Nosferatu

I first saw the silent movie Nosferatu, Eine Symphonie Des Grauens when I was about nine years old very late at night (or was it early morning) on television. Something about this film from 1922 seemed much more real than any of the 70s Hammer films I liked to watch, in fact just about every scene is creepy and has a very unsettling feeling and appearance. The film is based obviously on Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' but changed in places to avoid legal issues, supposedly destroyed and missing for many years the film (and Dracula) is now part of the public domain so if you haven't seen this film you can check it out or download it here.

The actor Max Schreck who played Count Graf Orlok (Dracula) in the film is terrifying, his appearance is now so closely linked to how a Vampire is perceived. Strangely enough 'Schreck' is the German for 'Terror' and in this part he lives up to his name.