Nosferatu (2024) Review

Robert Eggers is considered one of the best filmmakers currently working. His filmography includes The VVitch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman. His fourth film is a remake of one of the most influential films from the silent era.

Ellen Hunter (Lily-Rose Depp) is a woman who has suffered from nightmares and hallucinations from a young age. These issues worsen when her husband, Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) is tasked to complete a real estate deal with Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). Thomas has to travel to Transylvania to meet the strange noble who wants to move to Germany.

The original Nosferatu is a revered classic. Even people who haven’t seen the film would recognise some of the shots and Max Schreck as Court Orlok is one of the recognisable characters in film history. Yet it was a film nearly lost to time because it was an unauthorised adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula because the original prints were destroyed. Luckily for film enthusiasts, Nosferatu (1922) survived.

There’s a risk with remaking a classic, but the original film is over 100 years old and it was remade before by Werner Herzog in 1979. Plus, it’s an adaptation of Dracula, a character who has appeared in multiple forms of media. Eggers was a great fit for materials, he was a part of the elevated horror movement of the 2010s and all of his films have been set in a historical period.

The remake does adhere to the original film but with a longer run time and has some modern sensibilities. The biggest change was the focus on Ellen, the main character of this film, making Nosferatu (2024) a female-driven film. Ellen’s story was split into two parts, the first was about her struggles with her hallucinations with her hosts taking extreme action to control, whilst the second was about Ellen being a part of the fight back to stop Orlok’s ambitions in Wisborg. It was a story about a woman taking back control.

This version of Nosferatu did seem to get some inspiration from Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Dracula. The film states that Ellen had a psychic connection to Orlok, which led to her hallucinations and struggles, while Orlok was driven to find Ellen. In Coppola’s Dracula, Mina Harker was the reincarnation of Vlad the Impaler’s wife, and as Dracula, the vampire searched London for his lost love.

Eggers was able to make a film that honoured the gothic origins of the film whilst also being true to his sensibilities. Nosferatu (2024) was a dark, shadow-filled film that greatly used the ancient, dimly lit buildings. It made for an atmospheric horror film. It mixed well with Eggers’ love for historical settings, which worked well with the gothic approach since the world felt real and lived in. The scene where Nosferatu’s large shadowy hands over Wisborg was one of the most impressive in the film. The scene in the village felt like it could have fitted in The VVitch and The Northman since it showed a traditional, yet disputing ritual so the Gypsies could ward off the vampire lord.

The horror did show how Nosferatu affected innocent people. There was a personal horror as Nosferatu attempted to torture and torment Ellen by attacking the people close to her. It was cruel and sadistic, especially one action he takes against a particular family which was horrible. Nosferatu was able to terrorise the masses through the plague he brought to Wisborg, causing mass death and fear, and turning the city into a ghost town.

Nosferatu (2024) was filled with top talent. It gave Depp her a star-making performance and show she doesn’t need to rely on her famous father. She was terrific as the tormented woman who had to gain her strength to take on the living dead. Skarsgård gets to play a second iconic horror villain since he already played Pennywise in the It movies. The actor was threatening as the vampire, although the moustache and bald head made him look like a serious version of Doctor Robotnik.  Willem Dafoe also deserves praise as the Van Helsing stand-in. He was a disgraced doctor who knew about vampires and the occult, so he became an important part of the team fighting back against Nosferatu.

Nosferatu (2024) did have some unintentional connections to some other recent vampire films. The third version of Nosferatu came out after the third adaptation of Salem’s Lot and Salem’s Lot was partly inspired by Nosferatu (1922). Nicholas Hoult had previously appeared in another Dracula film since he led Renfield as Dracula’s submissive familiar.

Nosferatu (2024) was a remake made with love and respect for the original. It was a classical-looking film with a modern twist on the story and themes.