Nosferatu was an interesting movie to watch with respect to how vintage it is. Without a doubt I would not have watched this movie if I was not assigned it. I am not normally a fan of black and white films, especially silent films. I am so accustomed to movies that incorporate voices, and am not a fan of movies that do not, especially if they have blocks of text that remain there with enough time for someone to reread them five times.
Furthermore the version of Nosferatu provided in the syllabus was difficult to watch with regards to the amount of shaking throughout the course of the entire film. This made me quite feel somewhat nauseated, and took away from my general reception of the film. My initial association with Count was one of the general associations everyone most people make with vampires, with respect to all of the media and movies that are associated with vampires.
The classification of this movie as a horror film was somewhat underplayed in my opinion, what might have been scary in the past was not very scary in the present time, even with respect to viewing the film at the dead of night. The over exaggeration of almost everything in the film was a necessary aspect of the film, but it made me quite uncomfortable while watching it. The lack of animation leaves much to the imagination. Throughout the film some instances of music are also a bit unfitting to the instances of film that were progressing at the time.
In retrospect the ending was quite melodramatic in my opinion. The Count could have at least suffered a bit more or even have burst into flames. Overall the piece made me uncomfortable, nauseated and disappointed but it was definitely worth watching to understand what was considered a great film in its time. This gives insight into how what we currently view as entertaining or scary may someday become completely outdated and mundane.
Citations:
“The Pitter-Patter.” : Panicked. N.p., 1 Jan. 2011. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.
“Ha Ha, Hi Hi, Ho Ho, He He…gaaaaaaarv.” Scary Pictures. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.
As much as I respect your right to an opinion, I have to disagree on the fact that this was “underplayed”. The distortions and exaggerations make the movie powerful and dramatic- especially that long, deathly glare into the camera during the window scene. I even think that the “lack of animation” added to the eerie feeling of the film. Obviously, the film is going to be grainy but I believe it added a scary and crooked tone to the movie. The director definitely made use of simple techniques, like the shadow scene, to his advantage.
I completely understand how you felt when you started watching the film. I’m not a big fan of old black and white movies, so I wasn’t too thrilled to watch Nosferatu. I also agree with you that the horror aspect was underplayed. I mentioned in my post that I wasn’t able to relate to any of the characters, and I think this is partially why most of us didn’t find the film scary. In addition to that, the lack of sound required the actors to exaggerate their movements and emotions, making the story seem even more unrealistic. Although some elements of the film were disappointing, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy Nosferatu overall.