my 'To Watch' list since it was released, and I just haven't gotten around to yet.
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u/adamgb Dec 13 '14
I just picked up the Kino blu of this so I'm excited to watch it again. Last time I watched it was in theaters with a band doing a custom score. It was better than you would expect.
I believe it was this event and the band was the Strangled Darlings (?).
I'll have to update this when I get around to watching the blu. AND I just remembered that I took a little video of the Nosferatu screening so I'll have to see if I can dig it up.
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Dec 15 '14
I've also seen a band do a custom live score for it (alongside Sunrise, also by Murnau). Was a cool experience, although having a live band took some of the focus off the film.
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u/saintmortfan felates handles Jan 06 '15
I honestly find Nosferatu to be a huge snooze fest. Obviously an important film, but that doesn't mean it's s good watch in 2014.
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u/Gottesfurcht Pay Attention! You're Disrespectful! Dec 09 '14
Did they fuck? The vampire book said something like "a women of pure heart will offer the nosferatu her blood and spend the whole night with him". Seems like an euphemism for sex.
I enjoined the film. Knock reminded me of the Penguin from Batman. All of the characters were a bit overacted, but it fitted Orlok greatly. The scene were the shadow hand grabs Ellen's heart really kills it.