Have you ever noticed that some concepts are so prevalent in popular culture that you’re already familiar with them long before you engage with the stories that spawned them? For example, I can almost guarantee that your very first exposure to vampires was not through a vampire movie, but instead something more innocuous like a cereal mascot or a surprise cameo in a Saturday Morning Cartoon.
I’ve been thinking about this phenomenon ever since filmmaker Robert Eggers publicly acknowledged that Count Orlok’s brief yet unforgettable appearances in SpongeBob SquarePants were responsible for introducing Nosferatu to a whole new generation – something that undoubtedly contributed to his new film’s success. And in honor of this surprisingly influential cameo, we’ve decided to compile a list celebrating six other memorable Nosferatu appearances in media. After all, some horror legends are simply too powerful to be contained by a single medium!
As usual, don’t forget to comment below with your personal favorite Count Orlok cameos if you think we missed a particularly fun one.
With that out of the way, onto the list…
6. Petyr – What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
One of the funniest elements of Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s groundbreaking mockumentary, the basement-dwelling Petyr is an obvious homage to Max Schreck’s iconic monster. From his protruding front teeth to his beastlike demeanor, Petyr’s flatmates don’t need to refer to him as ‘Orlok’ for horror fans to understand who he’s supposed to be.
That being said, the real reason that Petyr makes it onto this list is the meta implication that he’s the source of the film’s other vampiric archetypes, with the ancient vampire having been the one to turn Deacon in much the same way that the original Nosferatu inspired pretty much all subsequent cinematic vampires.
5. The Saint Denis Vampire – Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018)
From wandering cryptids to familiar rusty wheelchairs, the developers over at Rockstar Games are no strangers to horror-related rumors about their work. That being said, even hardcore fans were surprised to discover an undead easter egg in the studio’s latest release, with Red Dead Redemption 2 secretly housing a serial killing vampire that holds more than a passing resemblance to Count Orlok.
While the Saint Denis Vampire is remarkably well hidden (and can kill the player in a single hit after being found), this spooky little side-quest remains a great example of how a little bit of genre influence can go a long way when it comes to telling a memorable story.
4. Nosferatu the Silent Vampire – Mary Shelley’s Frankenhole (2010)
Dino Stamatopoulos’s work on Frankenhole may not have achieved the same notoriety as Moral Orel, but this stop-motion horror-comedy still remains one of Adult Swim’s most underrated productions. And with the entire show basically serving as an extended love-letter to the golden age of monster movies, it was only natural that Stamatopoulos would also include an homage to F.W. Murnau’s gothic masterpiece.
Communicating exclusively through silent film intertitles, the show’s version of Nosferatu is more of a recurring background character than a part of the main ensemble, but it’s genre-specific details like these that make the hand-crafted world of Frankenhole such a delight for horror fans.
3. Count Olrox – Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997)
For as much as I adore Netflix’s Castlevania adaptation, I can’t quite forgive the showrunners of Nocturne for changing a character that was originally a Nosferatu reference into yet another aristocratic vampire. You see, the villainous Count Olrox (Orlok in the original Japanese) first appeared as a boss character in 1997’s Symphony of the Night, where the unsightly vampire attempted to usurp Dracula’s authority over his magical castle.
Artwork depicting the character has changed quite a bit over the years – with the aforementioned Nocturne depicting Olrox as an ancient Aztec noble – but his original appearance was clearly meant to be a pixel-art revision of Max Schreck’s nightmarish visuals, albeit with a fancy purple suit added to the mix.
And here’s a fun fact: Olrox’s humanoid form has exactly 666 health points, fitting with the character’s demonic origins in Murnau’s original film!
2. Nosferatu viewed as a Comedy – Interview with the Vampire (2022)
It may not be quite as stylish as its big-screen counterpart (and I don’t think anyone can ever replace Tom Cruise as Lestat), but AMC’s Interview with the Vampire reboot is much better than it has any right to be. Of course, much of the show’s appeal comes from the fact that the serialized format allows for more detailed worldbuilding and character development, with a great example of this being the first season episode The Ruthless Pursuit of Blood with All a Child’s Demanding.
Not only does this episode turn Claudia’s tragic backstory on its head, but it also features one of my favorite moments in the entire show as the vampiric “family” attends a screening of Murnau’s Nosferatu only to find themselves giggling at what they perceive to be an absurd comedy.
I guess undead humor isn’t for everybody!
1. Nosferatu the Demon Vampire in Are You Afraid of the Dark? – The Tale of The Midnight Madness (1993)
A landmark in televised gateway horror, Canada’s answer to Goosebumps once told a remarkably post-modern horror story that also happened to feature Count Orlok as its main antagonist. In the season 2 episode The Tale of the Midnight Madness, we follow the employees of an old-fashioned movie theater as they resort to screening a mysterious film in order to keep the business alive, with the showing of “Nosferatu: The Demon Vampire” accidentally unleashing the film’s vampiric villain upon the audience.
While this version of the Count is simply referred to as “Nosferatu” (much like in his SpongeBob cameo), the character is clearly meant to be a riff on Max Schreck’s original performance. Actor Chris Heyerdahl even incorporated some of Schreck’s exaggerated mannerisms into his retro performance, which is likely why this episode is often cited by ’90s kids as the source of countless childhood nightmares.
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