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31st December 2024
01:12pm GMT
Nosferatu's emergence over a century as a major horror franchise is quite fascinating given its origins.
Taking its title from an archaic Romanian word meaning "the offensive one", the first version of Nosferatu was a 1922 silent German vampire film that was an unauthorised adaptation of Bram Stoker's legendary novel Dracula - something that, as you may expect, caused legal issues.
Despite the controversy surrounding its literary origins, the horror went on to be seen as a classic of the genre thanks to F.W Murnau's stylish direction, Max Schreck's iconic performance as the title vampire and the movie's gothic haunting mood. In fact, it later received an also excellent 1979 adaptation from legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog.
These two versions of Nosferatu basically cemented the franchise as something inextricably linked to Stoker's novel but yet unique in certain ways.
The two Nosferatu movies take the bones of Dracula's story but have it play out in Germany with the gothic notes tuned up even further, along with the sense of bleakness and sadness.
Now we have a big Hollywood version of Nosferatu courtesy of writer-director Robert Eggers out in cinemas on New Year's Day. Indeed, if there was any Hollywood filmmaker who should tackle the story, it's Eggers.
After all, he is well-known for his love of folklore and his obsession with rendering the past as beautifully but as authentically as possible onscreen, as evident in his films The Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman.
His version of the story doesn't stray too far from the previous iterations, though the changes he does bring are fascinating and welcome.
Set in Wisborg, Germany in 1838, estate agent Thomas Hutter (typically great Nicholas Hoult) accepts a job from his employer (Simon McBurney) to travel to a remote castle in Transylvania's Carpathian Mountains in order to sell a stately home in Wisborg to the reclusive, eccentric Count Orlok aka Nosferatu (an unrecognisable Bill Skarsgård).
Though his new wife, Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), warns him not to go – after having experienced dark foreboding dreams – Hutter dismisses her concerns and sets off to meet Orlok, soon finding himself plagued by terrors.
While her husband is away, Ellen stays in Wisborg under the care of friends Anna and Friedrich (Emma Corrin and Aaron Taylor-Johnson), where her health starts to rapidly deteriorate.
Called to help, Dr. Wilhelm Sievers (Ralph Ineson) and his old mentor and expert of the occult Prof. Albin Eberhart Von Franz (Willem Dafoe, having a blast) start to suspect that Ellen may have some strange connection to "the offensive one".
As always with Eggers' work, you can tell how much love and care went into bringing his version of Nosferatu to the screen.
Despite there being so many Dracula (and Nosferatu) adaptations that even casual viewers may know the beats of the story, the writer-director still finds ways through striking visuals, well-constructed ominous set-pieces and forceful dialogue to send chills up viewers' spines.
Scenes play out like gothic paintings come to life. Big important choices, like the look of the at-first hidden-from-sight Nosferatu, break from tradition but feel right.
In fact, the best parts of Eggers' Nosferatu are the tweaks he makes to the classic story. Making Ellen more of the lead character with this hidden mystery adds intrigue, while also amplifying some of the underlying themes of the source materials - women's role in society, repressed sexuality, class concerns etc.
It helps that Depp gives an absolutely star-making turn, managing to always have Ellen be a character you root for, even as she delivers several dread-inducing monologues and performs some incredibly terrifying acrobatics during her scenes of possession.
Also brilliant is the addition of characters Anna and Friedrich, two ordinary likeable people caught up in the horror who keep you glued to the screen in the hope that they and their family can somehow survive what's coming.
Because of how successful these changes on the fringes made by Eggers are, you almost wish he had been less faithful to what had come before in a broader sense.
While the finale of the 2025 Nosferatu is a triumph of pacing, performance and staging, there is undeniably a feeling of inevitability that sets in for those who have seen either the Murnau or Herzog version of the story.
That said, there is enough new and inventive in Eggers' take on the vampire classic that makes this still a must-see. And for those that aren't hugely familiar with Nosferatu or Dracula, you're in for a treat.
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