Summaries

Synopsis

A young Ellen, longing for love, prays to any spirit to grant her companionship. Her plea is answered by a terrifying beastly vision that causes her to collapse in a violent seizure. Years later, in 1838, Ellen lives in Wisborg, Germany, with her husband, Thomas Hutter, an estate agent. Thomas, eager to secure a lucrative deal, accepts an assignment to sell a crumbling castle in Wisborg to the enigmatic Count Orlok, unaware that this arrangement is part of a sinister pact between Orlok and his employer, Herr Knock. Despite Ellen's ominous warnings, including a confession of a pre-wedding dream in which her bridegroom was Death, Thomas departs for Orlok's castle in the Carpathian Mountains, leaving Ellen in the care of his friend Friedrich Harding.

In Transylvania, Thomas encounters hostile Romani villagers who shun him for his association with Orlok. That night, he witnesses them brutally impaling a corpse they claim is a vampire. The corpse convulses and vomits as the iron stake pierces its chest, horrifying Thomas. The next day, he feels an unexplainable pull toward Orlok's eerie, mountaintop castle. Upon arrival, the count eagerly reviews the paperwork for the sale and takes Thomas' locket, becoming fixated on the image of Ellen. When Thomas mentions the villagers' warnings, Orlok dismisses them but reveals his true nature as a vampire after a minor injury causes Thomas to bleed. Using supernatural power, Orlok restrains and feeds on him, keeping him captive under the guise of aiding his recovery.

While exploring the castle, Thomas discovers Orlok's coffin and confirms he is the same monster who attacked Ellen in her youth. Thomas attempts to kill Orlok with a pickaxe, but the count awakens and retaliates. Fleeing from Orlok's hounds, Thomas escapes by leaping into a river and is later rescued by a nearby Orthodox church. After regaining his strength, he rushes back to Wisborg, desperate to warn Ellen of Orlok's impending arrival.

Back in Wisborg, Ellen begins to experience seizures and disturbing sleepwalking episodes. Dr. Wilhelm Sievers attributes her condition to an imbalance in her blood, but as her symptoms worsen, he consults his mentor, Albin Eberhart Von Franz, a disgraced scientist now delving into the occult. Von Franz deduces that Ellen is under Orlok's influence, identifying him as a demonic Nosferatu. Despite Friedrich's skepticism, Ellen begins to predict Orlok's arrival with chilling accuracy. Meanwhile, Von Franz reveals that Orlok must sleep in soil from his burial ground, but they fail to realize that the vampire has transported crates of this dirt, along with plague-ridden rats, to Wisborg by ship.

As Orlok approaches, Knock descends into violent madness, echoing Ellen's cryptic prophecies. Orlok's arrival brings a devastating plague to Wisborg, causing mass death and despair. Thomas returns to find the town in chaos. Orlok manipulates Ellen in a dream, falsely claiming that Thomas signed divorce papers and threatening to destroy Wisborg unless she agrees to reaffirm her pact from years ago. Within two nights, she must grant verbal approval or risk the town's destruction.

The next evening, Orlok brutally murders Friedrich's wife and children, driving Friedrich to despair and death. Ellen, Von Franz, and Sievers uncover the key to defeating Orlok: Ellen must willingly sacrifice herself to the vampire, keeping him occupied until sunrise. Von Franz distracts Thomas and Sievers by leading them to Orlok's manor, where they destroy Knock, mistaking him for Orlok. Realizing the truth too late, Thomas races back to Ellen.

In a final act of courage, Ellen allows Orlok to feed on her, sacrificing herself to delay him until dawn. As the first rays of sunlight pierce the horizon, Orlok is destroyed, his body collapsing into ash. Ellen succumbs to her wounds, but her sacrifice saves Wisborg from further devastation. Thomas is left to mourn his beloved, her bravery and selflessness ensuring the town's survival.