Prepare to succumb to the gorgeous gothic horror of 'Nosferatu'

Nosferatu
4 out of 5 Stars
Director: Robert Eggers
Writer: Robert Eggers
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney and Willem Dafoe
Rated: R for bloody violent content, graphic nudity and some sexual content.

Synopsis: Robert Eggers’ NOSFERATU is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.

Review: F. W. Murnau’s 1922 silent film “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” is essentially an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” with many of the locations and names Germanized. The most obvious change being Count Dracula was renamed Count Orlok. Stoker’s estate sued and won a judgement that demanded that all copies of the film be destroyed. Like Count Orlok, the film managed to survive.

While the general narrative of “Nosferatu” mirrored most of the events in “Dracula,” the key difference between the two is that Count Orlok is presented as a sickly, corpse-like creature. The glamor and romanticism that has come to define Dracula is completely stripped away. By calling his film “Nosferatu,” writer/director Robert Eggers signals the kind of adaptation audiences should expect. Werner Herzog did something similar in spirit with “Nosferatu the Vampyre” but blurred the lines between Murnau’s and Stoker’s versions of the story by restoring the character names from the original text while keeping the grotesque version of the Count.

Eggers’s film embraces the ugliness of Orlok and surrounds him with a cold, hauntingly beautiful landscape populated by hansom and horrific characters. Even when it is gruesome, there is always something that pulls you in for a closer look. It’s as rich and beguiling as anything Eggars had made. While it might lack the immediacy and chaos of “The Northman,” it is as immersive.

Eggers initially cast frequent collaborator Anya Taylor-Joy as Ellen Hutter, the beautiful ingénue who toys with darkness, but it is Lily-Rose Depp who stepped in and does a wonderful job. Having not been a fan of Depp’s various projects, I was skeptical that she’d rise to the occasion. Happy to be wrong. Nicholas Hoult is steady, subdued, and unaware of his pawn status as the well-dressed Thomas Hutter. Bill Skarsgård and his makeup steal away his scenes like the thief in the shadows Orlok is. Orlok is even given a sense of eroticism that is normally reserved for the Dracula version of the character.

Robert Eggers is a director who knows how to transport viewers to places far off. The framing, the design, and the actors all come together in an often-magical way. The world of "Nosferatu" feels vast, boundless and claustrophobic at the same time.

Where Francis Ford Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” was an over-saturated affair where the colors, particularly red, popped. “Nosferatu” goes for colder tones in an equally appealing way. The art direction, cinematography, and costuming is superb.

If you’re a fan or feel curious about romantic horror that is gothic cinema, “Nosferatu” is either a delicious confirmation of the genre’s appeal or the flashpoint for a new obsession. It’s one of my favorite films of 2024.