How the Original Nosferatu Was Nearly Destroyed From Existence

Story by Patrick Cavanaugh

Image from ComicBook.com

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How a pioneering silent horror film, Nosferatu, narrowly escaped total destruction after its illegal Dracula adaptation sparked a legal battle.

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The film's director, F.W. Murnau, knowingly adapted Bram Stoker's Dracula without permission, leading Stoker's widow to demand all copies be destroyed - a request the courts upheld.
Despite the legal efforts, a few prints of the influential German Expressionist masterpiece survived, allowing its iconic influence on vampire lore and the horror genre to live on for generations.

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F.W. Murnau, Bram Stoker, Florence Stoker, Robert Eggers, Bela Lugosi, Max Schreck, Prana Film, Universal Pictures, Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, Nosferatu (2024), Dracula

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