March 4, 1922

Posted on March 4, 2019 by Joel Byers

On March 4, 1922, the first vampire film premiered at the Berlin Zoological Garden, in Berlin, Germany. The film, Nosferatu, was directed by F.W. Murnau and starred Max Shreck, as Count Orlok, the Nosferatu. This was not your sparkly, forever teenaged moody vampire. It wasn’t even your evil-eyed Western European neck-biter as played by Bela Lugosi. This was your old, old legended throat-ripper. The one that froze the water in your bladder and who wasn’t interested in creating offspring, but saw all people as cattle. With his long-taloned hands and a dead-white mouth gaping with fangs crowding to force their way out, this demonic character is the grand-daddy of all night-terrors. This proved to be a problem for vampires world-wide, as it made going down to the local pub and getting a nip a little problematic. VAPT (Vampires Are People Too) became very concerned that the bad old days of torch and stake bearing peasants would start again, especially after the bad press from this movie. They wanted sexy, or even family friendly vampires, so that they could sleep comfortably throughout the centuries and not worry about getting their heads cut off and stuffed with garlic and communion wafers. Lucky for VAPT, Bela Lugosi was amenable to movie-making, and Dracula came out in 1931, and the rest, is as they say, history.

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About Joel Byers

Born in North Georgia and educated at some very fine public institutions. Real education started after graduating from college and then getting married and raising two boys. Has the ability to see the funny and absurd in most things and will always remark on it, even if it means getting the stink-eye from his victims.
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