‘Nosferatu’ review: Robert Eggers’ love of source material clear as death
Understand that Robert Eggers didn’t decide to make an adaptation of the 1922 silent German film “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” on a whim.
In the director’s statement for his “Nosferatu,” which haunts theaters beginning on Christmas Day, Eggers says that in many ways it is “my most personal film.”
The century-old work, directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as the vampiric Count Orlok, is one Eggers has “lived with, within and dreamed about since childhood.” In high school, he co-wrote and performed a stage adaptation.
And after making the world take notice of his talents with his 2015 directorial debut, the 2015 Puritan-era horror film “The Witch,” he penned a draft of “Nosferatu.” However, he set that aside and delivered two more enthralling pieces, 2019’s “The Lighthouse” and 2022’s “The Northman.”
Finally, his highly unsettling and largely entertaining “Nosferatu” arrives, inspired by both the silent film and its source material, “Dracula,” the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker.
Eggers grabs you from the opening sequence, when Lily-Rose Depp’s young Ellen calls out at night for someone or something, which, unfortunately for her, proves to be the evil force Nosferatu. In these first few moments, Eggers gives us ecstasy, horror and, finally, darkness.
The tale begins in earnest years later — in 1883, in the fictional Baltic Coast town of Wisborg, Germany — with Ellen the happy wife of Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult), a man determined to provide more for his love. He’ll start a family, he tells friends Friedrich and Anna Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Corrin), when he’s not a “pauper.”
Thus, he accepts a task assigned by his employer, Herr Knock (Simon McBurney), to make the six-week voyage to Transylvania. There, he will close a transaction with the wealthy Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård), who’s said to be looking to buy an estate in Wisborg. Secure the deal, Knock says, and Thomas will secure his future with the firm.
“It will be a great adventure, my boy!” Knock assures him.
“Indeed,” Thomas says.
Ellen is dead set against the idea, but, as distraught as she is, her objections aren’t enough to dissuade him from going, Thomas relying on the Hardings to keep an eye on his bride while he is away from her.
When he finally arrives in a village near Orlok’s castle, he is warned to not mention the place again by the mysterious locals and now must pay double for lodging for the night.
When he finally makes it to see the ominous figure, Orlok scolds Thomas — call him “my lord,” not “sir,” he demands — and takes a strong interest in a locket containing a picture of Ellen.
Let’s just say that Thomas’ stay at the castle isn’t pleasant.
Things aren’t any better back home, with Ellen falling ill.
Eventually, all the action is in Wisborg, with Willem Dafoe’s Albin Eberhart Von Franz, a professor recruited to help Ellen, added to the stable of important characters.
“Nosferatu” is a bleak tale of darkness and disease. If you’re in the market for another sexy vampire story — something like “True Blood” or “Interview With a Vampire” — look elsewhere.
Eggers insists you feel the dread from everything happening within the frame, enhanced by what is at times stomach-churning sound design.
While he isn’t much interested in generating jump scares, an encounter Thomas has with Orlok, taken from the 1922 film and amplified a thousandfold, may, in fact, briefly separate you from your seat. “Nosferatu” can be hard-hitting when Eggers wants it to be.
He gets solid performances from Hoult (“Renfield” “The Great”), Depp (“Voyagers,” “Silent Night”) and Skarsgård (the “It” movies, “John Wick: Chapter 4”), although no one really stands out — at least not for the right reasons; Dafoe (“Poor Things”), who can’t seem to help being the most interesting person on the screen, is a bit of a distraction, as it’s difficult to tell if he’s playing Von Franz straight of for laughs.
The most memorable work is that of supporting actor McBurney, who truly sinks his teeth into the evolving Knock.
What hampers “Nosferatu” can’t really be helped, at least with Eggers determined to pay homage to his inspirations. The broad strokes of the story are so well known at this point — “Dracula” has seen myriad adaptations, including Werner Herzog’s 1979 film, “Nosferatu the Vampyre,” and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 hit, “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” — that this film can offer only little surprises along the way and loses some narrative steam as it creeps toward its conclusion.
It works mainly as another showcase of Eggers’ gifts, which are bountiful enough to make this gothic tale he so clearly loves an easy recommendation to anyone interested in the art and craft of filmmaking.
Anything this artist has dreamed of making since he was a boy should be seen.
‘Nosferatu’
Where: Theaters.
When: Dec. 25.
Rated: R for bloody violent content, graphic nudity and some sexual content.
Runtime: 2 hours, 13 minutes.
Stars (of four): 3.