He is coming. It’s been over 100 years since F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu — and over 45 since Klaus Kinski donned the pointy ears. 2024 seems as good a time as any for the return of Nosferatu.
The film once again follows a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire obsessed with her. Robert Eggers has had his hand at eerie, unsettling scares that creep under your skin in films like The VVitch and The Lighthouse. His dark style lends itself to the shadowy, forboding nature of Nosferatu.
While some studios have adopted a recent practice of remaking movies that came out a mere decade ago, a remake of Nosferatu makes sense. While the original film has remained a classic and a horror staple, it was created before the widespread existence of talkies, or films with synchronized sound.
Eggers readapts that story, based originally on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, with modern technology, dialogue, and a fresh perspective. Although Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) remains an integral part of the story, there is a lot more consideration placed upon his wife, Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), who is the subject of much of the horrors Nosferatu inflicts.
Eggers has been trying to get this movie off the ground since 2015, and you can feel how much passion he has for this material. His shot compositions are exquisite, as he plays around with Nosferatu’s imposing silhouette. The atmosphere he crafts is surreal and nightmarish. Even though the titular character does not appear on screen for a majority of the film, you can feel his presence in every scene. This is a return to unnerving horror after Eggers’s brief departure in The Northman. He excels at his work here, collaborating with cinematographer Jarin Blaschke to create dynamic, beautiful shots designed to grab your attention.
Nosferatu is a visually arresting experience that fills viewers with cold, unmistakable dread. The performances are a significant part of what sells the terror. Hoult has turned in many excellent performances this year in films like Juror #2, The Order, and even The Garfield Movie. This is another notch on his belt, as he brings an understated peril to the doomed protagonist.
2024 has had no shortage of masterful horror movie performances. From Nell Tiger Free in The First Omen to Naomi Scott in Smile 2, female actors have been crushing it. We can add another name to the list of incredible performances: Lily-Rose Depp. Anya Taylor-Joy was initially cast as Ellen before being replaced by Depp. Taylor-Joy is such a phenomenal actress that losing her can be disappointing. But somehow, Depp brings something powerful, sensual, and unexpected. It’s her best performance yet.
We haven’t even gotten the chance to talk about Bill Skarsgård. He’s become the action hero in two movies from this year, Boy Kills World and The Crow, but he’s often at his best when he plays villains like in IT and John Wick: Chapter 4. We’ve seen him transform into Pennywise before, but even under all the clown makeup, you can tell it’s him, even if his performance is terrifying. Skarsgård is operating on a different level here. You would not be able to tell that it’s Skarsgård in this movie because his work as Count Orlok does not look or sound like him in the slightest. His voice is deeper, he’s covered in makeup, and he is haunting to look at.
Dafoe is an interesting casting choice, as he once played Nosferatu in his Oscar-nominated role in the 2000 film Shadow of the Vampire, which was based on the making of the original 1922 film. He’s excellent, as is the rest of this stellar cast. The characters are always at the whim of Nosferatu, rarely ever getting a break from his wrath. Once the story truly starts, it never stops. Like all the best remakes, this movie uses the same ingredients as the original and cooks up a new recipe tailor-made for genre fans and lovers of the 1922 movie. The lighting, the use of darkness, and the camera movements are all so precise and constructed to bring the best unease and jump scares possible.
Nosferatu is a horror movie that works not only with the scary vampire but with how his existence affects the characters. The inclusion of dialogue allows for more complexities in the characters’ relationships. It transfixes you the same way this tale has done for over a century.
SCORE: 8/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 8 equates to “Great.” While there are a few minor issues, this score means that the art succeeds at its goal and leaves a memorable impact.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press screening for our Nosferatu review.
