Nosferatu

While a casual moviegoer would instantly recognize Dracula, not everybody could say they know who Nosferatu is. This isn’t a huge surprise as the character came from an unauthorized German-language adaptation of the original 1897 Bram Stroker novel released in 1922 titled ‘’Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror’’ and retroactively became his own creation after the film grew to be seen as a masterpiece that served as a template for German expressionism and gothic horror. Since they’ve been countless portrayals of the king of the night, a remake centred on his illegitimate younger brother would make whoever was in charge of the project stand out for being atypical, which gifted acclaimed but niche horror director, Robert Eggers, the perfect opportunity to expand his reach with the mainstream without having to exiting his comfort zone, and it really paid off for him with this 2024 remake.

Set in the late 1830s in Germany, a newlywed couple is pulled apart when the husband, Thomas Hutter (played by Nicholas Hoult) is tasked by his new employer to travel to Transylvania to confirm the purchase of the decrepit Grünewald Manor with the reclusive Count Orlok (played by Bill Skarsgård). Being forced to stay with wealthy friend, Friedrich (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his family while Thomas is away, his wife Ellen (played by Lily-Rose Depp) starts to fear for his safety, experiencing horrific dreams of Orlok that cause her to suffer extreme seizures. Once the deed is finalized and Orlok arrives in Germany, a plague spreads through the streets and starts picking off people one by one, causing Ellen to confess that she forged a psychic link with Orlok years ago in a fit of loneliness, and in doing so, rose him from his eternal slumber and has now come to claim his possession. When no scientific explanation can be used to rationalize this plague, former Swiss scientist and occult practitioner, Albin Eberhart von Franz (played by Willem Dafoe) tells the group that Orlok is a vampiric being called Nosferatu and that Ellen (due to her physic pact with him) is the only one who can stop him from destroying all of Germany.

Being Eggers’ most commercially successful film, Nosferatu did so well from all angles that it propelled the filmmaker from a director who made quality content for a select crowd, into a visionary whose style was so enriching and distinct that people were going to wait on bated breath for what’d he’d do next. Nosferatu is dripping with outstanding visual, intense performances, and an atmosphere that manages to allure and sicken in the best way possible, and while the story and characters can feel suffocated by the aesthetic, it’s a slight sacrifice for a greater whole.

Being fascinated by vampires and the story of Nosferatu long before he became a filmmaker, Eggers desired to make a film about him as soon as he completed his first feature film, The Witch, in 2015, but decided to delay it to focus on his later two projects, The Lighthouse and The Northman, although it constantly remained a passion project he desperately hoped to adapt. Allowing time to pass was a smart decision as it allowed Eggers the chance to grow a more defined style, one that felt perfect for adapting such a classically gothic story with clear sociological and societal undertones that’d be great to explore with a more contemporary perspective. His clear admiration for classic cinema and his ability to inject the fantastical and unexplainable into harsh oppressive reality made him a great fit with this material, which took the elegant veneer off the Dracula story and provided a much dirtier and occult-heavy version of the story, and all the proof is clearly on display when watching this movie. Following the original story pretty closely aside from a few tweaks to make things feel a little smoother, the delivery is exactly what you’d expect a Robert Eggers Nosferatu film to be like, with a heavy definition on the production, atmosphere, and personality which all feel very well-toned.

This is a magnificently grotesque and irksome feature that combines Eggers’ immaculate visual style and aggressive tone with a sensually charged underbelly that’ll cause viewers to squirm and flinch but never avert their eyes because what they’re seeing is so captivating. For a centuries old story, the ingredients are still very interesting, having enough deviations from the original source material to feel like its own thing, but featuring enough similarities so that the stark contrast being made between both iterations feels strikingly noticeable. The directing is thoughtful and atmospheric, yet also break-neck in its speed, never allowing the audience to grow comfortable even for a second with quick edits, hysterical performances, and stirring music, making its two-hour running time go like a breeze. With that said, while well told and paced, it doesn’t feel like the story engages as much as it could’ve due to the clear preference Eggers has over the atmosphere and style, meaning that it can get lost amongst the splendor.  The screenplay (also written by Eggers) spouts the plot without letting the words sink in and the dialogue has a flowery delivery that fits the time period but also feels like a mask for covering up what is otherwise standard responses to scenes. It’s still well done but doesn’t hit as strong as the other elements.

The characters also don’t feel as well looked-after as the visuals, with each fitting an archetype needed for the narrative and some being slightly elevated to feel more appropriate for contemporary times (mainly Ellen) but not really feeling as captivating or as nuanced as they should. This doesn’t drastically ruin the film as they do still work in the story and have just enough that it gets across the films specific themes about sexual desire, the allure of dominance, and society’s hindrance of women exploring their own wants, but once the film has concluded, you’ll remember them more for how they were portrayed rather than who they were and what they did, which even then, also comes with its own issues. Nobody gives a bad performance and due to Eggers’ style, they contain an extremely theatrical, even silent movie-esque style of performing that matches the film’s ravenous energy and leads to a lot of gripping monologues, but since it feels like the actors are going more off the vibe rather than any specific direction, it’s up to them as to whether they leave an impression amongst the chaos, and not all of them do.

Despite not having that many characters, almost every role of relevance is played by a recognizable talent who have provided memorable and interesting performances in the past, so it doesn’t feel like their fault when they fall short, rather just a consequence of not clicking with Eggers’ style. People like Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Nicholas Hoult and even to some extent, Bill Skarsgård, look and sound the part, but given the singular nature of their roles and the familiarity with which they play them, it comes across as pretty expected and like anybody really could’ve portrayed their roles without much issue. The rest struggle a tad with this problem but are more comfortable operating in this tone and feel more fully formed because of it. One strangely happens to be Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who despite being an actor that is competent but lacks much of an identity, does a pretty believable job as this character who seems to follow the generic ‘’jerky non-believer’’ role, but actually avoids that stereotype and is truly sympathetic given what happens to him and his family. Willem Dafoe works so well in this environment and tone (with Eggers knowing his talents after his glorious performance in The Lighthouse), bringing a needed sense of camp and levity in a brutally somber world, and Lily-Rose Depp starts off a little awkward due to an overly pronounced and obvious performing style, yet really comes into her own by the third act where she takes centre stages and does fantastic when she needs to be visceral and contorted (both in a mental and physical sense).

Only talents like Eggers and returning cinematographer, Jarin Blaschke, would be able to make this movie look simultaneously gorgeous and disgusting at the same time, as well as make a very grey, washed-out, past rendition of Germany still visually appealing and cinematic. It comes through in Blaschke’s wonderful camera work that manages to be mobile and immobile at the perfect intervals as well as overly vast and extremely claustrophobic at the same time, the extreme crisp clean film quality that makes every gross detail and action all the more in-your-face, and the abrupt editing by Louise Ford that gives audiences no time to breath before another horrific thing rears its head into view.

The production design by Craig Lathrop is very well visualized, the costume design by Linda Muir is just the right amount of extravagant while still feeling authentic, and the staging and lighting works wonders in bringing color and light to a mostly chilly and stone-tone locale, this feature is never visually dull to witness. The make-up work by David White, Traci Loader and Suzanne Stokes-Munton is very well done and makes Nosferatu very physically imposing, the music by Robin Carolan is familiar to other thrilling supernatural films of its type, but still works when its required, even the sound design on things like the drinking of blood is guttural and uncomfortable, every technical aspect of this film is well handled, clearly had the most effort and dedication put into it, and is all in service of bringing this ancient story to life in a way that’s befitting of its status, but still feels fresh for new audiences.

While Nosferatu didn’t manage to walk home with any Oscars despite being nominated for most of the craft categories (they were against Wicked, so it was a losing battle), the fact that a horror remake of a legally questionable feature released a full century prior even got recognized in the first place is a sign of talent from those involved, and the best thing to come from this movie is how it’s going to improve all of their careers going forward. It might not be the best movie by Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse is pretty spectacular), but it is totally HIS film from head to toe, with all the familiar fantastic image, girthy performances, and intensely distinct atmosphere you’d expect. While not all the performances are homeruns, the characters aren’t as complex as they should be, and it closely veers towards being a ‘style-over-substance’ movie, it composes itself just enough to not fall into that trap and makes for a pretty great movie all around. Not easily digestible but impossible to pass up.