There’s an image from F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu that I can’t shake: a pallid, pointy-eared ghoul stares down at a camera that is positioned below the deck of a ship whose ropes and mast are shooting skyward behind him, framing his figure to evoke a kind of authoritarian menace. And then there’s his hands: curled like talons, preparing to swipe. You’re probably familiar with this scene if you know anything about Murnau’s early masterpiece. This single frame remains indelible for a go...
