Dark, Atmospheric, and Kinda Horny, Nosferatu (2024) is the Gothic Vampire Horror You’ve Been Waiting For
Title: Nosferatu
First Non-Festival Release: December 25, 2024 (Theatrical Release)
Director: Robert Eggers
Writer: Robert Eggers, Henrik Galeen, Bram Stoker
Runtime: 132 Minutes
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgård, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here
One of the most influential horror films of the beginning of cinema, this retelling of Nosferatu depicts the haunting story of Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult). Mere days after marrying the love of his life, Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), he is tasked with traveling from Germany to Transylvania to attend to his firm’s newest client, the mysterious and reclusive Count Orlock (Bill Skarsgård). His journey is not without peril, and his luck only worsens once he learns that the rumors from the locals of the Count’s proclivities are terrifyingly true.
Haunting, atmospheric, and provocative, Nosferatu is a bold remake of the beloved classic.
Director Robert Eggers is known for his ability to connect stories of the past with the present, and Nosferatu is no exception. A story about the lust of greed, power, and love transcends time, even if the specifics of a sweeping pandemic and economic disaster hit close to home. The many threads of Nosferatu allow for the layered story to come alive.
As much of the horror originates from Count Orlock’s reign of terror, the heart of the story lies with Thomas and Ellen. Thomas’s desire for a better life causes him to lose track of himself in Count Orlock’s manor while Ellen’s desire for companionship at a young age leads to her accidentally betrothing herself to a monster. Of course, Count Orlock’s desire is to satisfy his insatiable appetite, both for blood and for Ellen’s love. This drives a wedge between them, both physically and mentally, as Thomas traverses the countryside to return to his beloved while Ellen battles with the melancholy she has wrestled with her entire life. True love is shown to be one that puts the other’s needs before their own, something both Thomas and Ellen are willing to do, even if it means sacrificing themselves to achieve this.
Perhaps one of the biggest changes of Nosferatu is the depiction of Count Orlock compared to earlier works. Eggers dials up the nastiness by depicting the Count as a physically imposing yet rotting corpse, a far cry from the frail, sickly looking vampire from the past. While the original Count has earned his place in horror history as an icon of terror, Bill Skarsgård takes the villain to new levels of fear. Littered with boils across damaged, ghostly-white skin, his figure looms and lumbers with a terrifying force of will betraying his otherwise initially decrepit appearance. Everything goes into the Count’s design to give credence to the fact that he is undead while still managing to capture the raw, animalistic sexual desire that permeates from his pale blue eyes.
Awash in sweeping, gothic imagery and haunting visuals, Nosferatu refuses to dull its dark shine to be palatable. It is raw, filthy, and downright horny in its examination of desire, duty, and darkness. Every frame is crafted with all the care one would expect a meticulously decorated painting would receive. Using shadows and darkness to its advantage, Nosferatu creeps through its gothic horror story with powerful imagery: scores of rats rushing an overwhelmed populace, slow pans of sweeping corridors in crumbling castles and dingy manor homes, characters succumbing to the possession of darkness. All of these instances and more paint the world of Nosferatu as an unrelenting hellscape of evil. Reeking of atmosphere in the most putrid sense, Nosferatu works because of this commitment to the unsettling.
While all elements of Nosferatu come together to tell a beautifully dark story, it would be nothing without its incredible performances. Nicholas Hoult’s Thomas Hutter is as capable as ever, grounding the story from its more audacious characters. The story of Nosferatu traditionally follows Hutter, but Eggers steers it more towards Ellen’s wrestling with the darkness. And does Lily-Rose Depp face off against darkness. Writhing, speaking in tongues, and contorting her body in the most horrific ways, Depp commands the screen, stealing nearly every scene she appears in playing off of the likes of Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, and Emma Corbin, all giving exemplary performances themselves. It would all fall apart, if not for Skarsgård’s incredible performance as Count Orlock. Channeling pure evil, Skarsgård’s raspy bass and stiff physicality embody the pure terror of a walking corpse clinging to life on pure spite and insatiability.
An excellent way to end a year of great horror, Nosferatu proves that remakes can be done well in the right hands. Stunning cinematography, all-star performances, and commitment to details make this dreary, atmospheric take on Nosferatu one of the best horror films of the new decade. Accessible yet bold in its approach to desire, greed, and love, Nosferatu demands to be consumed entirely and without apology.
Overall Score? 9/10
