The legend of Nosferatu, as it is retold amongst the members of clan Nosferatu, tells the story of how the old man turned the twelve other antideluvians against the three childer of Caine, while Caine was out kicking some lupines ass, because Nosferatu himself had made up an unlikely story of a monster, half man, half wolf, that attacked him. (This is why werewolves hate vampires today)
Anyway, Nosferatu turned the twelve antideluvians against their three sires because the sire of Nosferatu had given him a scar as she embraced him, and at that time Nosferatu was a rather handsome man. As Nosferatu tried to commit diablerie towards his sire, Caine came back after killing a werewolf, and discovered what Nosferatu was up to, and so he cursed the bastard, and made him the ugliest thing that ever walked the earth, and his childer should bear the same curse. After a few millenia of thinking in Torpor, Nosferatu found out that if he offered all his childer to Caine (dead of course) then Caine might forgive him and free him from his curse. This is why very few Nosferatu wish to meet their antideluvian.

Silent horror movie, released in 1922. The official title is "Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens". Directed by F. W. Murnau and written by Henrik Galeen. Starred, among others, Max Schreck as Count Orlok.

One of the more recognizable examples of German expressionism, the film was an unauthorized adaptation of "Dracula" by Bram Stoker. The filmmakers were sued by Stoker's widow, and all known copies of the movie were destroyed. Of course, some were hidden, and the film has survived to the present day.

The plot follows the plot of "Dracula" quite closely--the character names survive mostly intact. The main difference is that at the end of the film, Orlok is destroyed by sunlight.

Unlike the vampire in the novel, Orlok is portrayed as a bizarre, ratlike monstrosity, with a bald head, pointed ears, and pointed, snaggly teeth, who becomes less human as the film progresses. His movements are stylized and inhuman, and there is none of the nobility usually attributed to vampires nowadays.

Max Schreck himself is a mystery. "Schreck" is German for "fear", so most critics believe that his name was a stage name. We don't know what his real name was. We don't know if he appeared in other films or plays. We know nothing about him.

Favorite line: "Is this your wife? She has a lovely throat."

Addendum: wertperch reminds me that the absolutely wonderful alterno-horror film "Shadow of the Vampire" focuses on the mystery of Max Schreck's real identity and is definitely worth a rental or three...

Addendum II: avalyn points out that we now know a lot more about Max Schreck than we used to. Apparently, that was his real name, and he appeared in numerous other movies. Lots more excellent biographical info can be found in anthropod's writeup on Max.

Truly a wonderful film, available on video. The eerie way in which the vampire swings up from a lying to a standing position was referenced by Francis Ford Coppola in his Dracula film.

it is rumored that the sire of the vampire clan Nosferatu was once the lover of the first of clan Toreador. Nosferatu was beautiful back in those times; as beautiful as his lover Toreador's heavenly apperance, with one exception... Nosferatu had a tiny blemish on his forehead just below his hairline. it was hardly noticable to anyone but those that caught him ranting about his 'grotesque scar'. Toreador knew this was a touchy subject and skirted it very lightly if at all. She loved him dearly and found the humanity in his quirk to be his most charming feature. one day, as they shared an imortal's most tender embrace, deep in the safety of Toreador's tomb, she brushed her fingers through his hair. Upon unveiling his shame she gently suggested that he might spend some vitae (focus the power of the blood he drinks) to make the blemish fade. Never was Nosferatu so enraged. With the rage, beastial claws formed from his finger tips. He tore and clawed at his face in a mad frenzy to destroy the blemish. Somewhere in this frenzy his humility gave him the strength (or further insanity) to flee from the tomb, away from Toreador, into the daylight. The harsh, unforgiving sunlight permanently burned Nosferatu's angry etchings onto his face. His progeny bear his scars today, hiding their shame for their sire's vanity by making the never ending night of the sewers their dwelling.

Platformer for the Super Famicom by Seta.

Kind of like Prince of Persia with zombies in. Your girlfriend has been kidnapped by the Nosferatu, and you must journey into his castle to rescue her. Instead of a sword, you're limited to punches and kicks, and there's a lot of nasties in there that you have to fight, icluding bosses at the end of each level. It's all quite enjoyable, and the grpahics are very pretty; but the main problem with this game is that it doesn't really add anything to what you'd expect from this kind of platformer, so unless you're a big fan of PoP like games, you probably won't get much out of Nosferatu. For some reason, many magazines hyped this game up in previews, but were kind of dissapointed when it finally appeared.