‘Nosferatu’ Review: An Eternally Undead Tale

From a childhood dream to a passion project 10 years in the making, Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu has finally graced us. He has come and we have succumbed. Though I won’t dub it the definitive version of the classic story, it’s certainly a very welcome retelling. Read our full Nosferatu review below.

Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu is a remake of the 1922 film of the same name directed by F.W. Murnau. Murnau’s film was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula, and has since been considered a masterpiece, the father of vampire films, and a staple of the horror genre. 

Nosferatu Review

Nosferatu (2024) is the story of newlyweds Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) and Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp). Thomas is a real estate agent tasked with traveling to Transylvania to broker a property deal with the mysterious Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). After a strange and surreal journey, Thomas arrives at Count Orlok’s castle and is greeted with a nightmare he never expected, while Ellen faces her own back home in Wisborg. 

Eggers is a master at creating his overbearing, bordering on claustrophobically dark environments and atmosphere, and as such, Nosferatu (2024) is no different. From the get go, we are thrown into a nightmare and at daybreak there is still no respite. Contrary to the original 1922 film, there’s no lighthearted atmosphere to turn sour and ominous. The world is dark and brooding and eternally overcast. Eggers’ film wears the original and its other iterations on its sleeve, and it is not trying to reinvent the wheel. Nosferatu (2024), for better or for worse, is not a fresh, new take on the story. It is not a reimagining or a reinterpretation, it is a fairly standard remake. Instead, it mostly sets itself apart from other iterations with its unique tone and minor, but significant additions and changes. Eggers did not set out to replace the original, and his film, in no way, does. His remake comes entirely from a place of respect and adoration for the original. 

Though Eggers’ film is not concerned with trying to be a new take, it nonetheless utilizes a fear of the unknown for his additions and does not reveal itself until it wants to, while simultaneously spelling out from the start its macabre nature. There is darkness and terror as far as the eyes can see and that may be discomforting, but what’s hidden in the dark is much more depraved. Nosferatu veers into new territory tonally, compared to Murnau’s original or even Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre. Eggers’ take feels very much like standard contemporary horror in every way, which makes it a lot more visceral and terrifying, but it sacrifices some of the subtleties to be found in earlier iterations. Murnau’s Nosferatu is a masterclass in expressionism, utilizing its limited colors and shadows and silence to make itself timelessly haunting, while Herzog’s vision adds an melancholic, almost tranquil or poetic tone. Eggers, however, forgoes the nuances for an intense and relentless nightmare of grotesquerie. 

Even the titular Nosferatu’s design in each film lends itself to these qualities. Max Schreck’s performance as Count Orlok is iconic and his emotiveness and transformation is groundbreaking and works perfectly for the expressionist form. Klaus Kinski’s Nosferatu in Herzog’s film is more reserved and introspective. He isn’t an inherently evil being, but cursed and trapped in his eternal existence, searching for a connection he is forbidden to have. In contrast to these more subtle performances, Skarsgård’s Nosferatu is a menacing, towering beast, driven by a primal desire. He’s kept hidden in the shadows until he finally reveals his true form. His raw intensity aligns with the modern horror feel of Eggers’ film, and though he lacks the subtlety of Schreck’s or Kinski’s performance, Nosferatu feels brutally alive and terrifyingly visceral. This also manifests in Eggers’ Nosferatu in a form of a more explicit psychosexuality. Nosferatu’s desires in this latest iteration are more carnal than his predecessors, revealing an animalistic lust for his prey Ellen. Much of the conversation around the film seems to classify this aspect of psychosexuality as erotic instead, though it certainly doesn’t feel that way.  

Eggers takes this expansion of characterization even further by giving significantly more depth and agency to each character. Each character has much more to do. None are passive victims any longer, and instead all active participants that drive the story forward in their own way. This addition heightens the emotional stakes of the film. Most characters are much more compelling than their counterparts in Murnau’s and Herzog’s films. Ellen (Greta Schröder), or Lucy (Isabelle Adjani) as she’s called in Nosferatu the Vampyre, is no longer a restrained character or a mere vessel for Nosferatu to prey on, but the focal figure in the story. Lily-Rose Depp’s Ellen is a driving force, aggressively played to add to the haunting chaos of the story. 

Nicholas Hoult gives the performance of his career, personifying Thomas Hutter as a deeply conflicted and vulnerable character caught in this inconceivable terror. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Corrin are brilliant as the Hardings, friends of the Hutters dragged into this horrifying ordeal. Taylor-Johnson’s performance has been criticized, but I really liked him as Friedrich as he slowly lost his grip. Willem Dafoe as Professor Von Franz, a stand-in for the iconic character Van Helsing, subverted my expectations quite a bit and was a much sillier character than I thought he would be in the best way possible. He gives the film some much needed levity whilst still playing an important role that drives the narrative forward. 

Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu stands as a testament to his love and reverence for the original, while carving out its own place in the horror canon and finding its own, new identity. Eggers’ film demonstrates the enduring power of the classic story and how it can be molded to fit a new vision and never get stale. I love Murnau’s and Herzog’s Nosferatu and I’m delighted to say I loved Eggers’ as well. Nosferatu (2024) is a hauntingly beautiful homage that faithfully retells the story while evolving into something new. 

Nosferatu is directed by Robert Eggers and it stars Bill Skarsgård, Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, Emma Corrin and Ralph Ineson. Nosferatu is now playing in theatres domestically.

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