Nosferatu - A chronicle of the Great Death in Wisborg. — The story of Nosferatu is one of gothic horror, sensuality and ultimately, death. Unlike Bram Stoker s Dracula , the events in the movie take place, not in London, bu... more »t in Bremen, Germany during the 1830s.
We are lucky to have Nosferatu. All copies were ordered destroyed in 1923. Nosferatu was deemed the product of plagerism, an unlicensed version of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Stoker's widow sued the movie producers until they were out of business and the court ordered all copies of the film to be destroyed.
Fortunately for us, copies were hidden away in the dark recesses of cinematheques and it is from these reels that we can see, what is considered the world s first horror film.
The story is familiar, however the style and characters are rooted in German Expressionism. Nosferatu was one of a handful of films that expanded the language of cinema in ways that had not yet been explored and resonate influentially to the movies of today.
VAMPYR by Carl Dreyer.
Vampyr ranks in many circles as one of the greatest horror films of all time. Inspired by Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla, the story concerns a mysterious series of killings, committed by a crone of a female vampire (Henriette Gerard). The story is told through the eyes of a holiday reveller (Julian West), who at first scoffs at the notion of a supernatural murderer, but who is eventually forced to believe that there are more things in heaven and earth.
Allan Gray (Julian West), a young student of the occult (who, the opening titles inform us, has been driven almost insane by his researches into vampirism and demonology) arrives at a small French town late one evening. The inn where he decides to spend the night is full of unlit passageways, sinister blind men, strange noises and paintings of Death personified...« less