Movie Review: ‘Nosferatu’ Is a Moody, Atmospheric Remake in the Classic ‘Dracula’ Tradition

While Mufasa: The Lion King and Sonic 3 continue to battle it out at the box office, some sophisticated counterprogramming is available in Robert Eggers’ latest gothic horror feast — an updated adaptation of Nosferatu.

A production nearly a decade into making, this new period thriller is proof movies about adults and aimed at adults can indeed succeed in the modern era. Though the holiday season sounds like an unusual time to release scary movies to the average viewer, history has proven it can work in an “if you build it, they will come” kind of way.

Set in winter of 1838 Germany, Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) is promised a hefty promotion at the housing agency he works for if he can get the reclusive and mysterious Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) to buy a rundown property. While on his weary journey to Orlok’s castle, Thomas’ wife, Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) is suffering from nightmares and convulsions induced by a past disturbance involving Orlok.

Willem Dafoe co-stars as a professor who is convinced Orlok has evil, supernatural powers, Aaron Johnson and Emma Corrin play a couple who are longtime friends of the Hutters and aid them during Ellen’s episodes, and Simon McBurney appears as Orlok’s biggest supporter who betrays Thomas.

Nosferatu is a remake of F. W. Murnau’s iconic 1922 silent film of the same name, which famously plagiarized Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula and led to Stoker’s estate successfully suing the film’s producers over the blatant similarities in the plot. But Nosferatu ended up becoming beloved by horror fans and influential for future filmmakers. The first Nosferatu remake by Werner Herzog in 1979 and Eggers’ current effort are considered a part of the long list of Dracula screen adaptations.

Besides being the most familiar vampire story in fiction, the main draw to the latest Nosferatu is naturally Eggers’ direction. The man shows once again how his films are a masterclass in mood and atmosphere, especially in the first hour leading up to Olok’s big introduction. There is an effectively bleak and grim vibe to both the tone and aesthetic, while also being appropriately shot for the time period, as well as featuring traditional in-camera effects instead of computer graphics.

Of course, it’s a bit silly the German characters are speaking in English, but one could argue this is actually fitting to the Dracula affiliation. The acclaimed male actors in the cast unsurprisingly deliver, and Depp successfully proves she’s not just a pretty face with famous parents with a performance that rivals both Isabelle Adjani in Herzog’s 1979 film and Winona Ryder in Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula (1992).

What didn’t work for me were the script, make-up, and Corrin’s casting. While Skargård continues his streak of spooky movie villains here, the make-up and costuming for the title character weren’t very frightening to me and actually a bit underwhelming, especially compared to previous Orloks and Draculas. And since this is Dracula, I didn’t feel much shock or tension from the movie since I knew how it would end. Corrin is a talented actor but feels either miscast or wasted here, with not much to do because most of the character’s actions from the original version are given to Ellen.

Since there isn’t much added to the premise or theme, this new Nosferatu really does feel like Eggers paying homage to an old favorite of his and not really much else. So with that in mind, if you’re a fan of both Nosferatu/Dracula and Eggers, you’re probably the perfect audience for this recent release