31 Days Has October: NOSFERATU

Tonight I'll be digging out my old Image laserdisc of F.W. Murnau's 1922 unauthorized silent adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Nosferatu, and giving it a spin in my old LD player. For some reason, I never picked up any of the DVD versions of this film over the last decade or so. I'm looking forward to seeing how the picture holds up on our HD big screen television.

I first saw the movie in high school, a 16mm print rented by the library. I don't remember why - I don't think it was Halloween, and we definitely didn't read Dracula in class - but even then I wasn't turned off by a silent film. I really enjoyed the nightmare quality of the imagery, and to this day, Nosferatu remains one of my favorite vampire movies... and the pseudonymous Max Shreck remains one of the best Count Draculas - even if he's operating under the alias of "Orlok."