Nosferatu (1922)
The unauthorized one, silent, and still frightening.
Strip out the dialogue and the names, keep the ship and the shadow on the stairs, and the story turns into pure dread.
You want to see where the screen vampire started, and a silent film in the dark does not put you off.
What it keeps and what it changes
Keeps: the journey to the castle, the voyage, the arrival, and a woman who works out how the vampire can be stopped.
Changes: the names — Orlok, Hutter, Wisborg — because it was made without the rights. Stoker’s widow sued, and a court ordered every copy destroyed. Some survived.
Whose story is it?
Ellen Hutter’s, in the end; the Count is closer to a disease than a character.
How much time does it ask?
84 minutes in Kino Lorber’s version, silent, F. W. Murnau directing.
Kino Lorber’s presentation is mastered from original German material.
Where to find it
Other ways to get it: Kino Lorber’s restoration · Find where it’s streaming — JustWatch
Common questions
Why is Nosferatu not called Dracula?
It was made without the rights, so the names were changed — Orlok, Hutter, Wisborg. Stoker’s widow sued, and a court ordered the copies destroyed. Some prints survived.
More Draculas: Dracula (1931) · Dracula (1958), or Horror of Dracula · Count Dracula (BBC, 1977)