December 9, 2024
by Carla Hay
Directed by Robert Eggers
Some language in German and Italian with subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place mostly in 1838 Germany, the horror film “Nosferatu” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A vampire demon named Count Orlok targets a young woman to be his bride.
Culture Audience: “Nosferatu” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, filmmaker Robert Eggers, and artfully made horror movies that don’t necessarily has more haunting images than storytelling suspense.
Artsy filmmaker Robert Eggers’ somewhat overhyped version of “Nosferatu” delivers the expected grotesque and macabre in this vampire movie that tends to drag with repetition. The acting and visuals are better than the screenplay. It’s the type of movie that takes much too long to get to showing the villain doing what was announced at the beginning of the movie. At 133 minutes long, some parts of “Nosferatu” didn’t need to be in the film at all.
Written and directed by Eggers, this version of “Nosferatu” was inspired by the classic 1922 German silent horror film “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror,” directed by Henrik Galeen. This 1922 was inspired by Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula,” which is used as a template for basically any horror story where there is a male vampire with the title of count or some other royal title. Eggers’ version of “Nosferatu” doesn’t really do anything groundbreaking, but it does have some very unique imagery that will stay in viewers’ memories.
“Nosferatu” begins by showing a young German woman Ellen (played by Lily Rose-Depp) having a nightmare that she is the bride of vampire and is succumbing to his sexual advances. She wakes up from this horrific dream. The movie then fast forwards “several years later, to 1838, in an unnamed part of Germany, that is later revealed to be the Baltic region of Germany. (“Nosferatu” was actually filmed in the Czech Republic.)
Ellen is now a newlywed named Ellen Hutter, whose husband Thomas Hutter (played by Nicholas Hoult) is an estate agent. Thomas is loving and attentive, but he is in debt and looking for a way to earn more money. Ellen wants to start a family with Thomas, but he would rather wait until he is more financially stable.
It just so happens that Thomas’ boss Herr Knock (played by Simon McBurney) has an offer that Thomas can’t refuse. Go to Transylvania and get the wealthy Count Orlok (played by Bill Skarsgård) as a client. Herr Knock tells Thomas: “Secure the count, and you will secure your position in the firm.” Herr Knock also says that Count Orlok, who is “too ill” to travel, has insisted that an agent visit Count Orlok “in the flesh.” Thomas needs this type of job promotion, so he takes the assignment with almost no hesitation.
The assignment requires a trip away from home for about six weeks. Thomas stays with Friedrich Harding (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his wife Anna Harding (played by Emma Corrin), who are happily married with two daughters: Louise Harding (played by Milena Konstantinova), who’s about 6 or 7, and Clara Harding (played by Adéla Hesová), who’s about 4 or 5.
Friedrich is a wealthy ship merchant. Anna is pregnant with their third child. Their family doctor and trusted friend Dr. Wilhelm Sievers (played by Ralph Ineson) plays an important part in the story, when Ellen eventually comes to stay with the Harding family too, and all hell starts to break loose in the last third of the movie.
“Nosferatu” doesn’t waste time in telling Count Orlokf’s primary goal: It’s revealed within the first 15 minutes of the movie that ever since Ellen was a child, she’s been having dreams of this mysterious vampire hunting her down she can take her as his bride. The main flaw with “Nosferatu” is that it takes an almost excruciatingly long time in the movie for Count Orlok to even begin this hunt, even though it doesn’t take long for Count Orlok to come into contact with Ellen’s husband Thomas. It should come as no surprise that Thomas’s visit to Count Orlok is a set-up to get Thomas into Count Orlok’s lair.
“Nosferatu” excels when it comes to setting up scenes with great atmosphere. The production design, costume design and cinematography are top-notch. But the dialogue is a little clunky, simplistic and at times unintentionally comedic
And there are many times a viewer might wonder, “Where is Count Orlok? Ellen isn’t that hard to find. Does he need a map?” The movie tends to over-rely on jump scare scenes where it’s revealed that was shown was really someone having a nightmare. But then, the movie also hints this nightmare could have been a sleepwalking episode.
“Nosferatu” is at its best in scenes with eccentric Professor Albin Eberhart von Franz (played by Willem Dafoe), an occult expert who is recruited by Dr. Sievers to help investigate some of the chaos that’s happening. For a long time, Friedrich remains staunchly skeptical that there are supernatural reasons for Ellen’s visions and other terrible things that start happening in the household. And you can easily predict what can happen to a skeptical character in a supernatural horror movie.
Dafoe’s performance as kooky Professor Eberhart livens up an otherwise relentlessly dour movie that could have used better character development. One of the more memorable lines that Professor Eberhart says is, “I’ve seen things in this world that would make Isaac Newton crawl back into the womb.” Depp and Hoult handle dramatic scenes quite well, but there’s not much more to the characters of Ellen and Thomas than this couple being targeted victims of Count Orlok. Skarsgård is effectively sinister as Count Orlok, who isn’t in the movie as often as you might think for a film where Count Orlok is the chief villain.
“Nosferatu” also has a few plot holes and unanswered questions. For example, one of the main characters gets feasted on by Count Orlok, but several days later, that vampire victim never shows signs of becoming a real vampire, such as having vampire cravings and being vulnerable in sunlight. The climax/showdown for the movie is also a bit weak and will make viewers wonder, “Why didn’t the characters do something like this sooner?” Despite these flaws, “Nosferatu” is still better than the average vampire movie. Just don’t expect any clever surprises or characters that are completely developed.
Focus Features will release “Nosferatu” in U.S. cinemas on December 25, 2024.