Communication and culture review on Nosferatu

Basic film notes à

Nosferatu was the first ever film portrayal of vampires

A 1922 silent movie

If people went to watch it in the cinema there would have been a live orchestra playing the sound track

The audience had never seen a vampire or horror film before

 

Start of the movie à

Lovers are together, they are happy

A loving situation which is going to be disrupted by the vampire

The female is perceived a naïve, sweet and innocent

 

Arriving at the castle à

The screen turns to a negative effect when watching his journey to the castle

The vampire lives in an old dilapidated castle

The castle doors open all on their own

We see the vampire for the first time he is: ugly, animalistic, corpse like, pale, hunched and has rat’s teeth.

The ‘monster’ character is shown like this because it is what the audience of the time was scared of. At the time this film was created the audience were scared of Jews and immigrants.

 

Vampire representations à

The vampire sleeps by day; which highlights his difference.

This was the first vampire attack on film. So it is the first time that the audience can see that vampires bite the neck of its victims.

The woman is asleep with the window open, the fact that she is in bed helps to show the separation of the vampire and her worlds.

The audience see the shadow of the ‘monster’ before physically seeing the ‘monster’, the audience also sees the shadow of the vampire attack but never physically sees the vampire attack.

 

The portrayal of women à

Woman saves Hutter from a vampire attack

Woman saves the whole village from further vampire attacks

The woman gives herself up in order to do the above

The woman gets attacked when she is in bed alone

The vampire hypnotises her and she lets him in, which causes her to become open to the vampire

 

Key ideas to write about à

The vampire’s appearance

Talk about the repertoire of elements; horror movies often use shadows during the attacking scenes, the neck biting is now widely seen as a vampire attack.

The portrayal of the vampire as the ‘other’

To what extent are females sexualised in vampire films and how this film is different.

There is no sense of sympathy the vampire is just a monster which is different compared to modern day representations of vampires