Actual, actual, actual vampires

October 26, 2007 1:01 PM

Here are two seminal vampire films: Carl Dreyer's Vampyr and F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu.

(Both movies are courtesy of youtuber Euterpe "MaidMarian" Jones, who has uploaded quite a lot of public domain films - including Dreyer's other masterpiece, La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc).

posted by Iridic (19 comments total)

Nosferatu is also available for download from the Internet Archive
posted by the number 17 at 1:12 PM on October 26, 2007

Good god. Everybody go see Vampyr now. The only reason I'm not doing it is because I'm at work.

Best goddamned vampire movie ever made. It's actually creepy, unlike all the others.
posted by koeselitz at 1:13 PM on October 26, 2007

I'm watching Vampyr now and at 32 minutes, when the old vampire just gets up from his victim and walks into the bushes...wow. Sometimes creepiness is all about normal things in an unnormal context.

I love Dreyer's quote "Imagine we are sitting in an ordinary room. Suddenly we are told that there is a corpse behind the door. In an instant, the room we are sitting in is completely altered: everything in it has taken on another level; the light, the atmosphere have changed, though they are physically the same. This is because we have changed... This is the effect I want to get."

That's the effect I want to get in almost any creative venture I do.
posted by Brainy at 1:16 PM on October 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

I hate to be a wet blanket, but I'm pretty sure La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc is not public domain.
posted by hyperizer at 1:34 PM on October 26, 2007

Oooh and the skeleton hand at 50 minutes is surprisingly creepy too.
posted by Brainy at 1:34 PM on October 26, 2007

How did these get around the YouTube 10-minute cap?
posted by shakespeherian at 1:39 PM on October 26, 2007

Wow, this brings back memories. Nosferatu was the very first horror movie I ever watched. I was only six, so my mother covered my eyes at the really scary scenes. I still remember the vampires' googly eyes as he gloats over his victim, after creeping up the stairs and making the kill.

Gost Bless Elwy Yost and TVO's "Saturday Night at the Movies"!
posted by LN at 1:40 PM on October 26, 2007

Euterpe "MaidMarian" Jones is a pretty interresting character herself. I remember she had over 500 videos on YouTube that included the most thorough Rolling Stones collection of live clips I've ever seen in one place. Then Youtube deleted her account.

Thanks for the post, I think I'll watch Vampyr later tonight. It's good to see Euterpe is still uploading. She used to take requests, I asked for Le Voyage dans la Lune and she delivered.
posted by Sailormom at 1:43 PM on October 26, 2007

F. W. Murnau also created an almost impossibly otherworldly (heh) film in 1926 called Faust. Check out these film stills...I know this is a cliche, but in this case it's true: I'd never seen images like those before in my life.

http://community.livejournal.com/film_stills/830066.html
posted by Ian A.T. at 2:24 PM on October 26, 2007

Am I a bad person for thinking that that the Herzog/Kinski/Adjani Nosferatu is the definitive version?
posted by meehawl at 2:55 PM on October 26, 2007

Am I a bad person for thinking that that the Herzog/Kinski/Adjani Nosferatu is the definitive version?

Only if you prefer the English version. ;)
posted by katillathehun at 3:02 PM on October 26, 2007

Better quality downloadable copy of Nosferatu here:
http://www.archive.org/details/nosferatu
posted by signalnine at 3:48 PM on October 26, 2007

I got four words for you.

Jesus. Christ. Vampire. Hunter.
posted by ZachsMind at 4:27 PM on October 26, 2007

When I was in college my best friend got a copy of Nosferatu, and we all piled in one night with (cheap) red wine to watch it in the dark. After the first viewing, we decided to experiment, and played Tangerine Dream CD's in place of the soundtrack. It worked remarkably well. Very creepy...
posted by pupdog at 4:45 PM on October 26, 2007

Try Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. That goes with everything.
posted by ZachsMind at 5:04 PM on October 26, 2007

Once you've seen Nosferatu, you might enjoy a movie about making it: Shadow of the Vampire.

I'm not saying it's in the same league, mind you, but it's interesting.
posted by pmurray63 at 6:31 PM on October 26, 2007

When I was seven or so, I remember hanging out with my friend in the crawlspace under his house (his father was a cop who had his leg shot off in a robbery, and there were prosthetics littered around the house) with a flashlight, reading this big, clothbound book about vampires, complete with woodblock prints from the 17th century of werewolves munching on babies, and other woodblock prints of suspected witches being drawn and quartered. The scariest part of the book was black and white stills from Nosferatu, right at the part where he wakes up as the ship nears Bremen and he stands silhouetted against the evening sky, his claws outstretched.

In university, I actually had the opportunity to see a cinema showing of Nosferatu, complete with a backing orchestra, just as it would have been shown in the 20s. I think the orchestra was called 'the Clubfoot Orchestra.' Great memory, and a great post.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:45 PM on October 26, 2007

I would encourage anyone interested in this youtubery to enjoy these masterpieces at the cinema if possible, or at the very least on a nice big telly. You miss so much on that little postage stamp-sized porthole; this stuff is constructed quite pedantically and minutely for the big screen experience.

/giant mr obvious-pants
posted by Wolof at 6:43 AM on October 27, 2007

Jesus. Christ. Vampire. Hunter.

Fabulous movie — Lesbian Frankenstein Vampires fight Jesus in Ottawa and masked wrestler Santos flies in to help. Post-makeover Jesus in the movie is a dead ringer for Jason Kottke.

Send me an email if you want a copy.
posted by blasdelf at 11:58 PM on October 27, 2007