Nosferatu (Blu-ray)

F W Murnau’s horror classic was the first screen adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. As potent and disturbing now as ever, it paved the way for the future of gothic cinema. Max Schreck’s Count Orlok, bald, bat-eared and rabbit-toothed, is at once terrifying and pitiable, his need for blood, for living warmth is palpable to the point of agony.

Featuring some of the most iconic images in cinema, Murnau’s interpretation of this great vampire tale has been much imitated not least by Werner Herzog, whose Nosferatu the Vampyre is an admiring tribute.

Nosferatu is newly restored and remastered and accompanied by James Bernard’s acclaimed score.

• Newly restored and remastered , presented in High Definition
• Christopher Frayling on Nosferatu (Lynne Wake, 2002, 24 mins): video essay on Nosferatu and F W Murnau and Albin Grau’s backgrounds and influences
• Le Vampire (Jean Painlevé, 1945, 9 mins): Painlevé’s study of the South American vampire bat, an allegory for the Nazism that was sweeping throughout Europe at the time
• The Mistletoe Bough (Percy Stow, 1904, 5 mins): the oldest film version of a classic Christmas ghost story recently restored by the BFI, featuring a new score by Saint Eitenne’s Pete Wiggs
• Image Gallery plus a fully illustrated booklet featuring credits and film notes.