Nosferatu (1922) is a seminal horror movie and one of the first examples of a vampire on film. Not only is it the inspiration for Robert Eggers’ 2024 adaptation, but it’s a worthy watch in its own right. Originally an unofficial Dracula adaptation, Nosferatu hews closely to Bram Stoker’s original story with some key changes that have resulted in Nosferatu becoming its own side franchise. Count Orlock is one of the most iconic movie vampires ever, likely only bested by Dracula himself when it comes to pop culture recognizability, and Nosferatu is still arguably the greatest vampire film ever.

Max Schreck starred in the original silent German film as the long-fingered, bald, and eminently creepy Count Orlock, but he’s not the only actor to don the costume. There have been several Nosferatu remakes over the years, and not every one is called “Nosferatu“, a result of the odd copyright laws extending from the original film, which was itself an unofficial adaptation. What you can call the four “official” remakes include the 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre, the 2023 Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, and Robert Eggers’ 2024 remake, which draws heavily from the original film.

Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu Is Heavily Influenced By The 1922 Original

There Are Few, Relatively Small Differences Between The Plots

Watching the original Nosferatu before Robert Eggers’ 2024 film is almost required. The films share so much DNA that, without sounding too critical, Eggers’ film is almost a one-to-one reenactment in certain scenes. Dialogue is lifted right from the original. Far from feeling unnecessary, it’s actually a delight to hear the original lines, which were scrawled across interтιтles in the original, as is the style in silent films. Hearing the words brought to life by Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, and Bill Skarsgård offers a new imagining of the classic script.

The broad strokes of Nosferatu (2024) and Nosferatu (1922) are very similar, and many of the more specific strokes are quite similar as well. Some details differ, like there are a handful of characters in Eggers’ Nosferatu who do not appear in the original, namely Willem Dafoe’s Prof. Albin Eberhart von Franz. The backstory of Ellen (Depp) opening the door for Nosferatu to become bonded with her is also a plotline not present in the original film. Furthermore, characters like Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Anna (Emma Corrin) are given more backstory.

Watching both films allows a viewer to decide what’s more effective, the slim, quick horror of the original, or a more modern take where backstory is important and motivations more explicitly defined. Because the films are so similar otherwise, it’s a perfect comparison and shows just how much horror has evolved in a century. It also shows just how much horror has not evolved. The things that scared us one hundred years ago still scare us in the present. Eggers’ film is not a carbon copy of the 1922, instead, it reveals just how influential that original film is.

Nosferatu (1922) Still Holds Up A Century Later

The Black-And-White Film Remains An Intriguing, Frightening Tale

Even without comparing it to the Eggers’ 2024 remake, Nosferatu 1922 is an excellent film on its own merits. Classic black-and-white silent movies can be intimidating viewing for a lot of movie fans. Film language has changed so much since the 1920s that there’s a real worry that a viewer might literally not understand what is happening in a movie that old. They simply won’t be able to follow a film with a structure and style so different from what they’ve been brought up on. It’s a completely reasonable frustration.

However, if you think you have any patience for an older film, or want to give the Silent Era a try just to see your feelings on it, Nosferatu may be one of the best choices you can make to test your taste. It’s quite a simple story, and one that almost everyone will know intimately, so it’s OK if you get lost with the subтιтles or the non-modern storytelling structure. It’s obvious why something is happening and what will happen next. The black-and-white color grade does not feel archaic either; it’s perfectly appropriate for a horror film set in Central Europe.

Nosferatu is legitimately scary as well. You may not be jumping in your seat like you do watching Eggers’ Nosferatu, but the chilly atmosphere and frightening appearance of Orlock are enough to make you stare hard at the dark corners of your room late at night. The special effects of the time period may be primitive, but they also offer up uniquely uncanny sights that are unnerving even when they’re a little goofy. It’s a very brisk, tragic film as well, feeling like a horror short story, which makes it more digestible.

Eggers’s Thoughts On The Original Nosferatu

The Demon-Lover Trope Is What Draws Eggers To Nosferatu

Robert Eggers has always been a bit hushed when it comes to discussing his movies. He’d rather viewers get the answers they want from the films he makes instead of from him. Eggers has said that an image of Max Schreck as Nosferatu completely absorbed him when he saw it as a child, and he even directed a stage version of it as a teenager (via NYTimes). When it came to molding Nosferatu for his modern adaptation, Eggers looked at the original film, 20th-century occultism, and Transylvanian folklore (via RogerEbert),

“One of the tasks I had was synthesizing Grau’s 20th-century occultism with cult understandings of the 1830s and with the Transylvanian folklore that was my guiding principle for how Orlok was going to be, what things he was going to do, and the mythology around him. I was synthesizing a mythology that worked with all of that.”

Nosferatu (2024) does have its own ideas that are not necessarily present in the 1922 original, and it’s from Eggers’ investigation into the time period surrounding the years Nosferatu was produced that led to these other ideas. The story still clearly holds Eggers’ attention. When it comes to what exactly he loves about it so much, Eggers said,

“I think that what ultimately rose to the top, as the theme or trope that was most compelling to me, was that of the demon-lover. In “Dracula,” the book by Bram Stoker, the vampire is coming to England, seemingly, for world domination. Lucy and Mina are just convenient throats that happen to be around. But in this “Nosferatu,” he’s coming for Ellen. This love triangle that is similar to “Wuthering Heights,” the novel, was more compelling to me than any political themes.”

There is something more Sєxual and even romantic about Nosferatu, which is saying something, considering the obvious Sєxual themes already present in Dracula. For Eggers, he’s more interested in the relationship between the vampire and the woman whom he’s obsessed with than anything else. It’s a theme certainly present in Nosferatu 1922, but one Eggers manages to effectively explore even more deeply in his 2024 remake.