The First film I watched was Nosferatu (1975). I really enjoyed the film. I had a very classic horror feel to it. Which makes sense it's based off of Dracula, you can't get more classic horror than that. The thing that stuck out most to me in the film was how slow it was. It never dove into a chase scene, where our protagonist was running for their life. Instead it was this slow dissolve into madness as the town dissolves around us, leaving us with this constant feeling of dread as the town and people get more infected as time goes on.
I feel that the film is praying on our fear of sickness and disease. We see this clearing as the town starts dying off from the plague. I think this is all shown in the design of Nosferatu. Nosferatu is probably one of the most distinctive depictions of Dracula. While he looks less human the most Dracula, he also looks sickly and weak. He has pale skin, their heavy sunken eyes, and seem to always be short of breath. This pulse, his connection to the pledge helps give off the feat of spreading disease and illness. The film also prays on our fear of what to do when science fails us. We see this in the film when the idea of vampires is written off due to not being inline with the scientific enlightenment views. This leaves Lucy to fight off Dracula on her own. Science is often viewed as the source to answer any question we have about our universe, and what can reveal the unknown. When science fails us or is unable to answer a question it can leave us into the dark with no certainty of what to do. This plays into the larger fear of the unknown.
I Think an interesting part of the film is when Lucy first sees Nosferatu, because she just sees his shadow as he approaches her in the mirror. In the article “When Women Look” Lina William talks about the idea of the blind heroine not being able to see allowing the monster to voyeuristic view at a closer distance. This scene Is kind of like a twist on this where even Lucy can see and is still blind to seeing Nosferatu. This adds this eerie element where we don’t know how long Nosferatu was there before being revealed by his shadow, and even when he is revealed Lucy still is not sure who or what he is.
Something I found Interesting while looking at Deathgasm is the comedic elements of the film. It's fun how horror and comedy are often viewed like opposite genres, but how easy it is for one to come off as the other. For example when a horror film fails people will often end up laughing at it. On the other hand many things that are meant to come off as comical come off as scary to people. For example clowns and stopmotion animation are often meant to be funny, but people often find them scary or unnerving.