The young Thomas Hutter is sent by his employer on the long journey to Transylvania. Here he is to travel to the sinister castle of the mysterious Count Orlok to complete the purchase of a property with him. But Count Orlok behaves quite strangely and on top of that, not everything seems to be right in his castle. At some point, it seems clear to the skeptical Thomas that the Count is not an ordinary person, but rather a menacing creature of the night. To make matters worse, Count Orlok also has his sights set on Thomas' wife Ellen and therefore soon sets off with bag and baggage to finally draw the young woman under his diabolical spell.