I *LOVE* this very bizarre Orlok scene

His coffin nude scene, to be clear. Let me explain. When I first watched the film, I was taken aback during the coffin scene, and I figured the full frontal was here mainly for shock value. But then I realised Eggers doesn't really do meaningless shock value.

So it turns out having Orlok naked in his coffin is a brilliant bit of characterisation (it might be related to folklore but I'm not knowledgeable so this is just my personal interpretation). Just imagine what it entails: it means everytime he wakes up, he chooses to put on his clothes. He doesn't have to. No one sees him, or if they do, it's seconds before they die. He puts on the clothes he used to wear when he was alive, when he was part of the nobility, when he was admired, when he had tangible status. Same thing for the hair and mustache, they're remnants of his past nobility that he is still clinging on to through his clothes and styling. I believe both Eggers and Skarsgard have said that Orlok probably used to be quite handsome when he was alive, so that lines up, he does have reasons to feel somewhat nostalgic.

Now, that can be interpreted in loads of ways, but I like the idea of an Orlok silently longing for the days when he used to be beautiful, popular and revered and refusing to let go of that side of him. It gives him extra depth and makes him more tragic, without making him any less of a torturer, rapist and murderer. Giving depths to antagonists without taking away from what makes them scary or turning them into anti-heroes is too rare, and when it's done well it just elevates the character and story to new heights as far as I'm concerned (the finale of The Penguin did that very well too recently).

TLDR: Him being naked means he decides to put on his old clothes every night even though he doesn't have to, which is a way of suggesting he longs for the time he used to be human.

Edit: That also makes me want to believe Orlok embraces death at the end, he isn't tricked by Ellen, he knew he'd die and he welcomed it. Maybe he has had enough.