Spoilers · the ending
Nosferatu the Vampyre: the ending, explained
Werner Herzog · 1979
This page gives the ending away. Not seen the film yet? Its spoiler-free guide is here.
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Spoilers · the ending
Werner Herzog · 1979
This page gives the ending away. Not seen the film yet? Its spoiler-free guide is here.
What happens
Lucy holds Dracula with her until sunrise destroys him, and dies for it. Van Helsing stakes the corpse too late, and he is arrested. Jonathan, already a vampire, rides off, inheriting the curse.
The last image
Jonathan, now a vampire, rides away on horseback, the curse passed on to him.
What it says
Lucy's sacrifice ends the Count but not the curse. Death is not defeated, only handed on, and the men who deny it are the ones who carry it forward. Herzog refuses a tidy victory.