A young clerk, Hutter, from Bremen in the early 19th century, travels far away to the Carpathian forests to meet the infernal Count Orlok, the owner of a castle who has decided to move to a major city. The guest discovers that Orlok, also known as Nosferatu, is a vampire, and Hutter is saved from his infectious bite only by his wife Nina, whose supernatural love for the modest and weak-willed real estate clerk protects him. She is the one who understands the evil carried within the grim count.