The Reel Review
A young newlywed is stalked by the obsessed, terrifying vampire Nosferatu, in this gothic horror/mystery from writer/director Robert Eggers (The Northman, The Witch). Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgärd and Nicholas Hoult star in this remake of 1922’s Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror and Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula.
As usual, Eggers did a lot of homework prior to writing this screenplay, capturing elements of vampire mythology lost in the countless retellings of the same Dracula source material. It gives his story a fantastically spooky and immersive take – set in early-1800s Romania and Germany. You can almost smell the decay and rot. There are plague rats everywhere. Death and chaos are commonplace.
Skarsgärd’s Nosferatu is both more humanoid and grotesque than prior movie versions, which makes him, his exceptionally gory kills and his guttural way of speaking even more sinister. Depp, as the clairvoyant object of Nosferatu’s obsession, channels the dread of her impending reunion with the count, with Nicholas Hoult as her harried real estate lawyer husband who regrets ever traveling to Transylvania to sell him a castle in their hometown. Dafoe is classic Dafoe – the scientist who figures out what must be done to stop Nosferatu – but can they do it? Well done.
REEL FACTS
• Bill Skarsgärd says the evil occult aspects of his portrayal of Nosferatu has spooked him into not wanting to play such an evil character ever again.
• Nosferatu marks the third collaboration between director Robert Eggers and Willem Dafoe, after 2019’s The Lighthouse and 2022’s The Northman.
• Filming for Nosferatu took place at Rozmital and Pernstejn Castles in the Czech Republic, Corvin Castle in Romania and in Toronto, Canada.
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