Nosferatu, in my opinion, was very interesting. I thought that I would be scared out of my mind (as I cannot really stand thrillers or horror movies), but I was wrong. It wasn’t scary, but kind of creepy. I was really surprised since I get scared so easily, but I was able to watch this with no problem.
I wasn’t expecting the Nosferatu to look so ugly. Today, television has presented vampires as sexy, sparkling, and seductive creatures of the night. Obvious examples being Edward Cullen and the vampires from Vampire Diaries. They are meant to draw blood from us in a sexy way, like how a man kisses a woman on her neck in movies. However, that’s not at all what happened. It was not sexy, but a bit disturbing.
Honestly, how much better does that look than the picture below?
I also imagined the Count to appear much more human-like. He was very tall and unnatural-looking. Even though there was no color, I could just imagine him to have jaundice or some kind of green-tone for skin. His teeth and eyes and nails, they were all so un-human. Vampires today appear to be more like humans, except for their eyes, but usually look like they can walk around in public and not be noticed as a vampire (except maybe for their pale skin).
Also, what I noticed was that this didn’t associate the fact that vampires couldn’t see their own reflection! In the scene with Nina, I saw his reflection in the mirror behind him. I guess this was either not incorporated because they didn’t have special effects or maybe this was just something that someone randomly made up.
For some reason, I also found myself laughing at a lot of the scenes when they were just moving fast. I think it’s a common technique in old movies just to make them appear as if they’re going quick. That was hilarious to me.
I liked Nosferatu more than Metamorphosis and The Nose. The other stories were about body mutations and unnatural things. Although vampires are “unnatural,” it is most relatable to us because they can be seen as more human than a life-size cockroach and nose. I could understand it because these concepts are still in movies and television shows today.
Out of all of these, the vampire is the one that is most relevant to us today. Strange, isn’t it? I am just happy it wasn’t scary!
Janice Fong
Images (in order):
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02380/Twilight_2380224b.jpg
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/7/7/1278500923349/Max-Schreck-Nosferatu-006.jpg
http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/32600000/Vampires-vampires-32618076-680-1013.jpg
http://www.betterlivingthroughbeowulf.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/The-Nose.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EnHmABn3sh0/USbAouSfJAI/AAAAAAAABv4/T_o3zHDaDo4/s1600/cockroach.jpg
