In 1921, German director Frederich Wilhelm Murnau (John Malkovich) takes his Berlin-based cast and crew on-location in Slovakia and Poland in order to shoot Nosferatu, an unauthorized version of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. He informs them that the person playing the part of the vampire Count Orlok, an obscure German theater performer named Max Schreck (Willem Dafoe), is a highly professional character actor, but in order to involve himself fully in his character, he will only appear among the cast and crew in full make-up and character (the real life Schreck was a German stage and film actor who appeared in several films, including Die Finanzen des Grossherzogs).
The main setting is an old Slovak castle. Schreck is there waiting for the filming team, and his appearance and behavior are truly disquieting. The cameraman soon starts feeling terrorized and sick, and has to be taken away and replaced. The other main actor, Gustav von Wangenheim (Eddie Izzard), is frightened of Schreck, but then convinces himself that Schreck is simply a very good actor.
On one occasion, two members of the crew are sharing a drink under the stars, and Schreck approaches. They invite him to join them, and Schreck drinks with them. Jokingly they ask about his vampirism and Schreck tells them of his history as a vampire, centuries old. When questioned, he tells the crew that he is so old, he cannot remember how he became a vampire, and cannot create more of his own kind. A bat flies by and Schreck catches it with a quick hand and bites it, ecstatically sucking blood from its body. The others are left impressed by what they still assume is talented acting.
As it turns out, Schreck is a true vampire, and Murnau has made a deal with him in order to make his film absolutely realistic. Schreck has been promised the main actress, Greta Schroeder (Catherine McCormack), as a prize, provided he fulfills his role until the end of the filming. But the vampire is frequently uncooperative until eventually the entire production, stranded on an island in the North Sea, is at his mercy.
In the end, Schreck kills Greta while acting out a scene. Murnau is left as the sole survivor, operating the camera, as several other crew members are killed and Schreck falls victim to the scripted death of Orlok: Enough time has passed for the sun to rise and its rays are now let onto the set.
Italiano
Murnau ha intezione di girare un film dell'orrore con protagonista un vampiro. Per fare ciò egli si basa sul celeberrimo romanzo di Bram Stoker, da cui trae ispirazione, nonostante non abbia rispettato i diritti d'autore. Ciò gli causerà non pochi problemi con i parenti dell'autore del libro e, nel frattempo, inizia a delinearsi in modo inquietante la possibilità che Max Schrek, l'attore scelto per interpretare il vampiro, sia davvero una creatura demoniaca.