When I was told that Nosferatu is a horror movie, I was ecstatic! Horror is one of my favorite genres of movies. Although I think the vampire and werewolf concept is overrated, I was more willing to watch Nosferatu because this is where the hype started rather than for the assignment. Nonetheless, I was bothered by the fact that Nosferatu was in black and white. Personally, I have problem sitting through a black and white film, not to mention that it was a silent film as well. I had to watch the film in increments, and although the film was only 90 minutes, it felt much longer than that.
Before watching Nosferatu, the title reminded me of The Nose. After watching the movie, it reminded me even more of The Nose. In both of these productions, the movements are exaggerated to get the emotion and purpose across to the audience. The grandiose movements in Nosferatu reinforced the maxim that “actions speak louder than words”. For me, the music that was played through the duration of the film added the emotions that couldn’t be expressed through the actors’ movements, and set the mood for that segment of the film.
I found the movie to not be scary at all. For parts of the film, I felt no emotion. For the other parts of the film, I found it to be almost comical. The actors would be running around like lost ducks, and their movements reminded me of how children act when they are upset.
I think it is really funny that you compared the film to people running around like lost ducks. I actually laughed out loud at that. I agree with you that the film was boring in black and white and because of the silence. It felt much longer than 90 minutes. It is interesting that you compared Nosferatu to the production of The Nose because you are right. The actions are all so exaggerated and it really does show that in these two productions, actions speak louder than words. However, that is not always the most exciting thing somehow.
I think it’s amazing that you like to watch horror movies! Personally, I am terrified of watching horror films without someone watching the film with me. However, Nosferatu isn’t what I would consider a “horror movie”, so I watched it by myself. I definitely agree with you when you said that you were a bit disappointed by the fact that it wasn’t scary and more comical. I also thought it was really interesting how you connected Nosferatu to The Nose. I also thought of a nose when I saw the word Nosferatu.
For me,Nosferatu is not a horror movie at all. I treat it as an old legend or mystery of a vampire rather than bloody modern horror. I do agree that the silence and black and white do make the film seem longer,but I think during that era when recordings and filming just started for few decades, the film did a excellent job telling us a story. Remember,it is a movie from ninety years ago!