Watched the original Nosferatu (1922) last night, then bits of Vampyr (1932). It is MIND-BLOWING how much the language of film advanced in that decade.
In Nosferatu, a lot of the acting is still trying to reach the
back of the theater, and a lot of the camera work is fixed and stiff. I do wonder if part of the reason it became so legendary was due to the copyright lawsuit that required all copies to be destroyed. (It is a blatant Dracula ripoff.)
Vampyr is much more naturalistic — and also much more creepy. I still can't figure out how they executed the shadow special effect. (Yes, I know, it's probably online, but I want to ruminate on how they solved the problem first.)
We also decided to watch Nosferatu with German title cards to practice our German. We managed some of it! Some we had to look at the subtitles, and there were a couple of handwritten things we were expected to read that were illegible.
Next on the list: Werner Herzog's Nosferatu, or as we call it in this house, "Dosveratu."