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Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
Robert Eggers is one of the most authentic auteurs working today. Almost immediately after his 2015 feature filmmaking debut, The Witch, many decided he should take on a long-awaited remake of the classic silent picture, F.W. Murnau and Henrik Galeen’s 1922 Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.
A few, perhaps necessary, films later, Eggers has revealed his own version of the classic intoxicating story to the silver screen. While his film is a remake of Murnau and Galeen’s picture, it is also slightly more faithful to the source material, for nearly every vampire story in existence, Bram Stoker’s Dracula. For sheer curiosity’s sake, Murnau could not secure the rights to the novel, so he essentially made his own version of Dracula. Eggers does emulate some shots of the original picture, but his film is a truly gnarly combination of the best elements of both the silent film and the novel.
Backwards Companionship
Eggers’s fourth feature film seems to be his most dialogue-heavy yet. Even then, there are a few moments where characters have short monologues. These are slightly distracting from moving a given scene along, almost dragging. This doesn’t necessarily detract from Nosferatu but at least worth pointing out. Eggers’s prior three films have been very visual in nature and even visually reliant in many sequences. However, the cast performances are what truly keep the film’s slower scenes moving.
The Hutters
Seemingly, as a young woman, Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) sought nothing more than companionship from almost anyone. She prays for anything to touch her and is attacked by a slightly tame version of Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). Years later, now married to Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult), Ellen feels this pull gone and has reembraced the pure woman she once was. Depp and Hoult are enticing together on screen and their love feels genuine. However, that doesn’t stop the hand of fate. This Ellen is taken with the darkness more than ever, and Thomas’s fears are constantly reinforced rather than reassured and calmed. Eggers’s screenplay does somewhat ask the question, “Are these two people right for each other?”. Nosferatu seeks to play on the most carnal of desires too.
The best elements of both source materials are on display in the horror remake. The characterization and manifestation of sheer terror and fear within Thomas are excellent. Nosferatu would be more tame if Thomas wasn’t as scared, but he has seen a visual representation of death. For a respectful remake, Hoult brings a great depth to the character that had not felt sensed since the original portrayal in the silent picture. Depp is everlasting on screen as Ellen. Once her goodness feels truly gone in the film’s third act, one wants someone to help her. The entire cast is truly doing their best and they help bring the haunting atmosphere of Wisborg, Germany to life.
Supporting Characters
This can also be surmised for Herr Knock (Simon McBurney), Thomas’s boss, who has formed a dark pact with Orlok. Knock seems to want that sweet taste of eternal life, but once he is in Wisborg, Orlok uses Knock as more a decoy than anything else. However, it is in this Knock is clearly mistaken and is a great juxtaposition of The Fool, tarot card or what have you. This version of Renfield is slightly tame, but Knock performs a few of the film’s more untamed moments, like biting off a pigeon’s head. It’s so gross and wrong but somehow intoxicating to see because maybe we want to see exactly what he does next. Eggers continues to remind the audience of his sheer dedication to authenticity, along with his primal nature for visceral reactions, and characters like Knock are so fun to see in his films.
With companionship comes desire and love. In a sick and twisted way, Ellen wants what is coming. Thomas wishes to be a good husband to Ellen. For both of them, the night is truly dark and full of terrors. Nosferatu seeks to answer the desire of these two, but Orlok is perhaps the worst thing that could ever come to either of them. There are even moments between Thomas’s friend Friedrich Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his wife Anna Harding (Emma Corrin), where their desires are presented. However, the events between Ellen and Thomas halt their desires, ultimately with the inevitable. More than anything, Death is coming to the small town of Wisborg.
The Vampyr
While certainly one of the year’s best films, Nosferatu is a wildly intoxicating tale of death, desire, and love. The supernatural gothic horror film is quite viscerally moving in nature, with staggering shots of Orlok screaming creep. The biggest complaint with the entire film is perhaps quite small, but for some innate reason, feels somewhat distracting in the most annoying manner. Eggers’s version of Orlok flaunts a wicked mustache to compliment his design. This felt goofier and sillier than it probably should be. Nonetheless, this detail felt as if it detracted from the sheer terror of a presence that Orlok is. Otherwise, Orlok—and thus Skarsgard himself—is a true creep all on his own in the best way possible.
This Orlok is rabid, and all the more unforgiving, rightfully so. The character has always felt like he is supposed to be a somewhat manifestation of the Other, the all-slow, encroaching hand of Death coming for us all. Mustache aside, the towering stance and presence of him is almost blinding. This is felt terrifically through Thomas and Friedrich, the two most affected by Orlok’s reign of terror. Ultimately, Orlok is a menace to these two and seeks to demolish everything in his wake. He really only wears his huge cloak, and once the clearest view of Orlok is on screen, he is gone. The design is so pronounced and smoothly put together, though. Also, his voice is somehow commanding, but almost as if his vocal cords were ripped out and put back in.
Are We All Freaks?
Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz (Willem Dafoe) is the one character who truly understands the depth of evil Orlok brings. He senses the connection between Orlok and Ellen more than anyone else. Moreover, he is perhaps the most normal freak in the entire film, but in the best ways. Dafoe is seemingly having the most fun out of the entire cast. His character is established as someone adept in the Occult but was essentially cast out by the college and community at large. However, he wants to rid the earth of this creature and seeks to lead the audience down the dark rabbit hole.
Nosferatu seems to ask whether we are all freaks in our own way as well. The dark fantasy film is seemingly intoxicating and even sexy albeit subtly. The atmosphere of Nosferatu pulls the audience through the director of photography Jarin Blaschke’s camera. Louise Ford’s editing is subtly effective, too, used sparingly in the right places. The camera seeks to guide us around and through this twisted tale of love and desire. Von Franz seeks to be the most normal among all of these characters, even if he is just a bit of a weird doctor. Likewise, Von Franz and his “modern” doctor colleague, Doctor Wilhelm Sievers (Ralph Ineson)—who suggested von Franz—both seek to help the community at large in their own ways. Moreover, are we all truly, freaky?
Technical Details
Blaschke’s cinematography is eerie and smooth as well. The locations feel alive in this tale, and the framing of everything is very serene and deliberate. In this sense, Orlok and Ellen steal every frame that they occupy. Musical composer Robin Carolan’s (The Northman) scoring is likewise scary, with the heavy string used seemingly key for creating this gothic environment.
Production designer Craig Lathrop’s (In Living Color, The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman) set pieces are also some of the year’s best. The film’s period, Germany 1838, feels authentic. In hand with Linda Muir’s costume design, the wardrobes feel somehow lived in. These elements always remain key in bringing these small details to the screen, and even with a more modern world in the story, baffling, freak vampires feel all the more real.
Final Thoughts on Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu
Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu is bound to be many people’s favorite film of the year. Its massive scale is to be appreciated enough. Moreover, the film is a proper remake of one of the most classic silent films ever produced. The feel of a true gothic horror film is all the more present within it. The intoxicating atmosphere simply pulls audiences along for a wild ride. With this remake, Eggers also continues to prove how successful he is at crafting stories that are bound to creep out even the weirdest of people.
Is the film reaching for the most carnal of desires, and are we all truly freaks? And what makes desire a good thing? What truly is desirable, good love? We all fade out too, and will we be ready to accept the cold, dark hand of death? Timing can be a cold-hearted friend.
4.5/5 stars.
Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu is now playing in theatres everywhere!
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Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
This article was edited by John Tangalin.