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In the German silent film Nosferatu (1922), the vampire Count Orlok bites the guy Hutter.

But then how come he alone survives while all the other people who have been bitten by that vampire die?

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There doesn't appear to be any real reason for this, other than the fact it helps the story along.

Hutter doesn't know who Orlok is. When eating dinner at Orlok's mansion, he cuts his thumb and is nearly devoured by Orlok who wants his blood. He then wakes up the following morning with two puncture wounds in his neck.

Given Orlok easily kills many people later in the same way, the only logical explanation is that, for whatever reason, he wanted to keep Hutter alive - whether permanently or temporarily, we don't know.

I suspect this wasn't given too much thought when creating the movie, as it proved to be a useful plot device building the audience up to understand the terrible truth of who Count Orlok really was.

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    While I haven't seen Murnau's version yet (and am thus unable to judge this question or its answers), if it follows Stoker's original, the Count had enough reasons for Hutter to stay alive, I think, seeing that he needed him as realtor and maybe as a future servant similar to Renfield (or however he was called in this version, if even existent).
    – Napoleon Wilson ♦
    Commented Mar 16, 2014 at 0:59
  • I think that the realtor argument is definitely the most likely.
    – Andrew Martin
    Commented Mar 16, 2014 at 1:00

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