Review: 'Nosferatu: 100th Anniversary Edition' Blu-ray

This year is the 100th anniversary of F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, certainly one of the most important horror films ever made for its status as the inaugural Dracula adaptation and its impressively enduring ability to unsettle, which is largely down to Murnau's unrelentingly Goth atmosphere and Max Schreck's still-scary bald-rat portrayal of the count in the days before the character became all urbane and sexy. Because of the anniversary's significance, you could bet there would be some low-budget video releases of this public-domain film to cash in on the occasion. As far as that sort of thing goes, you could do worse than Reel Vault's "100th Anniversary Edition" of Nosferatu. Compared with Kino Lorber's blu-ray from 2013, the one "official" U.S. release, some complaints can still be lodged. While both editions have their share of scratches and blotches, Kino's trounces Reel Vault's in the stability department. The grain of Reel Vault's squirms around the picture like an ant colony, and the intertitles vibrate.

Review: 'The Nosferatu Story: The Seminal Horror Film, Its Predecessors, and Its Enduring Legacy'

Nosferatu may be the first horror feature that really feels like one. Based on one of horror’s top-three essential texts, featuring an iconic portrayal of one of the top-three essential monsters, and brought to life with dank, Gothic atmosphere, F.W. Murnau’s Dracula adaptation is historically significant and still very scary after nearly a century. The film’s making is also well worth deep discussion and very deserving of a book with a title like The Nosferatu Story: The Seminal Horror Film, Its Predecessors, and Its Enduring Legacy.

Unfortunately, that title ended up on book that is disjointed and flimsy. The Nosferatu Story feels like excerpts from essays about early German cinema sutured together in a way more reminiscent of Mary Shelley than Bram Stoker. Author Rolf Giesen fails to tie together his various discussions in a way that tells a satisfying, linear story. He dwells on odd things and skims over essentials. There are thirty pages of discussion of films such as The Golem and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari before Giesen gets to Nosferatu. Then there are another thirty pages of pointless plot description, which is a major issue in a book that is only 210 pages long (and 75 of those pages are devoted to filmographies and appendices). Perhaps the most well known detail of the Nosferatu story is Stoker’s widow Florence’s accusations of copyright violations against the film and the subsequent court decision that demanded every copy of Murnau’s film be destroyed. Instead of unearthing interesting new details about this key part of his story, Giesen darts through it in three brief paragraphs. He does, however, set aside an entire paragraph of his slim book to relay every person director Tony Watt thanks in the credits of some movie called Nosferatu vs. Father Pipecock & Sister Funk.

There are interesting chunks of The Nosferatu Story: The Seminal Horror Film, Its Predecessors, and Its Enduring Legacy —particularly a brief but fascinating biography of star Max Schreck, who applied his own makeup for his portrayal of the rat-like Count Orlock and enjoyed a rich stage career, and everything pertaining to the film's occultist producer, Albin Grau— but the overall telling of that story is much too unfocused to earn its enticing title.

366 Days at the Drive-In: Day 171

The Date: March 19

The Movie: Faust (1926)

What Is It?: F.W. Murnau used the hoary parable of Dr. Faustus selling his soul to Old Scratch as a leaping-off point for some of the director's most striking images. Forget the proselytizing and focus on puppet demons galloping through the cosmos on horseback, a demonic contract flaming into existence without pen ever touching parchment, and a Godzilla-sized Satan looming over the village he is about to plague with the plague.

Why Today?: On this day in 1859, Charles Gounod’s Faust opera premiers at Paris’ Théâtre Lyrique.

366 Days at the Drive-In: Day 163

The Date: March 11

The Movie: Nosferatu (1922)

What Is It?: The first Dracula movie worth mentioning is still the scariest and most atmospheric. It’s always refreshing to watch a Drac who doesn’t even try to exude an iota of smarmy charm. Max Schreck’s looks like a shaved rat.

Why Today?: On this day in 1931, F.W. Murnau dies.