Robert Eggers' Nosferatu is one unholy, haunting nightmare, with plenty of bloodthirsty thrills and a chilling, standout performance by Lily-Rose Depp.
Nosferatu Review
In 1922, German director F. W. Murnau premiered his silent, expressionist vampire film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror which was “inspired by” (aka stolen from if you read up on the rights issues) Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. Countless Dracula and Dracula adjacent stories later, including Werner Herzog's 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre, this is a story that has lured many a filmmaker in, hoping to make something that will be talked about for decades to come. Enter Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse, The Witch), a director that quickly has made a name for himself in the horror genre. Like Herzog before him, he doesn't try to outdo Murnau's work, rather he adds his own spin on things while paying homage to the iconography, mainly the image of Max Schreck’s gnarled shadow creeping up the stairs. It's one of those mental pictures we can all recall even if we have never watched the film. It's just that prevalent in pop culture. Eggers plays with that, creating his own indelible image that is sure to haunt a whole new generation.
Nosferatu is one unholy, haunting nightmare that commands your attention from start to finish. Eggers has delivered a modern horror classic with plenty of bloodthirsty thrills that will equally terrify and intrigue its audience. It's also likely to reinvigorate a primal fear of the darkness and the creatures who lurk there ready to feed off our negative emotions. This Nosferatu is more gruesome and depraved than others but never for sake of just being shocking, rather everything this film does is with a wicked purpose. The result is something that reaches out to pull you into its hair-raising hellscape without any intent of letting you go.
Unless you have been living under a rock, the story beats of a vampire film are familiar (and no I'm talking about Twilight). An ancient entity, the vampire, sets their sights on a group of fairly innocent young people in order to bring about the death and destruction of civilization. Eggers finds a way however to subvert the expectations of even the most knowledgeable genre fan – even those who know the original by heart. It may start going in a direction where we believe we know the outcome before something abrupt happens, throwing that pattern of logic away like a discarded corpse. This makes Eggers' Nosferatu feel fresh and not simply a recreation of someone else's work.
Solicitor Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) leaves his wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) at their home in Germany in order to travel to the superstitious area of Transylvania, in order to close an estate deal with the mysterious Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). Ellen had begged him not to go, worried that what she is seeing in her visions, namely a wicked and terrifying supernatural being, will come true if Thomas goes through with this visit. He soothes her fears but soon finds himself in the clutches of Orlok who isn't just some nobleman but rather a vampire who is plotting to use Ellen in his quest to overtake Germany. Soon everyone surrounding Ellen is caught up in this living hell, like the couple's only friends Anna (Emma Corrin) and her husband, Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). All the macabre deaths attract the attention of Dr. Sievers (Ralph Ineson) who realizes he's in over his head asks his old teacher, Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz (played by Willem Dafoe who is clearly having a great time) for help in combating the monster.
Shadows play a big role in crafting the atmosphere of the story. Whether they are of the imposing Orlok, who only gets fully revealed well into the film to terrifying effect, or they simply exist to swallow the light and cast a dread over every inch of the screen. Cinematographer Jarin Blaschke, who also worked on Eggers' The Lighthouse, knows how to frame each shot to maximize the level of unease. Even the characters (particularly Depp) get cast in shadows in a way that makes them look like reanimated corpses. That deathly shroud stretches across the screen, desaturating the colors as it goes, driving home the point that this slow march of death is inescapable. This isn't a jump scare kind of horror film, but rather one meticulously crafted to make you uneasy and shaken. Robin Carolan’s score is fittingly disquieting.
The reveal of Count Orlok is a huge payoff to the patient direction of Eggers. His monster is always present, whether you see his lurking form in the darkness or not. At first the only thing we know of this thing is his voice. The kind of low, guttural tones that send shivers up your spine. Then there are his fingers, long, boney, and crooked. But that is essentially it, until later. Unlike previous Orlok's, Skarsgård's death personified is not just man in “monster makeup,” he is wholly unrecognizable, cutting an imposing figure. I don't want to spoil his look, as they have kept it out of the marketing on purpose, but I will say once he is truly revealed, the film turns into a classic monster movie, with Skarsgård's physical body and movements embodying every nightmare creature you could imagine.
With a villain such as Orlok, the rest of the cast has their work cut out for them to deliver impactful performances. Hoult has some pivotal moments, reliable as a doting husband who goes from centered to disturbed as his truths unravel around him. Dafoe is gleefully manic and an obvious scene-stealer. But really is there ever an unhinged character this man has failed to embody and elevate? Didn't think so. However it is Depp who gives the most incredible performance outside of Skarsgård as the tormented Ellen. Not only is she plagued by Orlok's machinations but she is also at the mercy of her own innate dark psyche, something she shows in her haunted expressions. Depp goes all in with a physicality similar to Isabelle Adjani's in Andrzej Żuławski's “Possession.” She bends and contorts in ways that seem inhuman, ensuring that her turn as Ellen becomes a new standout in the horror genre.
Verdict
Robert Egger's Nosferatu is an unholy, haunting nightmare that draws you into its hair-raising hellscape without any intention of letting you escape. Bill Skarsgård is utterly fascinating and grotesque as the iconic villain Count Orlok, disappearing into the prosthetics and performance to terrifying effect. Lily-Rose Depp is equally incredible, elevating Ellen from a damsel in distress to one determined to fight her inner demons. With gorgeous cinematography, a bone-chilling score, and a well-timed reveal of its true horrors, Nosferatu is stunning and unflinching in its quest to remind audiences vampires are scary as hell.
Nosferatu releases in theaters on December 25. The film is rated R for bloody violent content, graphic nudity and some sexual content with a runtime of 2 hours and 13 minutes.
