‘Nosferatu’ Refuses to Hold Anything Back

Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu” is the real deal, a faithful remake of the landmark silent film, a passionate love letter to horror films as an artform, and a terrifying, intense ride that will rattle even those comfortable with the genre.

You have been warned.

For everyone else, keep your hands inside the rollercoaster, make sure you’re strapped in and hang on. This one will leave teeth marks.

The original 1922 silent film classic of the same name by F.W. Murnau is an unofficial but fairly faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” As in Murnau’s film, the names of the iconic characters have been changed (for example, Dracula is now Orlok, Jonathan Harker is Thomas Hutter, etc.) and the nightmare-inducing Count is bald, bat-like, dons a hat and seems ready to tear your throat out at any moment.

In 1838, Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) is the unlucky real estate agent sent to close a can’t-lose, high-paying deal with the mysterious Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard) at his Transylvania castle. Hutter tries to conceal that he’s aware of the danger he’s immediately in when in the presence of the pale-faced creature who insists Hutter call him “lord.”

Meanwhile, Hutter’s wife, Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) has been under Orlok’s spell for some time, but it now manifests itself in seizures and mania once her husband comes close to the Count. The only one who seems to know how to face Count Orlok is the peculiar and haunted Prof. Albin Eberhardt Von Franz, played by Willem Dafoe, whose appearance in this makes him a vampire cinema hall of famer.

Dafoe starred in “Shadow of the Vampire” (in which he portrayed the actor playing Orlok in the making of Murnau’s film), “Daybreakers” (2010) and “The Hunger” (1983). The latter marks one of his first film appearances.

Eggers’ film is genuinely shocking and made electrifying by Skarsgard’s performance as Orlok. In the same way I never would have guessed it was Colin Farrell beneath all that makeup in “The Batman” (2022) and “The Penguin” (2024), there’s no sign of Skarsgard here, just the heart-stopping embodiment of an undead living nightmare.

Had the role gone uncredited, there would be no way of knowing who was beneath the astonishing makeup and that horrid voice. Count Orlok makes the actor’s Pennywise the Clown look like Ronald McDonald.

Skarsgard gives an incredible performance.

Beautiful, vicious and darkly funny at times, “Nosferatu” is an ode to how horror films can tap into our subconscious fears, as well as how they can look like a beautiful nightmare. Another aspect of Eggers’ film that needs to be mentioned: it’s often too much.

There’s little subtext or allegorical exploration here, as Eggers is able to show outright what Murnau (and Werner Herzog and Francis Ford Coppola and everyone else that followed) could only suggest.

It goes very far.

The blend of sex and violence will challenge some, though the bit with Simon McBurney’s Herr Knock (this film’s equivalent of Renfield) demonstrating his madness on an innocent creature will likely be the moment that has the squeamish bolting for the exits.

If the pre-title sequence alone seems as though Eggers’ vision is overwhelming, then save yourself the trouble and abandon ship early. I’m sure there’s plenty of seats left next door for “Moana 2.”

RELATED: BEST ’80s VAMPIRE MOVIES

For everyone else, Jarin Blaschke’s cinematography rates somewhere between Ridley Scott’s “Legend” (1985) and Darren Aronofsky’s “The Fountain” (2006). That’s another way of saying every shot is carefully framed, staged and fantastic looking.

Rose-Depp throws herself into the role of a woman stalked by a literal monster her entire life, while Hoult is excellent at playing escalating panic. Dafoe’s take on the Van Helsing equivalent is relatively restrained.

Obviously inspired in some ways by Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992) and Herzog’s own remake, “Nosferatu The Vampyre” (1979), and not as good as those, but it’s still a rich expression of horror cinema on a large scale. As his prior work demonstrates, Eggers uses the horror genre to craft personal films, works that are confrontational, provocative and very bloody.

I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Three and a Half Stars

The post ‘Nosferatu’ Refuses to Hold Anything Back appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.