The genre of horror movies is rarely viewed as legitimate, which is rather unfair. True, it may not be as visually pleasing as the movies belonging to other genres, yet it may also offer a range of complex moral and philosophical dilemmas for the audience to consider. More to the point, the aesthetics of a horror movie can also be considered a unique phenomenon worth analyzing closer. Nosferatu, one of the most famous horror movies ever produced, incorporates a plethora of unique methods used to create a very distinct atmosphere or to convey a certain message to the audience. There are two scenes that deserve taking a closer look at.
The emergence of Nosferatu on the deck of the ship and the one in which one of the characters is shown against a range of crosses in a cemetery are the scenes chosen for the analysis. By incorporating a range of unique stylistic and direction related choices, Murnau managed to create a specific movie aesthetics, which was entirely new at the time yet was destined to be repeated over and over again in the future, thus, becoming the staple of the genre. Practically, Murnau coined the elements of the horror movie genre with his Nosferatu.
Though technically, it would be unfair to claim that Nosferatu is entirely style-over-substance, its stylistic solutions have admittedly affected the overall impression of the film, creating a unique atmosphere and setting a very specific mood. In the scene in question, the actor captures the motion of his character perfectly; the uneven, stiff manner of moving renders the atmosphere of fear and desolation, which the entire ship was filled after the terrible discovery made by the sailor.
It is quite peculiar that part of the horror conveyed through the scene owes much to the effect of the Uncanny Valley (Eberle 168) Indeed, by moving in such a manner, Nosferatu could have enough of human features left for the audience to recognize him as a living being, and walked in the manner awkward enough to make it obvious that he was nor fully human. Thus, a very high contrast between a relatively common setting and the diabolic nature of the character were set. Though the sequence creates a truly blood chilling effect, the scene with Nosferatu standing at the deck is alone very frightening. The lighting also has to do a lot with the overall effect that the scene produces. It would have been rather easy to focus on the lead character closely, making every single detail of his appearance work for the benefit of the movie.
However, for the most part, the audience can only see the outlines of his figure and the expression on his face. Though there might have been other reasons for such choice, it seems that the director wanted the imagination of his audience, inflamed to the bursting point by the previous scenes, to fill in the gaps and allow the viewers add the missing details on their own, giving vent to their imagination. This is the case when less is more; by concealing some of the elements of the scene and the leading character, leaving only the face and the hands with giant claws in plain sight, the director made the viewers’ imagination run wild. In addition, the perspective distortion of the frame, which makes the viewers watch the entire scene upwards from a very specific angle, adds to the building of suspense. The same can be said about the scene that depicts desolation in Wisborg.
Though the scene is rather static, unlike the one in which Nosferatu appears on the deck of the ship, the Wisborg plague is represented not though showing people die, but through the plain view of a cemetery. In contrast to the scene in which Nosferatu appears on the ship, the one with the images of crosses in it is anti-climactic and weirdly mesmerizing.
Unfortunately, the score does not add much to the overall experience of watching the movie. True, it adds suspense to the scene with Nosferatu emerging on the ship and the image of a cemetery. However, it is clear that the movie would have done perfectly without the music, which may seem somewhat phoned in. Perhaps, this effect can partially be explained by the fact that the original score has been lost (Bourne para. 5), and it is practically impossible to match the original intent of the director with new music solutions.
The history of the movie is just as unique as the stylistic choices made by its director. First, it is worth mentioning that the movie was originally inspired by Dracula, a novel by Bram Stoker, and was supposed to follow the original story closely. However, the director failed to obtain the rights for using the novel. Therefore, some of the elements, including parts of the plot and characters’ names had to be changed (Bailey para. 2). As a result, Murnau came up with a masterpiece that defined the further evolution of the genre.
Works Cited
Bailey, Jonathan. “Dracula vs. Nosferatu: A True Copyright Horror Story.” Plagiarism Today. 2011. Web.
Bourne, Mark. Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. n. d. Web.
Eberle, Scott G. “Exploring the Uncanny Valley to Find the Edge of Play.” American Journal of Play 2.2. (2009), 167–194. Web.