One of the most famous scenes in F. W. Murnau’s 1922 silent horror film Nosferatu takes place on a rat-infested ship. All but two of the vessel’s crew have died of plague, and in desperation the first mate descends into the hold to attack the problem with an axe. As he hacks away at the vermin, up from a long wooden box rises a ghastly figure with claws and bared fangs. A vampire! Slowly its deadly arms stretch toward him. The mate shouts for help, but it is too late. The scene is not exactly scary, but it is unsettling, mostly because of the vampire’s knees. When he rises from his coffin, they don’t bend. It is as if he has been lifted up by some external malignancy.
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