Count Orlok
Count Orlok is a fictional character who first appeared in the silent film Nosferatu directed by F. W. Murnau. Based on Bram Stoker's Count Dracula, he is played by German actor Max Schreck, and is depicted as a repulsive vampire descended from Belial, who leaves his homeland of Transylvania to spread the plague in the idyllic city of Wisborg in Biedermeier-period Germany, only to find death at the hands of a self-sacrificing woman.
Count Orlok would reappear in remakes, played by Klaus Kinski, Doug Jones and Bill Skarsgård, as well as in comic book adaptations and sequels. He is also a character in SpongeBob SquarePants, debuting in the season 2 episode "Graveyard Shift". Orlok's distinct appearance, which is closer to that of vampires of Eastern European folklore than to traditional depictions of Dracula, influenced numerous later vampire designs, including those of Salem's Lot, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Blade film franchise, typically in order to distance the creatures from their more conventionally humanized or charming counterparts.
Name
As Nosferatu is an unauthorized and unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, character names were changed in an attempt to avoid accusations of copyright infringement, including changing Count Dracula's name to Count Orlok which, according to historian Matei Cazacu, derives from the Romanian vârcolac, while David Annwn Jones links it phonetically to the Hungarian ordog. Jones also notes how orlok is an archaic form of the Dutch oorlog, meaning "war". Alternative spellings have included "Orlock", "Orlac" and "Orloc".The character is nevertheless referred to as "Nosferatu" in the film's publicity material and in director F. W. Murnau's annotated copy of the script. The character is referred to as Dracula in some rereleases of the film.
In Werner Herzog's 1979 remake, Nosferatu the Vampyre, the character names revert to those used in the original novel, while the 2023 and 2024 remakes maintain the names used in the original 1922 film. In the 1988 sequel to the 1979 film, Vampire in Venice, the character is referred to as "Nosferatu".
Creation
The character was largely conceived by Prana Film founder and occultist artist Albin Grau. Grau claimed he was inspired to shoot Nosferatu after meeting a farmer during the Serbian campaign, who stated that his father had been a vampire.Grau had a strong influence on Orlok's look, which was inspired by 's illustrations for Gustav Meyrink's The Golem. He may have also been influenced by the corpses he saw in the trenches of the First World War. Further links to the war have been noticed in Orlok's association with rats, which were a persistent nuisance in the trenches, and the character suddenly appearing enveloped in thick smoke, which has been linked to the poison gas used during the conflict. Grau also had the character correspond with Knock through letters filled with Enochian, hermetic and alchemical symbols.
The character was played by Max Schreck, whose military experiences during the First World War have been thought to have influenced his performance. According to Grau's diary entries, Schreck, when in full makeup, was "shunned" by the Slovak assistants on set. His portrayal of Orlok was the first to depict vampires as being fatally vulnerable to sunlight. Previous vampire portrayals had shown them being uncomfortable with sunlight, but not mortally susceptible.
Characterization
In Nosferatu, the Count is described in the fictional book Of Vampyres, Ghastly Spirits, Witchcraft, and the Seven Deadly Sins as a hematophagous creature that dwells in dank caves, tombs and coffins filled with soil gathered from graveyards containing the victims of the Black Death. The book elaborates that Orlok originated from the "seed of Belial", an entity described in the Dead Sea Scrolls as one of four Satanic archdemons and associated with pestilence in Psalm 41: 8-10. David Annwn Jones notes that this is in contrast to Count Dracula, upon whom the character was based, as Orlok is never stated to have once been human or of being an undead revenant, being instead a creature of demonic lineage who sleeps in coffins merely for the sake of protection against sunlight and convenience in transporting the rats under his command. The film contains no references to a Dracula-like noble ancestry and does not feature any brides or Roma henchmen, with Orlok's lust for the character of Ellen Hutter being his only human affiliation. Jones further comments that:As noted by J. Gordon Melton, Orlok resembles folkloric vampires more than Dracula, being thoroughly repulsive, sporting a bald head, a beaklike nose, hollowed-out eyes, pointed ears, and sharp fingernails. His fangs, rather than being elongated canines, are positioned at the front of his mouth like those of a rat. He walks with a slow and labored gait, and his attire consists of a long black coat and tight pants which, according to, "give the impression of skeletal limbs tightly wrapped in funereal clothes". Orlok also lacks Dracula's suave or charm, acting with unrelenting strangeness, with his initial demeanor toward the character of Thomas Hutter being that of an old Eastern European aristocrat who has outlived his societal usefulness. All of these traits combined preclude the possibility of him ever being mistaken for a human, thus preventing viewers from identifying with him.
While never seen shapeshifting in the film, he is nevertheless shown to be capable of walking through walls, as per Stoker. His association with the plague, while absent in Dracula, is consistent with vampiric mythology, as vampires were once blamed for several historical epidemics. Unlike Stoker's Dracula, he casts a shadow and reflects in mirrors.
Fictional character biography
Count Orlok is a vampire from Transylvania known as the "Bird of Death" or "Deathbird" who dwells alone in a vast castle hidden among the rugged peaks in a lost corner of the Carpathian Mountains. The castle and its master, forgotten by the world for centuries, are swathed in shadows and exhibit a highly sinister feel due to years of neglect. The local peasants live in terror of phantoms and werewolves haunting the region and never venture out after dark.During the Biedermeier period in 1838, Orlok forms a pact with the housing agent Knock, promising him wealth in exchange for a house in the city of Wisborg, Germany. Orlok receives Knock's employee, Thomas Hutter, and almost reveals his true nature after Hutter accidentally cuts his finger, causing the Count to briefly lose control. Orlok then feeds off Hutter after he collapses from shock. When Hutter regains consciousness, Orlok signs the documents to purchase the house and notices a miniature portrait of Hutter's wife, Ellen, remarking that she has a "lovely neck."
After Hutter discovers Orlok's vampiric nature, the Count attempts to feed off him again, but is repelled when he telepathically senses Ellen's distress. The next morning, Orlok is discovered "sleeping" in a filthy coffin filled with earth. Hutter then witnesses Orlok loading a cart with several coffins filled with soil, one of which he then hides in, and they are driven off to be loaded onto the ship Empusa headed for Wisborg.
During his journey through Europe, he kills everyone onboard the Empusa and spreads the plague throughout the continent. Upon his arrival in Wisborg, Orlok infests the city with rats that sleep in his coffins, and countless people fall victim to the plague, forcing the local authorities to declare a quarantine and provoking hysteria among the citizens. Ellen learns that the Nosferatu can be vanquished only if a woman pure in heart willingly allows him to feed on her long enough to prevent him from seeking shelter from sunrise. Ellen coaxes Orlok to her room and lies in bed whilst he drinks from her neck. The sun rises, and Orlok is burned away in a cloud of smoke.
Interpretations
In his From Caligari to Hitler, Siegfried Kracauer identified Orlok as a "scourge of God" comparable to Attila, noting that it was "highly significant that during this period German imagination, regardless of its starting-point, always gravitated towards such figures — as if under the compulsion of love-hate". Matei Cazacu draws a parallel between Orlok's attempt at subjugating Wisborg with the failed imperial ambitions of Wilhelm II, but notes that "the vampire at least had the consolation of experiencing love". notes how Orlok's thirst for blood represents a love of eternal values rather than the "erratic sphere of commerce" represented by Hutter, which would have resonated with contemporary audiences living in a period of inflation and multicultural tension. Kaes also draws a link between Orlok and the shell shocked veterans returning from the Eastern Front, with Orlok being interpreted as the personification of Thomas Hutter's trauma, intruding into his personal life and competing for the love of Ellen.Some authors have compared Orlok's appearance to stereotypical caricatures of Jewish people from the time in which Nosferatu was produced. His features have also been compared to those of a rat or a mouse, the former of which Jews were often equated with. J. Hoberman notes how Orlok's actions in the film evoke "both the blood libel and the accusation of poisoning wells to spread disease that resulted in widespread pogroms and the near-extermination of Jews throughout the Rhineland in the mid-14th century". Others have said that perceived associations between Orlok and antisemitic stereotypes are unlikely to have been conscious decisions, citing director F. W. Murnau's protectiveness of Jewish cast members and status as a homosexual, which would have made him "presumably more sensitive to the persecution of a subgroup inside the larger German society".