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.

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Introduction

This was a good remake of the original Nosferatu 1922 classic. Full of atmospheric scenes with gothic style of photography. Reminds me of the poster for El Conde (2023), very heavy yet beautiful in its own way. Directed by Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse, The Northman, The Witch).

“In the 1830s, estate agent Thomas Hutter travels to Transylvania for a fateful meeting with Count Orlok, a prospective client. In his absence, Hutter’s new bride, Ellen, is left under the care of their friends, Friedrich and Anna Harding. Plagued by horrific visions and an increasing sense of dread, Ellen soon encounters an evil force that’s far beyond her control.”

Characters

• Thomas Hutter (played by Nicholas Hoult) was a great choicw for this character. His image really fits that of corporate person, an academic or in this case, a real estate agent. He has a very distinct face and fits perfectly with the films period setting. I love his face of terror, specially when it dawned on him what was really happening.
• Ellen Hutter (played by Lily Rose-Depp) gave a powerful emotional performance. Her dread, joy, and longing for something was displayed perfectly. That one shot scene intro was perfect as well.
• Prof. Albin Eberhart von Franz (played by Willem Dafoe) was an essenrial part of the story, aside from that, I love seeing Dafoe, one of his most powerful performances came from Antichrist (2009). Here, he plays as Professor von Franz, which is a counterpart to who most of us know as Van Helsing.
• Count Orlok (played by Bill Skarsgard) had a stunning performance. Skarsgard said in an interview that this was the scariest character he’d have to be, moreso than Pennywise from IT. He had to make his voice as deep as possible and add that gravelly tone. His hunched back was also a key component to his character’s decaying body.

Music

Robin Carolan, the composer, craftfully added depth, volume, and gothic elements to Nosferatu. While he doesn’t have that many projects (according to IMDB), he also worked with director Robert Eggers on the period film, The Northman (2022).

Cinematography

Cinematographer Jarin Blaschke played a key role in adding that gothic atmosphere to Nosferatu. The slow panning of the camera was perfect, it shows that what they offer isn’t the kind that we see in Fright Night or Dracula Untold with their fast camera switches/movements. The slow camera movement makes the scenes more immersive and gives us time to take everything.

The intro scene when Lily Rose-Depp was in a dream-like state, from her scene on the bed, to the curtain until the screen turns black, all those were done in one shot.

Design of Count Orlok

Count Orlok’s design was unlike any other vampire I’ve seen, and probably one of the best looking designs out there. Unlike most vampire iterations where we see them being very charming, here we see Orlok lacks any charm or allure, presenting himself as a creature of pure, unsettling strangeness.

Orlok is bald, with a beak-like nose, hollowed-out eyes, and pointed ears. His teeth, rather than being elongated canines, are positioned like a rat’s, emphasizing his animalistic nature. His back was full of bumps and bones protruding out, showing how much of a corpse-like being he really was.

His mustache and hair payed homage to the original Dracula book by Bram Stoker. Its funny how the most faithful Dracula design isn’t a Dracula movie.

They paid attention to detail and made Count Orlok, really look like a count who lived in the 15th century. Sporting a traditional hungarian coat called a “suba”, its main purpose was to make the wearer look more masculin. If you google Vlad Tepes, you could see him wearing the same kind of coat as Orlok was.

What some viewers might not like

If you’re expecting some action scenes and gore k1lls, look away as this might bore you. Nosferatu is a film that delivers on storytelling and atmospheric scenes, it feels sort of… heavy, I don’t know how else to describe it. Orlok is a plague, a rotting corpse whose sole purpose is to be with Lily Rose-Depp’s character.

Conclusion

Nosferatu is one of the best iterations of Dracula I’ve seen for quite a while. The director, cinematographer and composer worked perfectly together to deliver this gothic style of filming. The design of Orlok also stands out and feels like a breathe of fresh air, Bill Skarsgard executed his part perfectly. Definitely on my top 10 for 2024 horror films. Reminds me a bit of Mike Flanagan’s Midnight Mass (2021) having the same atmospheric gothic experience.