Nosferatu (2024)

Even over a century after it’s release, F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu is still considered by many (including me) as the best of all vampire movies.

Although a basic rip off of Dracula (Bram Stoker’s widow vowed to have all the copies destroyed and almost succeeded), it is a stark reminder that being a vampire seems appealing (mainly famous a while ago in the Twilight franchise, from what I heard), but that, in the long run, it can….well, suck.

While there have been remakes of the Dracula story in the past (such as the immortal performance of the titular character by Bela Legosi in the 1930s and Herzog’s 1979 remake of Nosferatu, the latter unseen by me), this latest remake was one I was more than excited for.

For starters, director Robert Eggers has been a favorite of mine ever since he debuted with The VVitch in 2017, followed by The Lighthouse (2019) and The Northman (2022). It also helped having Bill Skarsgård as the monster (something he knows a bit about after playing Pennywise in the It films). Add in a trailer I had watched more than enough times (so happy they never showed Skarsgård in it) and I was pumped with rather high expectations. Thankfully, they were mostly met.

Following the plot of Dracula (a shorter version of which I read once as a kid) rather closely, we see newly weds Thomas and Ellen Hutter (Nicholas Hoult and Lily-Rose Depp). Though just after their honeymoon, Thomas is called upon to see a man looking to buy property nearby. He leaves his wife with his good friend Friedrich Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his wife Anna (Emma Corrin), despite Ellen’s objections. Only upon arrival at the castle does Thomas learn who he is dealing with, this Count Orlok (Skarsgård). 

Two veteran actors Eggers has used before are cast as a doctor and professor: Ralph Ineson and Willem Dafoe. Both are rather effective, especially Dafoe, who has a line about Isaac Newton that just sneaks in as one of my favorite lines in 2024 cinema.

With the help of his frequent cinematographer Jarin Blaschke, Eggers once again proves he is mastering not only the use of light, but the absence of it. While there are indeed moments of characters waking up from nightmares, everything in the film seems like such a dream that a character could have woken up at any time and I would have found it plausible. The cinematography is so uncanny it is blood curdling.

As previously stated, the trailer does not show what Orlok looks like, and while I will not ruin the description, there are two aspects that I did find questionable upon viewing (none of which take too much from the overall experience of the film). Skarsgård does deliver a gregorian type voice (with echoes of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings) that is expected yet still chilling to the bone.

Yet the stand out performance for me is Lily-Rose Depp. This is my first time seeing her in a film, and I knew virtually nothing of her other than that she is the daughter of Johnny Depp. Her emotional range is indeed palpable, but it was her physical performance that has clung on to me, and will not let go anytime soon.

Parents, keep the kids away. Not only is the film sure to give them nightmares (I’m talking live animals being eaten), but the film does not at all shy away from the sexual nature that vampirism brings. The nudity and violence more than makes up for the R rating.

Even at just over two hours, I admit the film does seem a tad long. Still, I was more than beguiled throughout the film. With only his fourth feature film, Eggers is one director I am proud to say I jumped on the band wagon early for.

With his craft and unmistakable cinematic eye, he has made a horror film that truly clasps on the heart and does not loosen its grip.

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