Nosferatu’s Robert Eggers wants to make movie adaptation of this legendarily spooky story

Stephen Porzio

It’s been adapted for the screen several times before, though we’d love to see Eggers’ take on the horror classic.

Writer-director Robert Eggers’ new horror movie Nosferatu is in cinemas now and is proving to be a hit with both audiences and critics.

Ahead of the film’s release, JOE sat down with the filmmaker and his stars Emma Corrin, Lily-Rose Depp and Willem Dafoe to discuss the new adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

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And given Nosferatu’s literary origins, we couldn’t help but ask Eggers if there was another classic horror story he would ever like to adapt.

In response, he named a legendarily spooky tale from Edgar Allan Poe: The Fall of the House of Usher. That said, he did cite a potential problem in trying to bring it to the screen.

The short story recounts the terrible events that befall the last remaining members of the once-illustrious Usher clan and has been adapted for the screen several times.

The most notable versions are the 1960 movie from director Roger Corman starring Vincent Price and the recent Netflix eight-part series from creator Mike Flanagan.

While Flanagan’s 2023 version of the tale makes Eggers’ comments surprising, it is worth noting that the Nosferatu director previously adapted Poe for the screen, having made a short film of his iconic story The Tell-Tale Heart.

Eggers’ told JOE: “I’ve always wanted to do The Fall of the House of Usher.

“But the problem with Poe is that because of his belief [that] short stories are the best way to tell horror, you always end up having to pad it out to make a feature film and it doesn’t quite work.

“So I think the Roger Corman movies in their imperfection are kind of the most satisfying.”

In terms of Eggers’ adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, JOE has been full of praise for it, writing in our review:

“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.”