Bloodsucking Plagiarism: Nosferatu vs Dracula

An Introduction to Nosferatu

From the 1922 film

Introduced by Emily Gerard in her 1885 essay Transylvanian Superstitions as a substitute word for 'vampire', the term 'Nosferatu' was later borrowed by Bram Stoker and used in the same way (1). As a Romanian word, Nosferatu is generally perceived  to mean 'repugnant one' or 'unclean spirit', so there's no real surprise that the prince of all darkness himself, Dracula, would be called a 'Nosferatu'. However, as interchangeable as the words are, there was an iconic dispute over the rights to Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' in the production of a 1922 German silent film titled "Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror". As reported by Johnathan Bailey of "Plagiarism Today", film producer Albin Grau wanted to create an "expressionistic retelling" of the Stoker classic, but was thwarted by the estate of Bram Stoker which was led by his widow Florence. Even after tweaking the script and changing the names of both the Movie and the characters, Grau was still forced to see every copy of his work destroyed except one. That last copy miraculously managed to make it to the United States where 'Dracula' was in the public domain, and the story was allowed to continue (2). I find it to be the strangest coincidence that the one place this piece could dare to exist is the home of Quincey Morris. A land cultured enough to respect the classics, but lawless enough to be indifferent to copyright. God bless America.

The Notable Differences
Aside from a litany of name changes in which Harker becomes Hutter, Dracula becomes Orlok, and Mina becomes Ellen, there are quite a few reported instances of Nosferatu deviating from its source material. Harker (I'll be sticking with the character names as we know them) when first visiting the Count doesn't just brush off all of the superstition thrown at him by the locals. He decides to spend a night at the Inn before leaving to meet the count. It is here that Harker finds "The Book of Vampires" which manages to make it all the way home with him even after his strange fiasco with the count. Notably, when the Count arrives in Wisborg (a German city, and another notable difference), he brings with him the winds of the black plague, as death sweeps through the city. Eventually, Mina comes across "The Book of Vampires" and reads that only a pure woman can break the spell and destroy a vampire. Mina invites the Count into her room by opening her window, and when he arrives she manages to subdue him until morning when the sun comes out and he dies (3). I would speculate that it is this version of the vampire story where we get the idea of vampires being burned (particularly to death) by the sun as a standard in vampire lore. Another notable exception from the novel was the exclusion of Van Helsing altogether.

The Lack of Van Helsing
One thought that preoccupied my mind in the reading of Wayne Hensley's plot overview of Nosferatu was that the silent film completely lacked any reference to the vampire hunter of all vampire hunters: Professor Van Helsing. What Lane Roth seemed to notice in Dracula Meets the Zeitgeist: Nosferatu (1922) as a Film Adaption was something similar. He draws very specific comparisons to Helsing and Dracula, comparing their prestigious titles (count/professor), their authority as males, and their intents to dominate a specific situation. He even takes it a step further by comparing the contrast between the two scenes where the main antagonist dies. He says that while Dracula died in a 'natural' environment, brought down by a 'social' band of heroes, Orlok was brought down in the 'social' sphere of a bedroom by the 'natural' phenomena of sunlight (4). I find this relevant because at the heart of it, the relation between Dracula and Nosferatu was one of copyright infringement. So it's hard for me to say, when one can find an inversion in the climax of the works themselves, can they really be considered the same? I suppose at one time, by some, yes they were considered so. We are only fortunate that this comparison managed to be possible.

Works Cited

(1) Colavito, Jason. Transylvanian Superstitions. <http://www.jasoncolavito.com/transylvanian-superstitions.html> Web.

(2) Bailey, Johnathan. Dracula vs. Nosferatu: A True Copyright Horror Story. Plagiarism Today. <https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2011/10/17/dracula-vs-nosferatu-a-true-copyright-horror-story/> Web.

(3) Hensley, Wayne. The Contribution of W.F. Murnau's Nosferatu to the Evolution of Dracula. Literature/Film Quarterly. January 1, 2002. Web Access.

(4) Roth, Lane. Dracula Meets the Zeitgeist: Nosferatu (1922) as a Film Adaptation. Literature/Film Quarterly. 1979. Web Access.