Nosferatu review (2024)

Nosferatu is a diabolically creepy and terrifying horror film that finds new ways to unnerve audiences.

There have been other films starring the insidious vampire, but this take is a remake of the original 1922 silent film. Let’s call the status of limitations fully lifted and technology improved enough that even die hard fans of the original can fully appreciate this update.

Lily-Rose Depp stars as Ellen, who unknowingly triggered a psychic bond with the hideous Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard, John Wick: Chapter 4) when she was a very young and lonely girl.

Years have passed, but Orlok remains obsessed with Ellen, who’s since gotten married to real estate agent Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult, Juror #2).

Thomas feels obliged to provide Ellen with a life where she’s lacking for nothing like her best friend, Anna (Emma Corrin, Deadpool & Wolverine). Anna is married to the well-to-do businessman Friedrich Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kraven the Hunter), who’s struck up a close friendship with Thomas as well.

 

Thomas’ boss, Knock (Simon McBurney, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation), sends him off to finalize a contract with Orlok. Ellen has serious misgivings about the idea of Thomas taking this assignment. She’s begun having haunting nightmares and thinks they might be warning her of something terrible happening to him if he leaves her.

Director/screenwriter Robert Eggers masterfully mines my amount of dread and uneasiness he can the moment Thomas arrives in Transylvania and his trek to Orlok’s castle.

Cinematographer Jarin Blaschke (The Witch) stages some absolutely spectacular visuals. Even if Nosferatu has some of the year’s worst performances and writing — spoiler: it doesn’t — it would still be a must see to take in all these amazing shots on the big screen.

Among some of the highlights are Thomas traipsing along a precarious rope bridge and traveling through a dense forest lit by a small opening where snow is softly falling. It’s mesmerizing and fully fits into the tone of Nosferatu as Orlok tries to seduce Ellen from afar until he can be back in her presence again.

There are some other very haunting scenes that are shot with a minimalist black and white color scheme to harken to that vintage horror thriller aesthetic. It’s used in a way that adds to the apprehension rather than feeing like a silly gimmick. 

The odds are probably against Nosferatu claiming many awards thanks to the subject matter even if it should be the front runner for cinematography awards.

Thomas gets plenty of clues that he probably should have listened to Ellen’s advice. A group of travelers in an inn warn him to abandon his quest and return home. Those same travelers offer up a sacrifice to convince the dark force on the mountain to allow them safe passage.

Skarsgard shows an intense dedication to his craft losing weight, doing more than six hours a day of makeup and prosthetic applications while coming up with the a seriously unsettling vocal pattern that makes Orlok sound like he’s on the verge of an asthma attack whenever he speaks.

 

Nosferatu is the kind of continually mounting disturbing tone that in the right theater it would warrant a bunch of audience participation. Or at least some helpful cautionary advice for Thomas,

Eggers doesn’t believe in fake jump scares. He’s all about earning those anxious moments of cringing in your seat. Whether from a shock appearance from Orlok, disturbing directional blood sprays and rats.

And no, Nosferatu didn’t have talented crew of CGI artists crafting the rats. The film used over 2,000 actual rats on set. Eggers makes sure to get his moneys worth with them so viewers squeamish about rats might find Nosferatu the scariest horror film they’ll see in years.

There is plenty of other gory bloodletting scenes throughout so those seeking a copious amount of blood won’t be disappointed.

With Thomas presumed missing, Ellen’s mental health deteriorates prompting Friedrich to call in some expert help. First from Dr. Wilhelm Sievers (Ralph Ineson, The Tragedy of Macbeth) and then the more eccentric Prof. Albin Eberhart Von Franz (Willem Dafoe, Spider-Man: No Way Home), an occult scientist who is fully aware of the potential threat poised by Orlok.

 

Nosferatu boasts one of the year’s best ensembles. Everyone performs their roles flawlessly. Depp is a welcome surprise as the virtuous wife who deals with the occasional bouts of demonic possession. Hoult is so good as the cliche heroic lead who’s no match for the power at Orlok’s command. Dafoe brings a different energy to the mix as the occult veteran who knows some of what to expect bringing a unique eccentric nature to Von Franz.

Nosferatu is definitely 2024’s winner in terms of the most fear-inducing, genuinely terrifying horror movie. It’s so beautifully done in the twisted nightmare sense that only the best vampire films can attain.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

Check out the original Nosferatu on Blu-Ray on Amazon.

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