Nosferatu Reimagined: Haunting Dance of Sin, Sacrifice, and Salvation"

Robert Eggers has been talking about remaking the 1922 silent classic Nosferatu for about a decade (at least publicly; privately, it’s probably been longer), and I’ve been looking forward to the film that entire time. Eggers is one of the best filmmakers around, so him taking on a classic tale like Nosferatu is a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, we’ve had to wait almost ten years for this dream project to come to fruition, but it’s finally here. It was near the top of my most-anticipated list coming into the year, and now that I’ve finally seen it, I’m happy to report that it’s near the top of my best-of list as 2024 comes to a close.

Nosferatu was written and directed by Robert Eggers, and it stars Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney, and Willem Dafoe. At its core, this is a story we’ve seen numerous times before. Like the 1922 original, this remake is based on Bram Stoker’s seminal novel Dracula, so it’s about a vampire who travels from Transylvania to Western Europe to wreak havoc on a whole new population.

However, unlike most cinematic iterations of this timeless tale, Nosferatu doesn’t take its cue directly from the novel. It’s primarily a remake of the 1922 flick, so like that silent classic, the names and places are all different from the book. Most notably, the vampire’s name is Count Orlok, and he sets up shop in Germany, not England. On top of that, Eggers also puts his own unique twist on the story, so in this version, Orlok doesn’t just choose his new home at random. Rather, he’s obsessed with a woman named Ellen Hutter, and he goes to Germany to bring her over to the dark side and claim her as his own.

If you’re familiar with Robert Eggers’s work, it should come as no surprise that the costumes and set designs in Nosferatu feel impeccably authentic. I say “feel” rather than “are” because I’m by no means an expert in 19th-century Germany or Transylvania, but to my amateur eyes, everything about this movie looks spot-on.

Along similar lines, the acting here is also fantastic. Everybody in this cast does top-notch work, but as usual, there are a couple of standouts. First and foremost, I have to give huge props to Lily-Rose Depp, the actress who plays Ellen. When Orlok has her character in his thrall, the poor woman goes into trances and epilepsy-like fits, and Depp gives an intensely physical performance that makes you believe she’s been cursed by an unspeakable evil.

And when that unspeakable evil appears on screen, it’s the stuff of nightmares. His appearance is a blend of the classic Count Orlok look and the description of Dracula in Bram Stoker’s novel, and actor Bill Skarsgård plays the role perfectly. When we first meet this evil count, he moves and sounds like a decrepit old man, but there’s a nearly irresistible demonic strength and authority in his voice as well. It’s a somewhat counterintuitive mix that somehow works, so from the very first second the character shows up on screen, you have no doubt that he’s going to be one of the most memorable vampires you’ve ever seen.

What’s more, Nosferatu also gives us a few shots of this creature’s unclothed body from head to toe, and he’s utterly repulsive in the best way possible. Orlok looks like he’s been dead and decaying for some time, so despite our initial impression, his design is actually more akin to a walking corpse than an old man. It’s very different from the suave, attractive vampires we often get in modern horror, and it hammers home just how abhorrent evil truly is.

Next, we have to talk about the horror in Nosferatu. Unlike a lot of genre films today, this one doesn’t rely on jump scares to scare you silly. Sure, there are a few scattered throughout the movie’s two-hour-plus runtime, but in typical Robert Eggers fashion, Nosferatu is a masterclass in atmospheric horror. From the very first scene, the story has an oppressive air of inescapable dread, and when we move to Transylvania and Count Orlok’s castle, that feeling multiplies exponentially. From there, the ambience doesn’t let up until the credits begin to roll, so if you enjoy this brand of terror, you’re sure to eat up almost every second of this amazing film.

Last but not least, I have to say a few words about the story. Dracula is quite possibly the most frequently adapted tale in all of horror cinema, and for good reason. It’s an amazing story, and when told well (as it is here), it doesn’t get old. So of course I enjoyed the story in Nosferatu, but what really makes this version shine is Eggers’s unique twist on the classic formula.

Like I said before, Orlok is obsessed with Ellen Hutter, and he goes to Germany specifically to corrupt her and make her his eternal companion. However, the woman resists, so the undead count has to pressure her with everything he’s got. It’s a fascinating dynamic that functions as a striking allegory for the ongoing battle each one of us must wage against sin and evil in our own lives, and the story also reminds us that good, loving relationships are powerful weapons in that lifelong war.

However, as we all know, they’re not enough to completely conquer sin, and Nosferatu understands that universal truth as well. Ellen’s relationship with her husband helps to ward off Orlok’s intrusions for a time, but when the creature goes all out to win her affection, she’s forced to make a fateful choice.

I can’t say what that choice is without spoiling the ending, but I can tell you that it’s a bit of a mixed bag. At its core, it contains a profound truth about sin, sacrifice, and salvation, so in a certain sense, it dovetails quite nicely with our faith. Unfortunately though, the execution of this finale is a bit thematically muddled, so the truth in Ellen’s actions doesn’t come through quite as clearly as I would’ve liked.

It’s a slightly frustrating ending, and it’s not the only time Nosferatu let me down. Most notably, there’s some unnecessarily explicit sexuality and nudity that seem thrown in just because that’s what films are “supposed” to do these days, and the movie also has a hazy spiritual compass that combines a few Christian trappings with a somewhat ambivalent attitude towards the occult.
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So if you’re looking for an old-school, straightforwardly Christian vampire flick, Nosferatu might leave you disappointed. The truth and goodness in this film are at times interwoven with a few less-than-savory elements, and that’s probably going to turn some viewers off. But for my money, it’s not nearly enough to ruin the movie. This is still a stunningly executed tale of good vs. evil with a slightly more personal twist, so when all was said and done, I walked out of the theater with a big smile on my face.