10 Biggest Differences Between Count Dracula & Nosferatu’s Count Orlok

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for NosferatuRobert Eggers’ Gothic horror movie Nosferatu revived one of cinema’s oldest and most iconic monsters, which is itself an interpretation of the classic vampire Dracula, and in doing so invited comparisons between the two horror icons. As the titular vampire, Bill Skarsgård brought a completely new look and personality to the well-established character, reigniting the terror that pervades vampire lore. The scream king’s interpretation is vastly different from the other actors who have played Count Orlok, and calls into question how far off it is from the baseline character of Dracula.

While Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror and, by extension, Count Orlok, are based off the novel Dracula, the original iteration of the bat-like Transylvanian nobleman had several noticeable differences from the literary vampire, both in appearance and in ability. Robert Eggers’ Count Orlok maintains many of the traits from F.W. Murnau’s original Orlok, but the latest version displays some brand-new characteristics and powers that neither the original Orlok nor Dracula had. There are 10 key differences to point to between the typical depictions of Dracula and Robert Eggers’ Count Orlok.

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Facial Features

Dracula’s Canines Are Pointed, While Orlok Has A Mouthful Of Dagger-Like Teeth

Many of the stereotypical vampire tropes were born out of Bela Lugosi’s iconic portrayal of Count Dracula in the original 1931 Universal Studios movie Dracula, which was a commercial and critical success and was wildly popular. As a result, most cinematic depictions of Dracula, and pop culture’s image of vampires in general, feature the trademark extended, sharp canine teeth, along with a pale complexion and pointed ears. Lugosi’s cinematic portrayal of Dracula didn’t actually include any fangs, but the notion of a vampire’s bite forced the trope into existence in later portrayals.

Nosferatu – Key Details
Director	Release Date	Budget	Box Office Gross	RT Tomatometer Score	RT Popcornmeter Score
Robert Eggers	December 25th, 2024	$50 million	$40 million (proj. five-day opening)	87%	76%

Ironically, Eggers’ Count Orlok shares some features with the literary depiction of Dracula that most cinematic adaptations do not. For example, Bram Stoker’s original character sported a white mustache, which is closer to the robust dark mustache that Orlok wears. Orlok does have pointed ears, but they’re hidden under the large fur hat he wears. His complexion is certainly pale, but that’s due to the composition of his body as opposed to a design choice.

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Body Composition

Orlok Is A Reanimated Corpse, While Dracula Is An Undead Creature

Vampires are traditionally referred to as the “undead”, and that’s certainly a part of the original story of Dracula. Count Dracula is a centuries-old Transylvanian nobleman who is essentially infected with a vampiric disease, which is why he can pass the condition along to others. Orlok, on the other hand, follows the more traditional Eastern European folklore definition of vampires, which is that they are corpse-like, closer to zombies than Bela Lugosi’s clean-cut aristocrat.

In Nosferatu, it’s briefly explained that Orlok was an evil sorceror whose soul was sent back to its body by the Devil himself, making him a literal corpse that walks. It explains why his entire body is skeletal and rotting; the back of his head even has bare skull bone and what appears to be exposed brain tissue. In that way, Orlok is unique among major feature film depictions of vampires, and of Dracula/Orlok specifically.

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Human Appearance

Dracula Easily Passes For A Human, While Orlok Is A Distinctly Inhuman Creature

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One of the most important differences between Dracula and Count Orlok is that Dracula very easily passes for a human being. Some of his features, such as the traditionally pointed ears, are unusual, but don’t do anything to draw suspicion about his true nature. That allows him to get close to victims, and even earn their trust with his charm and manners. Orlok, on the other hand, is so outwardly evil and distinctly inhuman that it’s impossible for him to pass as one. He had to hide his hunched, skeletal figure under robes, heavy clothes, and a large hat.

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Bite Location

Orlok Bites The Chest To Feed, While Dracula Bites The Neck

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Dracula, and most cinematic vampires, famously feed on victims by biting their necks. There are major blood vessels there, and the marks are easy to hide with a collar or something similar, so it makes perfectly logical sense. Eggers’ Count Orlok notably feeds on victims by biting their chest and drinking from the wound. It’s another change that Eggers made to preserve the vampire’s origin in real-world folklore; the belief in vampires was born out of conditions like sleep paralysis which involve pressure on the chest, so it was thought vampires sought to feed off the heart.

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Bite Effects

Dracula’s Bites Create Other Vampires, While Orlok’s Bites Do Not

Part of what makes Dracula such a threat both in the novel and in cinematic adaptations is his ability to create other vampires with his bite. By biting victims, he is passing on the vampiric disease that turns a normal person into a creature of the night, not unlike how werewolves operate. It’s a central tenet of modern vampire tropes, but it’s another element that isn’t a core principle of real-world folklore.

Count Orlok bites to feed, and oftentimes kills his victims, as he does with Anna Harding (presumably), her children, and ultimately Ellen Hutter. He also uses it as a means of establishing control over people, which is what he does with Thomas Hutter. That is an ability that he does share with some interpretations of Dracula, but Orlok does not have the ability to create other creatures like himself with his bite.

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Personality

Dracula Is Charming And Personable, Orlok Is Intimidating And Creepy

Along with being able to physically pass for a human, Dracula is actually charming. In the novel, Jonathan Harker makes special note of how courteous and inviting his host is when he first arrives at Dracula’s castle, and it’s a defining characteristic of Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, and Gary Oldman’s portrayals of him. Orlok is the opposite; he literally haunts each room that he’s in, and moves Thomas Hutter to tears just from the fear he feels from their conversation. He’s terrifying, unsettling, and notably short and abrasive in conversation.

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Shape-shifting Ability

Dracula Can Take Many Forms, While Orlok Is Restricted To His Body

Dracula actually has a formidable stable of powers and abilities, the most fantastic of which is his ability to shapeshift. Dracula is famously able to turn into a bat, but the most in-depth descriptions and depictions of the character note that he can also become a large dog or wolf, and even transform into a fine mist, or a dust that travels in rays of moonlight. Orlok has no such transformative abilities; as a walking corpse, he’s restricted to the body in which his soul is still trapped. He has some clear psychic abilities, but nothing as extravagant as shapeshifting.

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Weaknesses

Dracula Is Actively Repelled By Garlic And Religious Objects, While There Is No Evidence Orlok Is

Dracula famously can be repelled by garlic or religious items, and different iterations of the character have been warded off with crosses, holy communion wafers, and holy water. As a wholly evil and unholy creature, anything that carries a blessing will repel Dracula, and garlic was believed to interfere with his sense of smell. While none of those items are enough to kill the infernal Count, they have been shown to burn him if they touch his skin.

European beliefs surrounding vampires indicate that as vampires were created by a blood disease, an antibiotic (like that compounds found in garlic) would be able to kill a vampire, which is ultimately where the trope of vampires hating garlic was born.

There is no evidence that Count Orlok suffers from the same level of intolerance as Dracula when it comes to holy items and garlic. Robert Eggers does make sure to represent the belief in Nosferatu, however. In the inn that Thomas Hutter stays at, located at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, locals can be seen using garlic to ward off evil. The bridge he crosses to approach Count Orlok’s castle also has a hut at its base that’s loaded with crosses, implying locals have placed them there to keep Orlok at bay.

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Reaction To Sunlight

Sunlight Kills Orlok, It Merely Robs Dracula Of His Strength

One of the most visually stunning and memorable scenes in Nosferatu is the final encounter between Ellen and Orlok, in which Orlok meets his end. She manages to trap him with her own body, and holds him in place until the sun rises at dawn, leading to a spectacular sequence in which Orlok’s face melts away in the sunlight. This is a callback to the original Nosferatu, which sees a similar sequence of events play out, ending with Nosferatu simply disappearing when the sun hits him. The idea that the sun kills vampires was born out of Nosferatu, in fact.

The earliest iterations of Dracula can’t be killed by the sunlight, but are still weakened when exposed to it. The novel notes that he loses most of his extraordinary abilities in the daylight hours, and Mina Harker specifically notes that he loses his power to shapeshift during the day (except at dawn, noon, or dusk). Many non-Dracula vampire movies have exaggerated the sun’s effect on vampires, and typically make exposure to it completely lethal, as is the case with Orlok.

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Romantic Nature

Dracula Is Debonair And Seductive, While Orlok Is Repulsive And Terrifying

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Perhaps the most significant character difference between Dracula and Orlok is the inherent romance, or lack thereof, of the two characters. The reason that vampires have become so heavily sexualized is that many iterations of Dracula highlight that, between his charm, handsomeness, and pure evil, Dracula is intoxicating to the point of seduction. Dracula’s cloaked, mysterious nature comes across as debonair and tantalizing, and it’s a foundational aspect of his character on the big screen.

Nosferatu makes it clear that Orlok is entirely evil, as Dracula is, but he is far more direct about it.

Orlok represents the other side of vampirism: he is the animalistic embodiment of bloodlust and vicious evil that marks vampires as vessels of death. There is no romance involved with his story, despite the kiss he shares with Ellen Hutter and their pseudo-wedding. For Orlok, his relationship with Ellen is about physical and spiritual obsession, lust, and control. There is nothing so pure as love anywhere in the equation. Nosferatu makes it clear that Orlok is entirely evil, as Dracula is, but he is far more direct about it.

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Nosferatu

HorrorFantasyMystery

Nosferatu is a remake of the 1922 silent film of the same name from director F. W. Murnau. Robert Eggers is crafting his own version of the story for the reboot as writer and director, with Bill Skarsgård stepping into the shoes of Count Orlok. Nosferatu tells the tale of a young woman who falls victim to a vampire utterly infatuated with her.

Release Date

December 25, 2024

Runtime

132 Minutes

Main Genre

Horror

Cast

Bill Skarsgard
, Lily-Rose Depp
, Nicholas Hoult
, Willem Dafoe
, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
, Emma Corrin
, Simon McBurney
, Ralph Ineson
, Paul Maynard
, Stacy Thunes

Character(s)

Count Orlok
, Ellen Hutter
, Thomas Hutter
, Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz
, Friedrich Harding
, Anna Harding
, Knock
, Dr. Wilhelm Sievers
, Dockhand
, Head Nurse

Director

Robert Eggers

Writers

Robert Eggers

Studio(s)

Regency Enterprises
, 1492 Pictures

Distributor(s)

Focus Features
, Universal Pictures

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Source: https://www.phonggdkrongpac.edu.vn
Category: Entertainment