“Nosferatu” is easily one of the best movies of the year, and here are 21 interesting facts about it

On By Littum

If it hasn’t landed on your radar yet, Nosferatu is Robert Eggers’ latest high-brow horror film, and you have to know that it’s really good. Like everything from cinematography to costume and production design and direction is top notch.

Person in patterned clothing standing in front of curtains, lit dramatically, evoking an exciting or mysterious mood

Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

A gothic remake of the iconic 1922 silent film of the same name (which itself is an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula), Eggers’ Nosferatu is not only beautifully made, but also scary AF. Like, my stomach dropped so hard in several scenes I thought I was going to lose my dinner.

A shadowy figure stands in a gothic room with an arched window and beams of light, creating a mysterious atmosphere

Aidan Monaghan / © Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

The stars of the movie Nicholas Hoult as Thomas Hutter, a young estate agent, Lily-Rose Depp as his cursed bride and Bill Skarsgård in a terrifyingly wild performance as the vampire Count Orlok.

A group of people in period clothing are talking together

Rounding out the cast is Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma CorrinRalph Ineson, Simon McBurney and Willem Dafoe (who ironically was nominated for an Oscar for playing an actor with the role of Count Orlock in the 2000 film Shadow of the Vampire, a fictional account of the making of the original Nosferatu film.)

Focus features /Courtesy Everett Collection

And here are some very fascinating behind-the-scenes facts about the film I learned from the production notes:

FYI: There are no major spoilers ahead. But there are some minor plot details mentioned.

1.Eggers actually wrote and performed a stage adaptation of Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (fim from 1922) with a classmate when he was still in high school.

Movie poster for "Nosferatu" with shadowed figure and text in Gothic style. reader, "Surrender to the darkness." In cinemas this Christmas

Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

2.And after the success of his first feature film, The witchin 2015, Eggers wrote a draft for Nosferatu with the intention of making it into his next film.

Person in period clothing with bonnet clasps hands and looks forward intently in subdued surroundings

However, his next projects ended up being The lighthouse in 2019, followed by The Norwegian in 2022.

A24 / courtesy Everett Collection

3.Before filming even began, Eggers wrote a short story with extensive backstories and scenes…

The shadow of a figure cast on a tiled floor in a dimly lit setting, creating a mysterious and intriguing atmosphere

4.…and when Eggers wrote this, he realized he wanted to make Ellen’s (Depp) journey the “driving force” of the film.

Person in historical dress with a large, ornately detailed bonnet walks down a narrow alley, evoking a Victorian mood

“She’s not just a victim of the vampire, but of nineteenth-century society,” Eggers explained. “This is Ellen’s story. There is a prologue that begins with her childhood and an inexplicable but terrifying haunting.”

Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

5.Continuing his deep dive, Eggers also did a lot of research into the occult and historical representations of vampires. In fact, he did so much research that his office was apparently filled with “hundreds of books” on these subjects.

Medieval woodcut showing people interacting with a horned figure on a throne, suggesting a meeting or transaction

Universal Images Group via Getty Images

6.Depp worked with a movement coach, Marie-Gabrielle Rotie, an expert in Japanese Butoh (a form of dance), to choreograph Ellen’s movements during her possessions.

Actors in flowing costumes pose dramatically on stage during a theatrical performance

Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images

7.To achieve a very specific and stylized “romantic moonlight” look, cinematographer Jarin Blaschke incorporated actual candlelight to illuminate their scenes.

Actor and crew member review takes next to a candle on a dimly lit set

“It’s all a real flame,” Blaschke said. “We just kept putting candles in until we got the right exposure. It got messy, but it’s very gratifying to shoot on film and have real candles.”

Focus functions / Via youtube.com

8.Filming took place in Prague and they used several convenient locations. Apparently, Eggers wanted to incorporate Prague’s architecture into the film.

Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

9.The filmmakers also took a trip to Transylvania in Romania to shoot the exterior Hunedoara Castle (also known as Corvin Castle), which served as Orlok’s Castle in the film.

A distant castle under a moonlit sky is seen from a snow-covered path, suggesting a mystical or fantasy setting in a TV or film scene

Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

10.But they also built a TON of sets…60 to be exact, including five city blocks. (By comparison, the average film builds perhaps a dozen or fewer sets.)

Victorian era street scene with people in period clothing including hats and bonnets, walking and interacting among market stalls

“I wanted to build as much as possible,” Eggers said. “It gives me the most control over how Jarin and I like to move the camera.”

Focus functions / Via youtube.com

11.And many of the sets were rigged to have moving parts to accommodate the fancy camera work in the film.

Three people on a film set look at a screen. They wear casual jackets and discuss a scene, surrounded by camera equipment

Eggers explained, “Often it requires us to have movable walls and movable ceilings. There are several shots where a wall opens on a hinge to get the camera through and then comes back and closes up again. It’s a lot, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Aidan Monaghan / © Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

12.The sets had so much detail that you would never be able to see it all just by watching the movie. For example, there was paper on a desk written as if it were a letter from Ellen.

Person holding a vintage lamp, wearing a patterned outfit with frills, creating a dramatic and classic atmosphere

Actress Emma Corrin explained: “I remember Rob and I messing around in one of the desks that they had lined up with note paper. The note paper is written as if it were a letter from Ellen and all the envelopes are addressed with my character’s name.”

Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

13.Speaking of practical production techniques, the tears of blood Ellen cries were real and not CGI. Makeup artist Traci Loader used specially made eye blood to create red tears.

A person with long hair and an expression of shock or horror has dramatic blood-like makeup on their face

Aidan Monaghan / © Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

14.The language Nosferatu uses to “talk” to Ellen (in her nightmares/hauntings) is called Dacian, which is a dead language.

A woman in a nightgown hovers over the floor of a room, facing left, with curtains billowing dramatically nearby

Romanian screenwriter Florin Lăzărescu helped the filmmakers with the translation.

Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

15.While the film scores feature many obscure and ancient instruments, they are actually custom-built instruments as well. An example is a toaca-like device (a percussion-type instrument) that was constructed by percussionist Paul Clarvis.

Hands holding clubs hitting wood, a semantron instrument that is like a toaca

Roberto/Getty Images

16.As part of their research to design Count Orlok’s look, Eggers and special effects makeup artist David White researched the decay of flesh and bone using medical and historical research articles and books.

Anatomical illustration of upper arm muscles and nerves, labeled for educational purposes

Eggers also shared images of nobles of the time, their hairstyles and facial hair, and images depicted throughout the centuries, including folk art with White to get the look right.

Vintagemedstock / Getty Images

17.It may be hard to see, but you may notice that Orlok’s “vampire bite” is not the traditional fang look. Eggers apparently didn’t want the classic vampire look and instead wanted a more “bony and slightly broken” look for the teeth.

A shirtless man with an intense expression in a dimly lit scene

Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

18.Bill Skarsgård had to sit in the makeup chair for three and a half to four hours each time, with several people working on his head and others working on his hands.

A scene showing a concerned actor looking at an ornate goblet held by a person with long nails

Aidan Monaghan / © Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

19.Some of the “animalistic” sounds you hear Orlok make were created by recording the movement of the stone. Supervising sound editor Damian Volpe explained: “I dragged a large piece of granite around on the floor to see what kind of sounds I could make.”

Actor in period costume with torn shirt and fake blood leans against a stone wall next to a doorway with two visible dogs inside

Aidan Monaghan / © Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

20.This is the fourth collaboration for Eggers with his core filmmaking team: production designer Craig Lathrop, cinematographer Jarin Blaschke, costume designer Linda Muir and editor Louise Ford, who worked on all of Eggers’ previous films.

A film director in a warm jacket and cap looks intently at a large camera on the set, focusing on the scene

Aidan Monaghan / © Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

21.And finally, you’ll probably find this funny/interesting, but Chris Columbus, aka the director of iconic family movies like Alone at home and Mrs. Doubtfireis a producer on the film.

Group of actors in formal wear at a film premiere with a yellow arrow pointing to a man on the far right

He was also an executive producer on two of Eggers’ earlier films, The Witch and the Lighthouse.

Tristar Media/Getty Images

Nosferatu opens in theaters December 25, and you can watch the official bone-chilling trailer here: