Not really in the spirit of Christmas, gingerbread houses and eggnog, I take a moment to reflect on the year’s best day for myself (Halloween). I replace the imagery of mistletoe with cobwebs, reds and greens with blood and the color black and voila-my favorite holiday for good reason. If people are beautiful on the outside, why can’t skeletons and vital organs on the inside be also? After all that is our actual selves. That is the same way I viewed horror films altogether for years-there’s nothing cute about organs and there’s not much special bout’ horror films storylines and visuals. And boy could I never had been more wrong. Ever since I discovered the silent German Expressionist film Nosferatu (1922) two years ago my life has never been the same. Never have I appreciated visuals, story, and the amount of emotion an actor can convey without having to speak a word. The sense of emotion F.W. Murnau paints with actor Max Schreck should be what every director aspires to bring out in their leading actor onscreen. It is so engrossing, and overwhelming all that one can do is live the moment and revel in every historical moment of it. I say paint because Murnau recognizes that film is the perfect opportunity to include symbolism at its highest form. Hell the renowned occultist production designer for Nosferatu, Albin Grau, poured countless hours in a document that common viewers would not even recognize the unrelated hieroglyphics and ancient magical symbols.
Yet Grau did so in order to provide a deeper mythical feel to the imagery of the film; since the plot and setting require a more Victorian age mentality, it fit perfect for the not really secret Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel foundation. And the thing about perfection is things like the human body-you cough when sick to expel a virus, and beauty is not only skin deep. Watching this film has taught me that it can be in your soul, our bones, and your blood as: “the blood is life!” is used to great meaningfulness in the film. Nothing that I thought that was ugly before, is still ugly. That’s precisely why I still watch this relevant movie despite the sounds of Christmas carolers and all of the religious celebrations. Art and beauty for me is the dark side, partly because it is not as appreciated as much and part of it is my own solace. I feel at home.
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Author
Movie buff, writer, metal head, and lover of the outdoors. Nathan was born and raised in Southern Appalachia and wishes to continue to live tap dancing and writing with intent at the same time. He is currently studying for a Masters of Fine Arts degree from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C.