Nosferatu
review by Bobby Blakey
Director Robert Eggers is one of my current favorite directors that brings a unique voice to his films including The Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman. For years he has been talking about taking on remaking the iconic 1922 film Nosferatu, but it didn’t seem like it was ever going to happen. After all these years of anticipation the film is finally here, but does it not only capture the essence of perfection that the silent film delivered while having its own voice or will it fail to survive sunrise?
Nosferatu follows a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake. The film stars Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney, Willem Dafoe and Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlock.
Outside of being a fan of Eggers, I love the original Nosferatu film. Since he started talking about remaking it, it has been one of my most anticipated films ever. Now that it is here, I was concerned if it would deliver and do the original justice while still having Eggers unique voice attached to it. While I can see this film dividing fans for numerous reasons, I for one loved every single moment of it and think it perfectly captured what came before it.
The story is a slow burn of numerous characters with certain elements not always flowing well in the original, but I think Eggers has done a great job fleshing it out more without derailing it in any way. The period nature of film is just as important as the actors for this film to work and the backdrop of the city is fantastic along with the tonal shift between color and black & white giving it an eerie and artsy perfect delivery.
I had heard that the movie was terrifying but found it to be creepier at times than scary that still worked for me in every way. The cast are all great, but the most important element is that of Count Orlock himself. If he doesn’t work, then the film falls flat. I wasn’t sure of the visual direction Eggers was planning here and had hoped to be something close to the original Max Shreck look, but here it’s a whole new animal. With the genius filming of keeping him from being fully revealed much of the film was perfection as it prepares to go all in.
To no surprise, Skarsgård is fantastic in the role and totally unrecognizable. I don’t want to give away his look as it is part of the reveal, but I loved it. It further matches the local and essence of the time while paying some homage to the original in more subtle ways. His hunched movements and booming accented voice were so great and made him a truly scary character that does justice to the original all around. The silhouette is eerie and perfect for the iconic recreation shots and numerous new visual perfection we get here.
As expected, Eggers visual style screams through every shot adding a level of visual storytelling like no other. There are so many beautiful and horrific genius shots you would be hard pressed to not be mesmerized by them like it was Orlock taking hold himself. Even in the color aspects there is still a gray tone to it all that fits in with the depth and despair of the film’s story and characters to create the perfect visual nature to this excellent film.
I loved this film and cannot wait to see what Eggers will dive into next. Decide for yourself and decent into the evil world of Nosferatu when it hits theaters on Christmas Day.
