That surreal beauty, blended with the dark theme of the story, is what makes this version stand out as unique. While the 1979 version of Nosferatu is a good film and an unusual aesthetic interpretation of Dracula , it lacks the effectiveness and psychological intelligence of Murnau's version. What's missing in Herzog's version is the ability of the film to creep its way into your psyche and plant seeds of fear. Instead, the film wants you to revel in its creepy atmosphere. Anchor Bay's release of Nosferatu the Vampyre is disappointing.
Darker scenes tend to be muddy and the black level is wanting.
The video can appear detailed in places, and color rendition seems fairly accurate. But overall, this transfer is a dud. A film that relies so heavily on portrait-like images deserves a better transfer. On the audio side, Nosferatu is presented in both German and English. The German track is encoded in Dolby Digital 5.1, and sounds thin and dated.