10 Most Shocking Scenes In Nosferatu, Ranked

WARNING: Major spoilers for Nosferatu aheadRobert Eggers' vampire horror movie Nosferatu is memorable for its slow-burning narrative and intense sense of dread, but there were still a number of moments that were genuinely shocking. Starring Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok, the Gothic tale borrows heavily from genuine Eastern European folklore to create a nightmarish new iteration of the familiar story about a mysterious Transylvanian nobleman terrorizing a city in Western Europe, and in particular a newlywed couple. Nosferatu's reviews have been glowing, with critics and fans alike praising its world-building and powerhouse performances.

Some have observed that Nosferatu isn't as "scary" as other modern horror films, and admittedly it is light on the typical jump scares and gore that typically define the genre. However, that doesn't mean that the film is completely lacking in shock value. While there may not be many ghouls and ghosts jumping out of the shadows, there is plenty of shocking imagery and disturbing moments throughout the narrative. 10 moments in particular stand out as the most shocking, and they've been ranked in order of how shocking or traumatizing they are.

10 Thomas Hutter Is Pulled Into The Carriage

The First True Sign Of Orlok's Power

This moment is low on the list because of the pace at which it unfolds. As Thomas Hutter sets out to walk to Count Orlok's castle, he finds himself on a dark road lit only by the moon and the glistening snowfall. He is soon approached by a carriage coming at him at full speed before it screeches to a stop. From there, he enters a dreamlike state, and is silently pulled into the carriage by an unseen force. In reality, he likely took actual steps into the carriage, but in a dreamy trance state he appears to levitate slowly into the carriage.

It's the first real indicator of Count Orlok's supernatural power in that timeframe. The audience had already seen him invade the mind of a lonely Ellen Hutter at that point, but it had happened years before. Thomas had already had a series of terrifying encounters in the village at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, but the psychic trance and unattended horse-driven carriage really drives home the level of power he is about to come face-to-face with.

9 A Grieving Friedrich Holds His Wife One Last Time

The Grieving Husband Violates His Family's Mausoleum

The Hardings are the ultimate example of "no good deed goes unpunished" in Nosferatu, as their reward for taking Ellen in while Thomas is away in Transylvania is their entire family being wiped out by Count Orlok. After Orlok kills his loving wife Anna (Emma Corrin) and their two children, Friedrich Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is left alone, and joins the Hutters, Professor Von Franz and Dr. Sievers in their pursuit of Orlok. Overcome by grief, Friedrich then visits his family's tomb in the nearby cemetery, spitting blood as evidence that he's suffering from the plague ravaging Wisborg.

A special point is made earlier in the movie about how much Friedrich and Anna still adore each other, with a joke made about how physical their love is when he reveals to Thomas that they have a third child on the way. Because of this, his violation of Anna's tomb and removal of his wife's body carries a heavy implication of necrophilia, and the position in which the other men find him further strengthens that notion. It was a shocking turn of events for Friedrich especially, who had, up to that point, been a highly logical and steadfast figure.

8 Anna Harding Gets Gnawed By Rats

One Of The Most Unsettling Images Of The Movie

Emma Corrin's Anna Harding acts as Ellen's best friend and confidant while Thomas is in Transylvania, and she offers the only real support that Ellen receives in the wake of her many "spells". Unfortunately, as mentioned, Anna becomes a victim of the evil that Anna summoned many years earlier, and she winds up a victim of Count Orlok. Prior to the vicious vampire killing her and her children, Ellen asks if the two can share a bed, seemingly as a nighttime comfort to a frightened Ellen.

However, Ellen's tone makes it seem as though she might have been under Orlok's influence at the time. That's further supported by the state in which she finds Anna upon waking: the young mother is sprawled on the floor, nightgown akimbo, being gnawed on by the plague rats that came to Wisborg on Orlok's ship. It's a gruesome and shocking image that sticks in the brain, especially for those uncomfortable with rats and mice.

7 The Townspeople Summon A Virgin And Kill A Vampire

Thomas Hutter Observes The Locals Killing One Of The Undead

When Thomas Hutter first arrives in Transylvania, he stops for the night at a small town at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains in which Orlok's dilapidated castle is located. While staying at the inn, Thomas' reliability as a narrator already begins to waver, as it isn't clear whether he's dreaming. He goes to the window of his room in the night and sees a group of locals leading a naked young woman on horseback into the nearby cemetery, although it's worth noting that she is not bound in any way, and appears to be a willing participant.

What they're actually doing, based on Eastern European folklore, is using the virgin not as a sacrifice, but as bait to draw out which of the buried bodies is actually a vampire. The woman's nudity makes it easier for the vampire to smell her fresh blood, and per the lore a white horse carrying a virgin will not step on the grave of a vampire. This image is shocking enough, but the audience is given another authentic jump scare when a vampire bursts out of its buried coffin and is quickly staked through the heart.

6 Orlok’s Face Melts In the Sun

Eggers Provides One Of The Most Memorable Vampire Deaths Ever

The notion of vampires being killed by sunlight actually originated from the original Nosferatu, not Dracula; it's one of the biggest differences between Dracula and Orlok. Robert Eggers makes sure to pay homage with one of the best vampire deaths ever put to film. Instead of fading into nothingness as the original Orlok did, Eggers' Count Orlok is unable to tear himself away from Ellen Hutter's blood, and as a result melts away when the sun hits him. Blood pours from every orifice as his rotten corpse collapses on top of Ellen, resulting in a jaw-dropping final image.

5 Ellen Hutter's Most Extreme "Spell"

Lily-Rose Depp Dials Up The Intensity

With Thomas back in Wisborg, Ellen's spells and seizures intensify and become more frequent and unpredictable, as Orlok himself is also nearby. As a result, his psychic torment reaches a fever pitch, and Ellen undergoes her most intense episode yet. In Thomas' presence, while awake, Ellen tears her own clothes off and begins gyrating and spasming with an alteration of pain and ecstasy. Her eyes roll back in her head, her tongue goes wild, and Lily-Rose Depp gives a convincing portrait of a person who is not in control of her own body anymore.

4 Orlok's First Psychic Invasion Of Ellen

One Of The Movie's Only True Jump Scares, And Likely Its Best

Nosferatu opens with the incident that sets all the subsequent events in motion: a lonely and mistreated Ellen reaching out in prayer to any entity that will offer her comfort. As a person with some psychic ability herself (including the ability to see the future in small doses), her prayers actually reach Count Orlok, and he invades her mind for the first time. Eggers sets the tone with one of the movie's most shocking jump scares, as Orlok grabs Ellen by the neck and roars, revealing his face in all its unholy grotesqueness for just a split second.

3 Orlok Kills The Harding Girls

Even Children Are Not Spared From Orlok's Evil

One of the more monstrous moments for Count Orlok in Nosferatu comes during the three-night window he gives to Ellen, during which he vows to kill her loved ones if she does not re-pledge herself to him. His first victims turn out to be the Hardings' young daughters, Clara and Louise. After placing Friedrich in a deep sleep, Orlok attacks the girls in their room, viciously biting their necks and draining the life out of them. It's a shocking scene because of the involvement of young children, and Orlok casting aside their lifeless bodies like dolls is truly disturbing.

2 Orlok's Full Form Revealed

The Vampire's Corpse-Like Body Is Finally Exposed

Upon fully realizing the depth of Count Orlok's evil and the fact that the vampire has been feeding on him, Thomas tries to escape the castle. Finding the front gates locked, he seeks an alternate exit and discovers a locked door to a cellar, where Count Orlok's sarcophagus sits. Thomas resolves to follow the steps he saw the villagers take and drive a stake into Orlok's heart to kill him. Unfortunately for him, Orlok wakes and stops him, and leaps out of the coffin to chase him down, revealing his full form free of clothing.

It's the first real look that the audience gets at Orlok, and it's shocking in how incredibly inhuman he actually is. While he does possess the full male anatomy, his entire body is completely rotten and decaying. His visible member is not a bit of gratuitous nudity. Rather, it's an indication that Orlok used to be a living human, but is now something else entirely. It is the complete opposite of the traditional depiction of vampires, which is that they are sleek, debonair, and sexy; Orlok is entirely repulsive and shocking to look at.

1 Ellen And Orlok Consummate Their Commitment

One Of The Most Chilling Final Scenes In Recent Memory

Count Orlok's reign of terror comes to an end when Ellen Hutter invites him back to her bedroom to re-pledge herself to him, as she did years ago when he first invaded her mind. With her husband and the others seeking Orlok in his broken-down mansion, Ellen comes face-to-face with Orlok on her own, and agrees to commit to him in order to save those she loves, and the entire city of Wisborg (if not the world; the limits of Orlok's powers are unknown). The two disrobe and fall to her bed to consummate their "marriage" as any other newlyweds might.

The key difference is that Orlok's desire is to feed on Ellen's blood, and opens her chest with ravenous hunger and begins to drink. Not even the breaking of dawn is enough to deter him, as Ellen is able to draw him back in to her as he begins to pull away with the sun's light on him. It's a heartbreaking sacrifice, knowing that Ellen intends for Orlok to drain the life out of her so that others might be saved.

The way the scene plays out is shocking in how sexually charged it is, and the sheer graphic nature of the monstrous living corpse mounting a young woman to feed on her. It's a dramatic and powerful final scene, and leaves the audience with a lasting image. Like many of the most shocking moments in Nosferatu, Ellen's self-sacrifice and consummation of her commitment to the ultimate evil isn't sudden, but what it lacks in jump-scare effect it makes up for in sheer potency.