Nosferatu

Nosferatu is a 1922 film and the first film adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. It was directed by Murnau and starred Max Schreck. There were copyright issues over this film because permission was not sought from Bram Stoker's widow (the Dracula copyright holder), and the film was ordered destroyed. We would be much the poorer if some prints had not survived the purge.

It is a creepy film, with none of the idea of Dracula as attractive seducer that comes out in some of the later adaptations. Shreck's Dracula is not a desirable man.

via Youtube:

Moria gives it a full 5 stars and calls it "quite possibly the most amazing of all vampire films." 1000 Misspent Hours says "it remains among the top echelon of Dracula flicks, even after most of 80 years." Variety calls the director "a master artisan demonstrating not only a knowledge of the subtler side of directing but in photography." Slant Magazine opens with this:

Watching Nosferatu is like standing in the same room as death itself, a brooding chamber piece of gothic ruminations and occult imagery, of the flickering light of the world waging a losing battle against the overwhelming darkness.

Roger Ebert includes it in his Great Movies Collection.

10/30/2007: Cinematical has a review.
6/26/2008: Only the Cinema has a review.

10/5/2009: The Husband and I watched this again tonight. He likes the old classics best. I picked up a DVD of this last year that is part of a no-frills 4-disc set.