The residents of a remote hamlet in 19th-century Transylvania are plagued by rumours of an undead dread in the mist-shrouded valleys. There are rumours of Count Orlok, a nocturnal creature that feeds on the defenceless and spreads a disease that kills the body and the mind.
Her husband Thomas has been dispatched to a dilapidated German coastal town to complete a profitable real estate deal, and Ellen Hutter, a fiercely independent woman ahead of her time, goes with him. The enigmatic purchaser is none other than the eccentric nobleman Count Orlok, who has pale skin, long fingers, and eyes that resemble empty spaces. Ellen is plagued by ghostly images and mysterious warnings from terrified villagers as soon as she gets there.
Ellen starts having sleepless episodes while Thomas dives into the deal, unaware of the dangers around him; her body is paralysed, and shadowy images are creeping around the borders of her eyesight. At night, she hears her name being called in tiny whispers carried by the wind. The townsfolk soon succumb to an unexplained sickness, their faces contorted in permanent misery, their bodies drained of vitality.
Thomas is unaware that Count Orlok has his sights set on Ellen because of her beauty and innocence. She is his last surviving connection to a life before the curse of vampires engulfed him, and he thinks she is the reincarnation of a woman he once loved centuries ago. He beckons her through fevered dreams and unsettling apparitions, casting a spell that could draw her into his darkness.
Ellen comes to Dr. Van Helsing, a solitary scholar who is knowledgeable about ancient horrors, as the disease continues to engulf the town. He validates her suspicions: Count Orlok is an unholy predator who spreads his corruption via an insatiable thirst for blood. As time is running out and Thomas is becoming influenced by Orlok, Ellen has to act independently.
She finds an ancient document that describes a method of defeating the vampire—self-sacrifice—because she is determined to break his hold. He will be weak and exposed to the sun’s purifying light if a good-hearted person voluntarily surrenders to the beast and waits for him to finish his meal until morning.
Ellen pretends to give in to Orlok’s fixation in the climax scene by luring him to her bedroom. The first rays of morning peek through the windows as he digs his teeth into her neck. Orlok discovers he has been caught too late since he is too engrossed to notice the danger. Before he can go, the sunshine burns his rotten flesh, reducing him to ash. As the community is liberated from the vampire’s shadow, Ellen passes out and her life begins to fade.
Ellen whispers, “It’s over,” with a slight smile as Thomas rushes to her side. Her body becomes motionless, but as the camera lingers on her corpse, a brief movement hints at something strange—a terrifying suggestion that the darkness might not have been completely defeated. The community is starting to rebuild towards the end of the movie, but there is still a sense of dread. As a whisper of evil waits to rise, a lone bat darts across the red dawn.
Final Scene: In a foggy cemetery, a single grave is visible. The gravestone bears Ellen’s name, but there is a new fissure in it. A drop of blood seeps into the ground and stains the dirt.
Cut to black.
