Nosferatu (Germany 1922)

The environment where you see a film can have a huge effect on how you experience it. I saw the horror classic "Nosferatu" by the great F.W. Murnau for the first time yesterday at an Open Air screening with live music. The projection was quite bad, the lights at the venue were too bright and people were walking around during the show all the time. All of this had quite a bad influence on the atmosphere of the film.

Of course, a great film shines through no matter what and "Nosferatu" definitely is one. It reduces the vampire myth to its bare bones and is all the more effective for it. It may not be that scary by today's standards but it is still unreached on an artistic level. The morbid images are unforgettable and Max's Schreck's grotesque figure far more haunting than any computer-generated creature I have ever seen.

But nevertheless I have a feeling that I might have gotten into it more if I would have watched in in proper quality in a darkened theatre or maybe even more alone at home. I will some time, and let you know - maybe I will be really scared then...

9/10

Terrifying: Max Schreck as "Nosferatu"