Vampires are fascinating mythical creatures created as scapegoats to explain tragic circumstances and to try to make sense of unexplained illness or death, opens a new window. There are so many different ideas about what it means to be a vampire. It is generally agreed that these creatures have fangs, drink the blood of humans, are immortal, only come out at night (except the sparkly kind, opens a new window) and that humans become vampires through a bite wound. But that is generally where the rules diverge.
The idea of vampires has inspired hundreds, if not thousands, of books, films, and TV shows. The most definitive enduring version of the vampire story is Dracula, opens a new window, written by Bram Stoker in 1897. This version of the story describes the vampire as a blood-drinking, shapeshifting Eastern European count, probably based on Vlad the Impaler, opens a new window. He sleeps in a coffin, his powers are strongest at night, and he seduces vulnerable women in Victorian England. Dracula even introduces the vampire hunter Van Helsing, opens a new window.
Take our Dracula quiz!, opens a new window
The silent film Nosferatu was released over 100 years ago in 1922 and was the first version of Dracula on film. It is an unofficial adaptation directed by German expressionist director F. W. Murnau. The widow of Bram Stoker actually sued, opens a new window the company that made the film for copyright infringement and attempted to have all copies destroyed. Luckily for us horror film lovers, she was only semi-successful.
To our hardened 21st-century hearts, who have witnessed the influence that this film has had on so many subsequent horror films, Nosferatu might not seem all that scary. But imagine: this was one of the first horror films ever made. No one had ever seen a creature like this on film. The storytelling and effects were groundbreaking technical achievements at the time.
When you watch the 1922 version of Nosferatu, you will notice a lot of differences between how Count Orlak is depicted versus how Count Dracula and other vampires are portrayed in later films. "More animal than human, Orlok has huge bushy eyebrows, sunken eyes, a beaky nose, and a rodent's incisors in the centre of his mouth.", opens a new window Count Orlak stands out enough that despite the fact that it is now okay to name and base your movie on the original novel, people are still retelling the story of the most unsettling vampire yet to be imagined.
Director Robert Eggers is the latest to tackle Nosferatu. What can we expect from the 2024 version of the film? In a recent Vanity Fair article, Eggers mentioned that he has been fascinated by Nosferatu since he was a child. As a young adult, he starred in a play version that he and a friend created. The original film has been on his mind for a very long time.
Eggers is known for his serious approach to recreating historic settings, attempting to be as accurate about the time period as possible. Even a detail as small as Anya Taylor-Joy’s ears being visibly pierced, opens a new window in his first movie The Witch, set among Puritans in the 1600s, made Eggers very upset. As a fan of all of Robert Eggers's previous films, I am especially excited to see his take on this classic horror character. His attention to detail and unique style are a huge part of why his films are particularly riveting and engrossing. In his version of Nosferatu, the title character played by Bill Skarsgård, speaks a dead language, opens a new window.
“All of my films deal with folktales, fairy tales, mythological and supernatural stuff... It's easier for the audience to go along with it if the world feels grounded instead of stylized and artificial....”
If you are as excited about the upcoming film as I am, you can prepare for it ahead of the Christmas Day release by watching Nosferatu (1922), opens a new window on HCPL's free streaming service Kanopy, opens a new window. The Texas movie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse has a remastered version with a new score that is also available on Kanopy, as is the 1979 remake of the film, opens a new window by director Werner Herzog. You can also watch Robert Eggers's previous films on DVD by checking them out from your closest Harris County Public Library branch!
Films by Robert Eggers
Want to compare all the different vampire stories and lore? Check out some of the other movies and TV shows about vampires in our collection!
Vampire Movies!
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
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