While watching Nosferatu I realized that this was the first silent film I had ever seen. It was a new experience for me. They way the actors had to over emphasize their actions and expressions in order to convey emotions was strange. It was similar to that of the opera we saw of The Nose, by its absurdity. The only silent films I have ever really heard of were done by Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin apparently did comedies, while Nosferatu was a horror thriller. Even though I am would not say I am a fan of silent films I did enjoy this one.
I read Bram Stoker’s Dracula a few years ago and I thought that on paper it was more thrilling than this film. I know that Noseferatu was considered frightening in its time, but today it does not seem scary at all. I found it to be a little more humorous. I thought Dracula was more of an agent of evil who lusted for blood, a dark menacing creature. In this film he seemed more as a goofy villain. I can’t really criticize the portrayal of a vampire in this film because over the years they have taken new forms. One example being, the Twilight Saga in which there is a love story between a human girl and a vampire. This type of vampire avoids sunlight because it makes his skin shinny instead of burns him. His whole motivation is for love instead of hunger. I believe this difference also highlights how the black and white of Nosferatu makes a clear cut between good and evil, while today the lines are more blurred.
Kids are not that easily scared any more, monsters have become part of a child’s life. They grew up learning to like monsters, because they are on the television and in movies. Some teach them the alphabet and social skills by singing and dancing.
The only films that get me scared today are those that either play with my imagination and force me to create my own monsters in the darkness, or those that have a creature that is overwhelmingly blood thirsty and made. It may require special effects so it is beyond what I can conceive on my own.
In Noseferatu what built the suspense for me was the music in the background. It really highlighted some of the fear and anxiety felt. It also brought a calm to the lighter moments to the film. I wonder if filmmakers were to make a brand new Dracula movie today how scary would it be, or would knowing Dracula and having him been made trite monster take away from the film.
I love the use of Chaplin and his crazy mustache. You always seem to give abstract and interesting attachments to other things like Monsters Inc. This is an interesting analogy because that is another ironic movie about how monsters aren’t scary. The difference was that movie was intentionally funny and Nosferatu was mockingly funny. I also agree that now the only thing was scares me are quick unexpected events in movie with crazy life-like special effects.
I definitely agree with the strangeness of the over emphasizing by characters. To me it worked to contribute to the overall creepiness of the film. And it’s amazing how that creepiness was achieved through expression and stance of characters. I also read Bram Stoker’s Dracula and found it much more chilling then the movie. But when I was watching the movie I tried to put myself in the mind-set of a person of the 1920’s (plus I watched it late at night alone in the dark) so that I could experience the scary side to it.
I’m sure you’re not the only person who thought of vampires as defined by Twilight. I think our current time romanticizes the supernatural too much, that’s why vampires from Twilight sparkle in the light instead of burn. I liked how you pointed out that Nosferatu clearly defines the good and the bad in vampires, whereas today the definition is more blurred. I hadn’t thought about it before you pointed it out. I think this is the case now because of the romantic obsession our time has for the supernatural. The fact that vampires should be burning in the light is a clear sign that they are bad, and they need to be defeated in some way. But because Twilight vampires now sparkle, it’s easier to believe there can be a good in vampires.
I think that the greater presence of “monsters” in our lives has numbed our susceptibility to horror films. Something like Nosferatu might have scared me as a kid, but now, I’ve seen so many different kinds of monster movies since then that Nosferatu might as well be a regular drama. That’s why I think that monster movies where the monster looks human, but acts disturbingly inhuman (whether subtly, like Dracula, or overtly, like a zombie), or movies where the monster is mostly or entirely hidden (like in The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity), are the ones that work for me. Nosferatu was just too over-the-top for me to find it really scary.