Director – Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse)
Starring – Lily-Rose Depp (Tusk, Yoga Hosers), Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies, Mad Max: Fury Road), and Bill Skarsgard (It, Barbarian)
Release Date – 2024
Rating – 4/5
I became obsessed with the Universal classic monsters when I was in high school. At the time Universal was putting out DVD box sets for each of the monsters and I was scrambling to find them all. This started my deep dive into the careers of some of the legends that portrayed many of the monsters like Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., an so on. Chaney Jr. lead me to his legendary father and this turned me on to films from the silent era of Hollywood and what is one of the most iconic films of the time period, Nosferatu. It was fairly easy to track down a copy of the film due to it being public domain now. This is a film that I greatly admire and love that younger generations have discovered it because of Spongebob.
When news broke that The Witch’s Robert Eggers was remaking the film, I knew I had to see it. He is a filmmaker that has not let me down and I knew he would absolutely knock this one out of the park. A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive a package for the film’s digital release that included a code to check it out. Damn right I took advantage of that to see the film.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows an underling sent to a castle deep in the Carpathians to see a Count. The count is buying an old mansion in England and the young man is tasked with visiting him to sign the necessary paperwork. What he doesn’t know is that this is a ploy from his employer who is in leagues with the count. The count is secretly a vampire with an obsession for the young man’s new bride. The count plans on locking him away and setting sail to England to be with her but he is able to escape. He teams up with two doctors, one of which has knowledge of vampires, to stop the count from damning her soul. **Spoiler alert**
Nosferatu is an iconic silent era film that can be argued that it is still effective to this day. It does have it’s fair share of haters, especially those who disagree with the fact that it was a blatant rip off of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This remake, like a lot of pop horror releases, seemed to split the genre community. Some loved the film and hailed it as their favorite of the year while others were disgusted by the sexual energy an Orlok’s mustache even though it was period accurate. I went into this one with both in mind and found myself absolutely loving it. It may not be as amazing as the original but it’s still a must see for genre fans.
The acting in this one is unforgettable. Hoult and Depp and fantastic. Hoult has never disappointed me and I’m always looking forward to the next film of his. Lily-Rose Depp also does a fantastic job as well. Her performance here is legendary and images of her from the film will live on in cinema history. The supporting cast is just as phenomenal. Willem Dafoe, Bill Skarsgard, and so on deliver the same intense and amazing performances.
The story for this one does follow closely to the original film which does borrow heavily from the classic novel. It’s very romantic fantasy heavy with a lot of horror elements scattered throughout. The film does rely on dialogue heavy scenes to get the character’s background and story progressing but it’s not that boring. The atmosphere and tension helps with the pacing issue creating a very effective story. Fans of The Witch and The Lighthouse will truly appreciate the way the story is delivered here.
Finally, the film has a high body count. We get a lot of the traditional vampire kills that uses some blood and light make-up effects. I also love the look of Skarsgard as Count Orlock. The mustache does fit the period while paying homage to the man who created the Dracula legend. With that being said, there is several scenes that use a heavy dose of computer generated effects that are a bit goofy. Overall, Nosferatu is a must see especially if you like the original film or the works of Robert Eggers. I know pop horror fans will flock to this one but if you are a lifelong genre fan that is on the fence then I highly suggest you check it out. It’s well worth your time!
