Nosferatu

Set in the fictional German city of Wisborg in the 1830s, Nosferatu sees estate agent Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult), leave his unwell and vulnerable wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) in search of financial security and a meeting in Transylvania with a potential client. With Ellen in the care of their friends Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Anna (Emma Corrin), Thomas encounters a fateful meeting with mysterious Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård), and soon discovers his own safety and that of his loved ones, is in peril. With evil beyond their control plaguing their lives, Thomas must flee the vampire’s castle and ride back to Wisborg to save himself and the city from a shroud of darkness.

If there is a director out there who can bring Nosferatu to life once more, it is Robert Eggers. His previous works, including The Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman, prove he is no stranger to the world of psychological folk horror, and yet again he has not disappointed. A remake of the 1922 silent film and inspired by Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula, the whole film feels like a fever dream from start to finish, avoiding an onslaught of jump scares and traditional horror tropes, instead opting for a more sinister and unsettling approach.

An ode to old cinema and literary novels, what builds Nosferatu into the misery-filled blood curdler is the faultless production and sound design, making art come alive and creating a stony, snow-covered world that you truly believe to be real as the chimes of doom ring out. As for the main cast, Skarsgård is the embodiment of pure evil as Count Orlok, further proving he is a very versatile character actor. Most surprising is the performance of  Depp, who spends a majority of the feature in a state of possession, and delivers probably her best and most exhaustive presentation to date. Both actors give Shakespearean performances of the highest dramatic scale.

It is also nice to see Willem Dafoe also make an appearance as Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz, after previously playing a vampire in the Nosferatu-related Shadow of the Vampire. Along with strong and stable enactments from Corrin, Taylor-Johnson and Hoult, each actor delivers a convincing portrayal as they one by one descend into insanity.

Where the movie falters is its overflowing solemness and misery, hitting you like a wall that not even injected moments of erotica can break down, and it’s overstretched at 132 minutes long given the sparsity of the plot. While it still may not be the best Dracula movie in existence, it stands on its own two feet in true, classical horror fashion. It may not terrify you, but Nosferatu will leave you breathless, gasping for air as you fall deeply into this gothic melodrama.

Guy Lambert

Nosferatu is released nationwide on 1^st January 2025.

Watch the trailer for Nosferatu here: