Nosferatu: parents' guide
Best for ages 10 and up. Not formally rated.
The 1922 German silent that invented the screen vampire is eerie rather than bloody, a good pick for patient kids around 10 and up who like a spooky story. A young estate agent travels to the castle of Count Orlok, a rat-like vampire who then sails to the agent's hometown and brings a deadly plague with him. Most deaths happen off screen or in shadow, and there's no gore or sex. Orlok's ghoulish look and creeping shadow can still unnerve, and a main character dies at the end. Some reviewers suggest teens and up for the macabre mood; with a parent, we'd say 10.
What's in it
Violence
MildMild and mostly implied: the vampire feeds on victims largely in shadow, a sailor leaps overboard in terror, an asylum inmate attacks a guard, and dead bodies are briefly seen. The vampire vanishes in a puff of smoke at sunrise.
Language
NoneNo profanity. The intertitles are formal and contain nothing a young viewer would repeat.
Sex and nudity
NoneNothing beyond a husband and wife embracing and kissing. The vampire's fixation on the wife reads as menace, not romance.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
ModerateCharacters drink at an inn, aboard the ship and at home, and men smoke pipes. No drunkenness or drugs, but smoking is shown on screen.
Scary or intense scenes
ModerateOrlok's skeletal face, long claws and shadow creeping up a staircase are iconic and can still unsettle. Coffins full of rats, a ghost ship, plague deaths and coffins carried through the streets add dread, though the pace is slow.
Worth talking about
The townspeople blame a plague for deaths they don't understand. How do fear and rumor spread in a crisis, and what does the film suggest about facing a threat head-on?
On our lists
Similar picks around 10+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against bbfc.co.uk, decentfilms.com, Wikipedia, the MPA, Common Sense Media. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.