Nosferatu review

Directed by: Robert Eggers
Written by: Robert Eggers; Based on the 1922 film, Nosferatuby Henrik Galeen; Inspired by the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker
Running time: 132 minutes
MPA rating: Rated R for gory violence, graphic nudity and some sexual content.

Nicholas Hoult – Thomas Hutter
Lily-Rose Depp – Ellen Hutter
Bill Skarsgård – Count Orlok
Aaron Taylor-Johnson –Friedrich Harding
Willem Dafoe – Prof. Albin Eberhart Von Franz
Emma Corin — Anna Harding
Ralph Ineson – Dr. Wilhelm Sievers
Simon McBurney – Knock on

Visionary filmmaker Robert Eggers crafts a tale of pure gothic horror for his new update on the classic, seminal vampire story, Nosferatu. Eggers’ new film is a remake of the classic 1922 silent film, which was itself an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula Novel. The new cinematic vision from Eggers taps into the ominous fear of vampirism, presenting the iconic Count Orlok as utterly terrifying, mystifying, overwhelming and malevolent.

In 1838, in the city of Wisborg, Germany, a young, newly married estate agent, Thomas Hutter (Hoult), is tasked with traveling to Transylvania to close a deal with a client, the elderly and supposedly infirm Count Orlok (Skarsgård). ). Thomas leaves despite the pleas and fears of his new, young bride, Ellen (Depp), who still suffers dreams that a dark, malevolent figure seeks to possess her. Little does Thomas realize that he has been captured by his insane boss, Herr Knock (McBurney), a devoted servant of the malevolent, mysterious Count Orlok (Skarsgård). As Thomas gets closer to Count Orlok’s clutches, Ellen’s fear and anxiety increase and take the form of terrifying visions. Ellen’s dreams are more than just tangible premonitions, however, as the cunning Count Orlok seeks to cast a spell and enslave Ellen in mind, body and soul.

Ellen’s visions are at first dismissed as childish flights of fancy and hysterics, but her condition eventually worsens when Thomas becomes Orlok’s unwitting prey. Her doctor, Dr. Wilhelm Sievers (Ineson), eventually seeks out the expertise of one of his former teachers, Prof. Albin Ebenhart Von Franz (Dafoe), a leading expert in scientific medicine who has recently been ostracized from his field due to his obsession with the occult. Von Franz recognizes Ellen’s suffering for what it really is. She is a victim of the vampire “Nosferatu.” When Count Orlok invades Wisborg, he brings his terrible malignancy with him, and he will stop at nothing until he gets his prize.

Eggers’ Nosferatu reclaims the horror of a traditional, old-fashioned vampire story. He restores Count Orlok as an entity of pure terror. When Orlok first appears, he is a bit out of focus and blurry. The character represents an entity of psychological fear. Orlok is so overwhelming and malevolent that it is almost impossible to capture his image. Eggers’ Orlok comes off more like a waking nightmare, given a physical form. By portraying Orlok in this way, Eggers effectively recreates the character’s mythic, sinister menace.

Orlok is not a tragic anti-hero or a charismatic, romantic leader. Robert Eggers’ Count Orlok is a malevolent entity of base, ravenous desires. He is no less dominant or seductive than other popular portrayals of Dracula, but this Dracula proxy possesses no redeeming qualities. Eggers’ portrayal and Bill Skarsgård’s masterful performance in many ways evoke the literary portrayal of Dracula from Bram Stoker’s original text. Eggers’ version of Count Orlok feels like the most original and faithful representation of Bram Stoker’s iconic creation to date, even though it’s technically an adaptation of the classic 1922 silent film Nosferatu directed by FW Murnau.

Skarsgård looks completely unrecognizable and unrecognizable as the wily count. The actor gives an incredible performance that taps into the psychological fear and horror of falling prey to such a terrible creature. Skarsgård’s acting, with Eggers’ stunning direction and Jarin Blaschke’s incredible cinematography, provides the most primal, elemental and frightening cinematic depiction of a vampire villain in recent times.

Lily-Rose Depp delivers an outstanding performance as Count Orlok’s unwilling victim. Depp fully commits to the material, portraying the all-encompassing fear her character faces, as well as her enduring courage to confront the terror that has haunted her for years. It’s a challenging performance and Depp comes into his own as an acting talent, performing his scenes with genuine sincerity and believability.

Similarly, Nicholas Hoult delivers a strong, earnest performance as Orlok’s unsuspecting victim, Thomas Hutter. A significant part of the film’s narrative unfolds mostly from his perspective, with Eggers positioning Thomas as the audience’s enviable proxy when the character comes under the thrall of Count Orlok. The fear Orlok conjures in Thomas bleeds through the screen, making the fearful flesh all the more juicy for Orlok to devour.

Willem Dafoe is lovely as Prof. Albin Eberhart Von Franz, the story’s stand-in for Van Helsing. Nosferatu interestingly plays with ideas of modernity and progression with old-fashioned superstitions and cultural traditions. The dark betrayal of Count Orlok is not something modern science can overcome alone. In one of the film’s best lines, Von Franz states, “I have seen things in this world that would have made Isaac Newton crawl back into his mother’s womb! We have not so much been enlightened as we have been blinded by the gaseous light of science! I have wrestled with the devil as Jacob wrestled with the angel at Peniel, and I tell you, if we are to tame the darkness, we must first face it!

Before anyone dismisses Eggers as something of a Luddite or anti-intellectual, it is important to note that Von Franz is not anti-science, anti-modernity or anti-intellectualism. The character conveys the existence of creatures and beings that modern science and progression cannot understand. Not to mention, many of Ellen’s genuine fears are dismissed as immature fantasies or fantasies. Dafoe brings an appealingly idiosyncratic wisdom as Prof. Von Franz, and he excellently drives the momentum of the narrative once he defines the threat that Count Orlok poses to Ellen.

The main area Eggers could have improved is the love story between Thomas and Ellen. Orlok’s psychological primal terror comes across perfectly, but the romance story would have benefited from some improvement. In addition, Orlok’s victims could have been given more freedom of action. That said, Simon McBurney is tremendous as Orlok’s insane, bubbly servant, Herr Knock. McBurney performs the Renfield-like role with aplomb.

Eggers teams up again with his longtime collaborator, Jarin Blaschke, for Nosferatuand their visual work is a match made in heaven. Nosferatu looks absolutely fantastic. They shoot the film in such an immaculate, painstaking way that every single image could be pulled out of the film and framed in a museum or gallery looking like pure cinematic art. The way they capture the mood and fear of each set is amazing. Not only is Blaschke’s cinematography and use of shadows and silhouettes brilliant, but the way he lights each scene looks fantastic. The lighting in Nosferatu perfectly captures the mood of each scene. Blaschke’s method of filming Count Orlok magnifies the character’s stark horror, and he initially appears distorted and veiled, like a nightmarish phantom. The film all but claims that looking directly at Count Orlok would likely result in some madness or a grisly death.

Eggers triumphs with Nosferatu in his portrayal of Gothic horror, finding a strange, beautiful purity in his macabre material. He restores the terrifying fear to the oft-used vampire myth, making Count Orlok on screen a nightmarish entity. Eggers combines the classic traditions of gothic horror with a modern filmmaking sensibility that fits wonderfully. Nosferatu creates genuine scares and scares in a way that many horror films have forgotten.