A story of lust, mania, and a lot of blood, Nosferatu, the movie named after the archaic Romanian word for “vampire,” debuted on Christmas Day in theaters nationwide. Written and directed by Robert Eggars, this 2 hour and 12-minute film is a remake of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 Nosferatu, itself inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1897. Though decades have separated these works, the core plot has been maintained: a towering, gaunt, vampire unleashes his wrath on the people of Victorian England as a group of doctors, women, and noblemen alike attempt to stop him.
Nosferatu stars Lily-Rose Depp, daughter of Johnny Depp, as Ellen Hutter, a woman whom Count Orlok, played by Bill Skarsgård, has become obsessed with. Her childhood visions of death, dread, and otherwise vampiric thoughts return as her unsuspecting husband, played by Nicholas Hoult, sets off to Transylvania to arrange a real-estate deal with Count Orlok. As Ellen’s husband endures the terror he finds in Orlok’s castle, she is placed under the care of their friends, played by Emma Corrin and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Her nightly visions, accompanied by violent seizures, possession, and sexually explicit thoughts and actions, point to something sinister and incomprehensible. It is not until Professor Von Franz, played by Willem Dafoe, suspects the “curse of Nosferatu” that the characters band together to defeat Count Orlok. After most of the main characters meet their demise, it is up to Ellen to take Count Orlok as her lover to finally break the curse he has over the people of England.
Somehow, despite the chilling performances, gruesome gore, and explicit elements, the ending is entirely expected and relatively one-note.
I saw Nosferatu last week in theaters and was both interested and underwhelmed by my experience. As someone who has read Bram Stoker’s Dracula multiple times, I am very familiar with the plot and themes of the story. Key elements in Dracula, such as Count Orlok’s Transylvanian castle neighboring a rural Romani village, and Victorian fears of outsiders, “sinning,” and female sexuality were preserved in a tasteful and engaging way. The cinematography was beautiful, the color grading on the whole movie added to the suspenseful, cold, and melancholic feel, and the costumes and appearance of all the actors were accurate to the time and interesting to watch. The acting was scarily well done. Lily Rose-Depp, in particular, gave a thrilling and gruesome performance. However, Nosferatu’s strong attributes were not enough to cover up the slow pacing and anticlimactic ending. While it is set in Victorian England, and I expected that the dialogue would be wordy and slow, the jerky pacing of the movie does nothing to help this fact and is both off-putting and boring. Somehow, despite the chilling performances, gruesome gore, and explicit elements, the ending is entirely expected and relatively one-note.
Savanna Rowles (12), who also saw the movie, commented on the film’s contradictory nature: “I thought it was cool that it was a new take on Dracula, and that the shots were pretty, but I thought it was anticlimactic, and the plot was not good.”
Trail Heyl (12) enjoyed the movie, however, and was able to look past the movie’s slow pacing. “I thought it was thrilling and had a lot of good cinematography,” said Heyl.
Despite my, and others’ negative opinions of the film, the general public does not seem to agree. With generally positive reviews from critics, and its ability to make a whopping 108 million dollars worldwide, it looks like Nosferatu’s success is undeniable. Whether you come for Nosferatu’s ties to classic literature, horrifying visuals, gross sexual themes, or something different entirely, you will walk away either happy to have paid for your ticket or wishing the money had stayed in your pocket.
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