Nosferatu (1922)

NOSFERATU  (1922)  ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
    D: F. W. Murnau
    Max Schreck, Alexander Cranach, 
    Gustav von Wagenheim, Greta Schröder,
    Gustav Botz, Ruth Lanshoff, John Gottowt 
The silent horror classic about an old vampire who moves to a new town and brings the Black Death with him. The story's transparently lifted from Bram Stoker's "Dracula", with the names changed to provide some flimsy legal cover while doing nothing to conceal the obvious theft. Ghastly, ghostly Max Schreck is the creepiest vampire ever, with the possible exception of Klaus Kinski in Werner Herzog's remake from 1979. He doesn't even look human. For an interesting double feature, watch this with "Shadow of the Vampire", a weirdly imagined retelling in which Schreck himself belongs to the undead.