Director film biography nosferatus 1920s

Ambition, revenge, and early death - the story behind Murnau's gothic masterpiece "Nosferatu" is almost as darkly compelling as the film itself.

In 1921, director FW Murnau founded the company Prana-Film to produce a series of horror films. Inspired by both the developing artistic and commercial successes of post-war German cinema - much of which was influenced by Expressionism - and the harsh economic reality of spiralling inflation, Prana-Film was an attempt to grab the attention of the prestigious and lucrative export market.

Nosferatu meaning

In reality however, Prana-Film only produced one film - "Nosferatu" - before the company went bankrupt. Intended as a straightforward adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula", Murnau was denied the rights by Stoker's estate. Frustrated but unperturbed he went ahead with the film by changing details such as names and locations.

Dracula became Count Orlok, Jonathan Harker became Hutter, and the vampire stalked Bremen rather than London.

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