There is a ton of history behind Nosferatu and Dracula, from the 100-year-old classic and Bram Stoker to Robert Eggers, Robin Bextor’s new documentary focuses on everything from the legacy Nosferatu has created to the challenges the movie faced at the time of release to the ever lasting impact it had on the story and character to how it’s still being honored, replicated, and adapted today, leading all the way up to Robert Egger’s 2024 terrifying vision. While some of the information presented in the documentary isn’t new and is considered widely known, some more interesting facts and information about Stoker and his estate are profoundly interesting and create a new dynamic and level of intrigue.
If one was unaware, simply put, the reason why F. W. Murnau’s film is called Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (or, simply, Nosferatu) and not Dracula is because the movie is an unauthorized take on Stoker’s novel and was ordered by Stoker’s widow to be destroyed. Despite the order to burn and destroy all of the copies, some survived and the world got to see Max Schreck’s (The Finances of the Grand Duke) terrifying portrayal that has haunted and menaced audiences and even inspired Robert Egger’s version. Schreck’s character is even a reoccurring character in SpongeBob SquarePants, introducing a new audience to the creature.
While the bulk of Nosferatu: The Real Story focuses on the 1922 Murnau film, it also touches on the Herzog retelling of that story and briefly touches upon Egger’s vision as they were released nearly in conjunction with each other. Bextor interviews film critics and academics about the everlasting power of Nosferatu and what the movie itself wanted to tell, how it became a near-cultural icon, and how it gave us something that was hoped to be destroyed, but the lack of focus between what she is trying to tell the audience and how it ties into the broader scale of things creates a slight disconnect and those connections get lost. However, as the documentary only runs slightly over 70 minutes, the 25-30-odd-minute history lesson on Murnau’s film tying into cultural significance of today and the impact on more recent modern films is certainly interesting and engaging and the Stoker stories have been well-documented and told.
The far more interesting aspects of the documentary touch upon the personal issues and stories about Bram Stoker and how he and his estate could vaguely be considered the monsters of the film, and discuss briefly the 2000 biopic Shadow of the Vampire, painting F. W. Murnau as more of a monster than the monster itself. The film also covers some beliefs that Herzog based his version of Nosferatu’s design on Murnau in his 1979 adaptation (which was a legal presentation as the Stoker novel was then out of copyright). Interestingly though, the movie does want to touch upon Eggers, but there is no mention of The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023), which is an expanded segment of Nosferatu about how the creature came by boat, but alas.
In terms of the special features on the home release, there are two which consist of the trailer for the movie itself and another trailer reel called “Trinity Trailer Reel.” There are no other supplements, so it is bare bones in that regard, but at the end of the day, supporting physical media is number one and ensuring that more physical media gets made is important. This is for die-hard collectors of Nosferatu and the stories surrounding him more than for the casual fan, at least from a cost perspective.
Overall, Nosferatu: The Real Story sheds some light on previously unknown or, at least, not well-known facts about the character, the Stoker family, and Herzog’s interpretation, and covers the Murnau controversy well even though that has been covered in depth before. Balancing the past, less readily available knowledge and some more recent efforts makes the 71-minute doc engaging, however, more could’ve been said about the things that were not surface-level or information fans of the character, Dracula, and Nosferatu would have already known.
Nosferatu: The Real Story Special Features:
- Nosferatu: The Real Story official trailer
- Trinity Trailer Reel
Available on Blu-ray November 11th, 2025.
Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.
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Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews
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