Hutter's

Immediately after the scene where the vampire praises Ellen's photo, he reiterates the terms of their bargain: he will be buying the abandoned house immediately across the street from Hutter's own home.

Archive 2008-06-01 Ed Howard 2008

But in this scene it is apparent that what's at stake is not just a house back in Hutter's hometown, but the neck and blood of Ellen herself.

Archive 2008-06-01 Ed Howard 2008

The entire second half of the film is thus structured on parallel editing of this kind, cutting between Orlok's journey by ship, Ellen waiting wistfully at home for Hutter's return, Knock's anxious time in jail awaiting his master, and the weakened Hutter's mad race to get to Ellen before Orlok does.

Archive 2008-06-01 Ed Howard 2008

Immediately after the scene where the vampire praises Ellen's photo, he reiterates the terms of their bargain: he will be buying the abandoned house immediately across the street from Hutter's own home.

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror Ed Howard 2008

But in this scene it is apparent that what's at stake is not just a house back in Hutter's hometown, but the neck and blood of Ellen herself.

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror Ed Howard 2008

The scenes of Orlok's arrival in Hutter's town are similarly anticlimactic.

Archive 2008-06-01 Ed Howard 2008

Count Orlok's move to Wisburg Obviously the real "Wismar" brings the plague traceable to his dealings with the Realtor Thomas Hutter, and the Count's obsession with Hutter's wife, Ellen the only one with the power to end the evil.

MOVIE: Nosferatu Zen Tiger 2008

Count Orlok's move to Wisburg Obviously the real "Wismar" brings the plague traceable to his dealings with the Realtor Thomas Hutter, and the Count's obsession with Hutter's wife, Ellen the only one with the power to end the evil.

Archive 2008-03-16 Zen Tiger 2008

The crisp parallel editing of the Orlok/Ellen scene, which culminates in that meaningful cross-continental gaze between vampire and victim, is soon carried over into the second half of the film as Orlok races to realize his rendezvous with Hutter's wife.

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror Ed Howard 2008

When Murnau fills up the screen with such pseudo-scientific explanations of vampires, it's at least understandable in the context of the genre, but when he takes the opportunity to display Hutter's innocuous letter to his wife, in full, not just once but twice, one begins to suspect that he's either just filling up time or doesn't realize how these interruptions kill the narrative's momentum.

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror Ed Howard 2008