Chloé Kent - OUTSIDE READINGS #4 – Nosferatu and the Poetics of Horror

In one of my classes we watched the film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, is a German Expressionist horror film from 1922 directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. This iconic film introduced the fundamental concepts of what makes a successful horror movie that are still being used in films today. We looked at the description of what makes a great horror film by reading Dennis L. White's “Poetics of Horror: More Than Meets the Eye”. White describes in this article that in order to have a successful horror film, “Each shot must contribute to the integrity, the character of the larger composition that holds the shots together. I am not implying that each shot in a horror film must show us a severed limb or a vampire stalking a victim, but that a pervading sense of horror, like a pervading sense of suspense, comedy, or drama, is fundamental (White 7)”. Murnau used both obvious scenes of horror that include Count Orlok, the evil creepy vampire, stalking his prey as well as using more subtle methods. One scene that captures the more evident sense of horror is a scene in which Count Orlok is on his way to attack Ellen, the protagonist. The camera only picks up his shadow moving closer and closer towards Ellen as the intensity of the music builds as he slowly journeys towards her. His long talons extended forward from his body which furthers the scene from depicting just a shadow on the wall into something much more terrifying. An example that captures horror in a less indicative way is found in the scene in which the professor is showing his colleagues the Venus Fly Trap. For this close up shot, Murnau used a colored red gel to distinguish this scene as different amongst any of the previous ones. The plant traps a fly in its 'mouth', which is clear symbolism to the nosferatu. To make certain that this connection is made, Murnau even has the professor say in the film that the plant was just like a vampire. While this scene at first may not seem relevant to the other concepts used in the film, this scene is able to capture a symbolic form of vampires without losing the pervading sense of horror. While colored gels and silent films are somewhat obsolete in film toady, the building blocks that films like Nosferatu established lead to what we now recognize as being successful horror films today.