Nosferatu Review!

Robert Eggers’ vision of Nosferatu is perfectly Gothic, almost in filming like the 1922 silent Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, but very dramatic and modern with a formidable cast! The films of Robert Eggers are brilliant pieces of cinema. He is also the writer and director of The Northman (2022). It is of course based on the F.W. Murnau movie written by Henrik Galeen that took from Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). Nosferatu begins with studio logos that are shown like silent films. It seems like a music box if playing, the music is by Robin Carolan, and he also scored The Northman. Crying is heard and then we hear the grim voice of Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) say, “Come to me.” Skarsgård was previously in John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023). Then, we see Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) calling for her guardian angel, she prays and then there is darkness. 

Depp was also in the comedy, Silent Night (2021). This part is a highlight for Depp taking her from loving wife to raving, vampire pawn and also a woman ultimately facing the Nosferatu. At the window, the night wind cause the drapes to flow with Orlok’s shadow, incredible photography by Jarin Blaschke. The Lighthouse (2019) also had Blaschke colloborate with Eggers. The lighting is mixed with washed out blues to make it almost look like black and white photography in some scenes. The cityscapes and outdoors are rendered with an epic sweep. Ellen is in the moonlit garden in front of a mansion. Orlok is heard wanting Ellen to swear herself to him. The best part is that his dialogue is seen in subtitles so it is very like a silent film. His long nailed hand grabs her throat and in on the grass, Ellen’s body is twisted in what looks like a seizure. “She’s Nosferatu”, “She’s Italian?”, seriously Eggers noted that Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995) showed him what tropes to avoid. 

“Years later”, Ellen wakes to see her husband, Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Holt). Dracula was faced by Holt in the title role of the horror comedy, Renfield (2023). They have just finished their honeymoon and Thomas heads to work for Knock & Associates. He heads into the streets of Wisborg that are filled with vendors, citizens, which really showcases Eggers’ attention to historical details. It is “Germany, 1838.” Thomas walks in to find Herr Knock (Simon McBurney). The dark fantasy series, Carnival Row, featured McBurney as Runyan Millworthy. His hand hovers above maps that lead to the a castle in the Carpathian Alps. This is an important task for Thomas that will earn him the money for a new home. He will be sent there to arrange for a ruined castle in Wisborg to be transferred to Count Orlok. Rain starts to fall when Thomas returns to tell Ellen about the six week journey to see the count. She says, “I must tell you my dream.”  

They have just finished their honeymoon and Thomas heads to work for Knock & Associates. He heads into the streets of Wisborg that are filled with vendors, citizens, which really showcases Eggers’ attention to historical details. It is “Germany, 1838.” Thomas walks in to find Herr Knock (Simon McBurney). The dark fantasy series, Carnival Row, featured McBurney as Runyan Millworthy. His hand hovers above maps that lead to the a castle in the Carpathian Alps. This is an important task for Thomas that will earn him the money for a new home. He will be sent there to arrange for a ruined castle in Wisborg to be transferred to Count Orlok. Rain starts to fall when Thomas returns to tell Ellen about the six week journey to see the count. She says, “I must tell you my dream.” 

Ellen’s dream is of a wedding where everyone has died and “standing before me, all in black - Death.” She tells Thomas that she was never so happy. At a dinner, Ellen will be staying with friends, Friedrich Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who is wealthy from shipping. Taylor-Johnson was in this year’s action movie, The Fall Guy. Also is Ellen’s close friend, Anna (Emma Corrin), Thomas’ wife who is pregnant. Corrin played Cassandra Nova in Deadpool & Wolverine. Their young daughters, Clara (Adéla Hesová) and Louise (Milena Konstantinova) are screaming in their room afraid of a monster. Later, Ellen cuts her hair to put in a locket for Thomas. Orlok is on the floor of his castle surrounded by candles. Ellen stays behind as Thomas rides away on his horse. He reaches a snowy village and then sees the villagers head to the forest. They reach a coffin and impale what is inside with a stake. Nice set up to Thomas learning how to defeat a vampire. 

Thomas is taken by a carriage to the Count Orlok’s castle. Orlok’s presence is really through the shadow of his clawed hand that shows his dread powers to influence people and also his gravelly voice. When he is seen in person, it is as a tall creature in a large cape. Thomas meets with the count at a dinner table next to a fireplace. He puts his seal on papers for the abandoned castle in Wisborg. The ficitional setting makes more sense than Dracula’s Carfax Abbey. Thomas is cutting bread with a knife, but accidentally cuts his thumb. We see a closeup of Orlok’s eyes at the blood. 

This shifts to Ellen walking with Anna worried about Thomas. They are next to a bay with a ship sailing by and Anna discusses her concern for Ellen with Frederich. They turn to find Ellen twitching in a seizure on the beach.   

He sees Thomas’ locket that has a picture of Ellen whom he had seen in the past! Count Orlok insists that Thomas stays in the castle. We hear the pounding of a heartbeat. Orlok’s face is seen with a moustache that has the look of Vlad Dracul, but made me think more of the guard in Wizard of Oz (1939). The rest of his head is bald, almost scarred. The 1922 bald makeup on Max Schreck was more demonic and iconic in that it made the vampire inhuman. His footsteps are loud thumps. The sound design by Mike Fentum and his team is impressive. When Thomas wakens he tries to escape, but finds the castle empty and the gate is locked. Thomas finds a door that leads him down to a sunlight in a crypt. He finds a sarcophagus with a pentagram on its top. Thomas opens it and then finds a pickaxe, but is stopped by Orlok’s hand that reaches to grab him by the throat! 

Orlok tells him, “Your world is lost to you.” His shadow falls on Thomas and he gestures for him to open the door. We see the look of horror on his face, just sweating, ghastly horror for Hoult. He falls unconscious to Orlok’s power and the creature crawls on him naked to suck his blood from his chest! Ellen is in her bed moaning as Doctor Wilhelm Sievers (Ralph Ineson) checks on her. Ineson played the father, William, in Eggers' film, The Witch (2015). He gives Ellen opiates to calm her. Thomas tries to escape once he is awake, Orlok's hounds chase him to a ledge outside of a window, and he falls into the river below the castle! At Sievers' sanitarium, he is told about Herr Knock who has found trying to eat a live sheep. Knock is heard laughing behind a door. He fills the Renfield role from Dracula. It is opened and there is splatters of rats killed by Knock. He tells Sievers, "I am his servant." 

Five Lockets out of Five! 

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