paintings from the opening credits

If you listen to the directors commentary, you'll hear Elias refer to the artist who produced the paintings for the film especially.

If you look carefully, the paintings are supposed to represent the modern trampling on the ancient, the young and knowledgeless flattening the old and decayed. I also get the impression that the entire opening sequence is a representation of Orlock's history. An ancient palace, where he was once a despotic king. It's the only visual hint of his history that we get.

"A film is-or should be-more like music than like fiction..." Stanley Kubrick

I thought those paintings were brilliant, and Dan Jones' music even more brilliant. Too bad the rest of the movie never lived up to those first five minutes.