‘Nosferatu’ (2024) Review

‘Nosferatu’ (2024) Review

'Nosferatu' (2024) Review: A No Nonsense Nightmare

Anthony Hopkins portrayed the influential master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock in the movie, Hitchcock. In it, Hitchcock contemplates the potential in the horror genre, positing the question “What if someone really good made a horror picture?”. Since his day, several innovative and brilliant filmmakers have made their bones in a genre that still goes without the kind of respect afforded to others.

One such filmmaker is Robert Eggers, whose previous films have resulted in nothing short of a run of masterful work. The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman, all rank among the best in their year of release. With Nosferatu, Eggers tackles a horror icon, taking on his most daring venture yet. The original classic is over 100 years old and it’s been remade before, so there’s ample basis for comparison, something his previous original work avoided.

Not the least of which is an infamous appearance in Spongebob

In the case of Nosferatu, it will be difficult to note anything but an exceptionally crafted gothic picture, about a damsel distressed by a demon. Lily Rose-Depp’s Ellen is tormented by a compulsion she’s unable to deny, as she’s caught under the spell of Count Orlok, the vampire Nosferatu. The film presents this through sequences of an incredibly physical performance as Rose-Depp contorts and convulses in a manner that defies comprehension, yet presents to her peers as feminine fits of hysteria.

Ellen is having the worst time of her life, but for much of the film her plight is understated by her community. As a woman living in 1830s Germany, she’s forced to fight for the aid she requires, yet her cohorts are never presented as malicious, only bound by the world they know. It’s one thing to believe in unreal things, but the supernatural forces of evil are a bit much for their sensibilities.

Demonic possession? I dunno bout all that.

Thankfully Willem Dafoe’s Professor Albin Eberhart von Franz arrives to find sense in the senseless, and breathe life into a film that had been so preoccupied with death. So much of Nosferatu is appropriately bleak, especially with the indeterminable period of anguish that befalls Nicholas Hoult’s Thomas Hutter, who spends much of the film on the worst work trip of all time becoming Nosferatu’s plaything. 

All of what happens to these characters is depicted in dark and gloomy rooms, many of which are lit only by candlelight, or with a bluish hue. The film is shrouded in shadow, yet even on the worst cinema screen, nothing is lost on the viewer. The shots are crystal clear, and incredibly inventive, finding a way to be entirely grounded in reality, yet jolting the audience into a phantasmagorical nightmare.

If there’s anything negative to be said about Nosferatu it’s that the film is at times oppressive in its coldness. The characters feel so transfixed by their trauma, there’s nothing left to connect to beyond their fright. Still, the few moments of humanity create enough foundation for us to relate to their terror, and the design of the titular monster is undeniably terrifying, especially with Bill Skarsgård at the helm. 

Rating: Big Screen Watch

 

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