Nosferatu (or, A Symphony of Horror) (1922). *****
Directed by the acclaimed German Expressionist F. W. Murnau and photographed by the brilliant Fritz Arno Wagner (M), this is one of the most critically acclaimed horror films. Max Schreck's appearance in the film is perhaps one of the most memorable in all of cinema history: Pale and thin, his version of a vampire has a shaved head with two elongated front teeth, sunken cheeks, wide bulging eyes, and fingernails which are extremely long, curved, and pointed like claws. Because Murnau did not have the literary rights to Bram Stoker's Dracula, he changed the setting, altered the plot slightly and changed the vampire's name to Count Orlock. Nosferatu can be considered the first vampire film in much the same way that Stoker's Dracula is the first vampire novel; every subsequent artistic attempt must measure itself against both this film and the novel.
London After Midnight (1927). ***
This silent film was directed by Tod Browning (who would eventually direct Dracula for Universal). It starred Lon Chaney as Inspector Edmund Burke, alias "Mooney," a fake vampire. The story was based on Browning's own novel, entitled The Hypnotist. London After Midnight may be, in fact, the first full-length American vampire film. Murnau's Nosferatu did not reach the United States until 1929, when it was released as Nosferatu, the Vampire. Curiously, Chaney's make-up is similar, though not identical, to Max Schreck's in Nosferatu.
Dracula (1931). ***
Directed by the "Edgar Allan Poe of the Cinema," Tod Browning, and photographed by the Expressionist cinematographer Karl Freund, this film is the first vampire sound film and is still one of the most popular vampire films. Its popularity is probably due to Bela Lugosi's Dracula, who, with his authentic Hungarian accent and satanic appearance, captured the popular culture's imagination as an authentic vampire. The script for the film was not based on Stoker's Dracula, however. Instead, it was based on a popular play by John Balderston and Hamilton Deane. Lugosi, in fact, recreated his stage role for the movie. While this original movie is a popular film, it is not a great film. Browning's direction is adequate but not compelling; it does not match the energy of his earlier films — such as The Unholy Three (1925), or The Unknown (1927), which are more lavish and carefully directed; nor does it approach the genuinely grotesque horror of his next film, Freaks (1932). Freund's photography is rather lackluster; his next effort, Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), made with Robert Florey, is a more appropriate example of Freund's innovative technique. Still, Dracula, like the novel, has managed to capture the public's imagination ever since its release.
