Orlok

Orlok is the name of Count Orlok, a vampire character from the 1922 German silent film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, commonly shortened to Nosferatu. Directed by F. W. Murnau and produced as an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, the film presents Orlok as a gaunt, pale vampire with a bald head, elongated fingers, and pointed ears. The character travels from Transylvania to the town of Wisborg, where his presence signals impending plague and death.

Max Schreck portrayed Orlok, using stark makeup, exaggerated movements, and shadow play to create a chilling, non-human aura. The film is noted for its German Expressionist visuals, its use of light and shadow, and atmospheric set design, which contributed to the enduring image of the vampire as a grotesque, otherworldly predator.

In the canon of horror cinema, Orlok's depiction stands as one of the earliest cinematic vampires and helped shape subsequent vampire aesthetics, including the emphasis on contagion and the uneasy hybridity of the monstrous human form. The character's name has since become closely associated with Nosferatu and has been referenced in later works as an homage to the film.