“Nosferatu” was written and directed by gothic mastermind Robert Eggers and is a remake of the 1922 silent horror film. It follows the classic tale of Nosferatu/Count Orlok — AKA Count Dracula, as the character was originally a German rip-off of Bram Stoker’s classic horror villain — and the Hutter couple: real estate agent Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) and his wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), a young woman with a dark sensual bond to Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). This is a massive passion project for Eggers, who has repeatedly cited the original film as the central influence on his incredible career.
I am an enormous Robert Eggers fan. In fact, he’s my second-favorite director working today after Denis Villeneuve. I admire “The Witch,” adore “The Lighthouse” (which has become an all-time favorite of mine), and love “The Northman.” His one-of-a-kind, fearless, and demented directorial vision is astounding and unparalleled. He’s a true master of the craft, so needless to say I had sky-high expectations for his fourth film in “Nosferatu,” a movie he’s been dreaming of making for decades. And it’s really, really good… but not great.
I’ll begin with the positives, of which there are plenty. Of course, as with every Eggers film, “Nosferatu” is an impeccable audio-visual production, generating a wonderfully skin-crawling atmosphere. Director of photography Jarin Blaschke provides us with gorgeous imagery amidst a grotesque setting. The candles and fireplaces emit beautifully luminous orange-yellow light, and the night scenes are filmed so desaturated to the point of appearing almost black-and-white. The camerawork is equally flawless, especially in the creepy centering of the characters within the frame or the acutely choreographed pans. Louise Ford’s editing is also stellar, providing a trippy fluidity between the shots and somehow making jump scares feel earned. I can go all day praising the technical prowess: production design, sound design, score, etc. Eggers once again proves himself to be one of, if not the single most, ingenious technical directors of his generation.
Due to Eggers’ brilliant direction, there’s always a visual flourish or sound cue to keep you engrossed from the first frame to the last. “Nosferatu” is relentlessly entertaining. I didn’t feel the over-two-hour runtime at all. It is impossible not to enjoy the craziness and carnage which only Eggers can provide.
Eggers is a fantastic actors’ director too… at least for the most part. Lily-Rose Depp gives one of the best lead performances of the year as Ellen. Depp is given so many challenges to take on and succeeds at all of them: she cries, screams, yearns, dreads, and often convulses every bone of her body. Nicholas Hoult is also fantastic as Thomas, playing terrified better than any other horror protagonist I’ve seen in the past few years. Willem Dafoe as vampire expert Von Franz is just as zany and manic as you’d hope for, and he lights up all of his scenes. Simon McBurney and Ralph Ineson are also scene stealers, especially McBurney who plays Nosferatu’s slimy servant.
Then we have a performance I’m mixed on and one I flat out despised. The former: Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok. Under all that makeup he’s still incredibly foreboding and menacing with his imposing body language, and at his most terrifying whenever he inhales these gargantuan breaths as if he’s swallowing the atmosphere. However, there are two key flaws to his portrayal, the first being his voice. I love his deep register, but he goes for this 1930s Bela Lugosi intonation that’s a little too goofy for this stark film. Then there’s potentially my biggest issue with the film: Orlok’s stupid, confounding, hilarious, embarrassing, WTF-is-that mustache. This is, of course, more Eggers’ fault than it is Skarsgård’s, but nonetheless, why the hell does he have a mustache? This thing is so goofy and makes it impossible to take Orlok seriously. I’m starting to think the reason why the studio didn’t show Orlok in any of the trailers was not to keep the monster design a surprise for the theaters, but actually to hide the dumbass mustache until audiences bought their tickets. Plus, it’s a comically enormous and protruding mustache that covers a fifth of his face, as if he’s Dr. Robotnik from the Sonic video games. I know this sounds like a nitpick, but ultimately the film is called Nosferatu, and if your Nosferatu isn’t scary because you made the confounding decision to stamp a cartoonish mustache on him, your film is a lot less scary than it should be.
The other performance I took huge issue with is Aaron Taylor-Johnson. I’m sorry, but this man cannot act. I do not want him as the next James Bond. He lacks the chops. Whereas everyone else in this movie commits 110% and truly feel like they belong in the 19th century, he comes off as an SNL parody of a posh British elitist. Some of his inflated delivery is laughably bad. Between this and his much worse performance in “Kraven the Hunter,” the man has demonstrated a lack of actual thespian skill.
I am quite mixed on the script as well. It facilitates Eggers’ astounding visuals and riveting narrative, but to get to those he had to cheat. The passing of time is often unclear, as is the distance between the locations over which the characters travel. There are also a few lapses in logic, namely (this is not a spoiler because it’s in the first act) why Orlok would keep Thomas Hutter lying around in his castle for days on end rather than killing him.
Ultimately, “Nosferatu” is a damn good movie (in fact it’s one of 2024’s best), but not the great movie I hoped for. The film remains a strong recommendation from me though, as it’s a gorgeous, creepy, and compelling experience that’s sure to entertain, yet the inconsistent performances, silly creature design, and sloppy story mechanics hinder it from being up there with “The Lighthouse” and “The Northman.”
B+