What actually happens
A vampire book, politely ignored
In 1838, Hutter, a young man in the German town of Wisborg, is sent by his employer Herr Knock to Transylvania. The client is Count Orlok, who wants to buy a run-down house that sits across from Hutter's own home. While Hutter studies the route on a map, Knock quietly reads letters written in strange symbols, which is the first sign that his boss has interests worth checking. At an inn on the way, the locals are scared stiff whenever Orlok's name comes up. Hutter finds a book about vampires in his room, scoffs at it, and puts it in his luggage anyway.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
Supper at the castle goes wrong
Hutter's carriage will not go past the entrance to the mountain pass, so he walks until dark, when a coach collects him and takes him to Orlok's castle in the Carpathian Mountains. Orlok greets him himself. At supper Hutter nicks his thumb and Orlok moves to suck the blood from it, but Hutter pulls his hand away. The next morning he has fresh punctures on his neck, which he blames on mosquitoes. That night Orlok signs the purchase papers, spots the miniature portrait of Hutter's wife Ellen, and says she has a lovely neck. Hutter reads the vampire book and starts to suspect his host. At midnight, with no way to bar his bedroom door, he hides, the door opens by itself, Orlok walks in, and Hutter faints under the covers. Back in Wisborg, Ellen sleepwalks onto her balcony railing and shouts Hutter's name, and Orlok somehow hears it and backs off.
Coffins by schooner
The next day Hutter explores the castle and finds Orlok resting in a coffin in the crypt, then hurries back to his room. Later he watches Orlok load coffins onto a coach and climb into the last one. Hutter escapes the castle, hurts himself doing it, recovers, and goes home. The coffins are loaded onto a schooner, and the sailors open one and find rats. Every crew member eventually dies and Orlok takes over the ship. It reaches Wisborg soon after Hutter gets home, and Orlok slips off unseen with a coffin and moves into the house he bought. Deaths pile up in town, the doctors blame a plague carried by the rats, and Knock, who has lost his mind completely, strangles a warden and escapes from the asylum before the villagers recapture him.
Ellen reads the book
Against Hutter's wishes, Ellen reads the vampire book. It says a vampire can be destroyed if a woman with a pure heart keeps him occupied until dawn by freely offering him her blood, and Ellen decides to try. This is the scene people dread most, near the end, so here is exactly what happens. She throws open her window to let Orlok in, and pretends to be ill so that Hutter goes off to fetch Professor Bulwer. Orlok comes in and feeds on her, but then the sun rises, and its rays make him vanish in a puff of smoke. Knock feels it happen from his asylum cell and falls apart. Ellen hangs on only long enough for Hutter to hold her.
The ending, explained
Ellen's plan works. Orlok is so busy drinking her blood that the sun comes up on him, and the light makes him vanish in a puff of smoke. Knock senses it from his asylum cell and is shattered. Ellen survives just long enough for Hutter to come back and hold her, and then she dies. The final image is Orlok's castle, destroyed.
The post-credits ruling
There is a scene during the end credits.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Nosferatu scary?
Nosferatu is a 4 out of 10 with medium dread. The fear is slow and atmospheric, built around Count Orlok turning up in places he should not be, and there is very little gore.
How does Nosferatu end?
Ellen keeps Orlok drinking her blood until sunrise, and the light makes him vanish. Ellen dies in her husband Hutter's arms, and the film closes on the destroyed castle.
Does the dog die in Nosferatu?
No dog dies in Nosferatu. The only animal trouble is two scenes of people attacking rats and a couple of insects eaten by plants.
Is there a post-credits scene in Nosferatu?
Yes, Nosferatu has a scene during the end credits.
Who is Count Orlok in Nosferatu?
Orlok is a vampire who lives in a castle in the Carpathian Mountains and buys a house in Wisborg. He rests in a coffin in the crypt and reaches Wisborg inside a coffin on a schooner full of rats.
