Nosferatu: Reasons To See Robert Eggers’ Terrifying Movie
The first version of Nosferatu was a silent film that was released in 1922, where actor Max Schreck played a bald vampire with pointy teeth and ears and long fingers, stalking his victims in the dark and exercising mysterious control over them. Over time, more and more vampire movies came to the movies and left their mark, some were inspired by classic stories, such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Others took reference to myths and legends, and some decided to bet on comedy or romance, as in the case of Twilight. It was 1922. 102 years ago, F.W. Murnau premiered in theaters ‘Nosferatu‘, one of the greatest exponents of German expressionism. A film that many consider the true birth of terror as a genre, an adaptation of the novel written by Bram Stoker. Today, millions of films and film narrative students have studied its formalisms and have it as a reference, as do those who enjoy a century after ‘Metropolis‘.
Little by little, the figure of the vampire stopped being terrifying and disturbing, until it arrived Robert Eggers, the director of The Witch, with a film that rescues the best elements of the classics of old cinema, and brings them to the modern world with a visually shocking film, and that also has great performances and all that psychological tension that are already part of the label that identifies Eggers movies. The horror movie, released on January 1, came with a 93% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and with a movie showing that cinema still has some tricks to scare us. Maybe Nosferatu didn’t need a remake, but this one has ended up being so good, that it is impossible to overlook its imminent premiere in theaters, coinciding with Christmas. Robert Eggers directed and wrote the new version of ‘Nosferatu’, starring Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgard, Nicholas Hoult, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. A film that points almost as high as the original from 1922.
Is Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu Worth Seeing?
The Return of a Vampire Classic
Nosferatu it’s as iconic as Dracula, a vampire from before who lived in the dark and who is in control of controlling the minds of his victims, whom he harasses from the shadows before approaching them and destroying them. The film is also based on the Bram Stoker story, but it is very different from the Coppola version. That 1920s Nosferatu determined what vampires would be like in many other movies over the years, and Eggers brings us a new version that is surprising, dark, and strangely seductive. It is a story about obsession, blood, and horror, where characters are tested and pushed to the limits of sanity, where they go through times when they cannot control their impulses and desires.
Bill Skarsgard’s Terrifying Magic
Bill Skarsgard did a great job as Pennywise, he demonstrated that he could transform to build a disturbing, peculiar, and very dark villain, and he repeats this in Nosferatu, where he takes on the role of Count Orlok. Skarsgard gives himself completely to the character and is lost in him, what we see is the vampire and not the actor, with an interpretation that captures the essence of the vampire, and that combines well with the type of terror that characterizes Eggers, where the Mind and its potential for darkness always becomes the center point. On the other hand, Lily-Rose Depp does a great job of expressing the horror his character is caught in, even when he’s not saying a single word. The expression of terror in his eyes is difficult.
The Cast is Perfect
Bill Skarsgard is Orlok, but the movie doesn’t rest on him alone. As he has done so far, Eggers brought together a large cast made up of popular actors, with special talents, ethereal styles and that undoubtedly seem to be taken from another time, among them we have Lily-Rose Depp like a woman persecuted by internal and external demons, to Nicholas Hoult like a man who faces the possibility of losing the woman he loves in the dark, he unites spectacular Emma Corrin, Aaron-Taylor Johnson, and to the very same Willem Dafoe, who is one of Eggers’ favorite actors, with whom he worked on The Lighthouse and The Northman.
Terror That Will Scare You
Eggers’ type of terror is very atmospheric and psychological, and Nosferatu takes this to a new level. It is evident from the first trailers that Eggeres’ idea was to take us to a world marked by superstitions and fear of the supernatural. Suddenly, it feels possible for a person to be chased by a vampire, for a nocturnal creature to appear to leave bodies lifeless and bloodless, and where the power of the imagination makes everything more terrible. Eggers’ mission was to worry and scare us, and he does it through a very good cast, through the settings where beauty and terror move together, with music, the use of lights and shadows, and by showing us characters who cannot fight their fears.
Photography and Music: The Complete Package
If there is something Robert Eggers dominates is style. Nosferatu, like the rest of his films, has perfect photographs, a soundtrack that helps create a tense and dark atmosphere, settings full of secrets and dark shadows, and many other elements that are there not only to build this universe but also, so you never let your guard down and feel relaxed watching this movie. Without a doubt, it is one of the horror movies with the best photography, but where all that style is supported by its history and the rest of the elements. It is not just about creating something visually beautiful, but about making an impact. Each scene looks like a painting that deserves to be in a museum.
‘Nosferatu’ in Its Purest Form!
First of all, it seems that ‘Nosferatu‘ is essentially Nosferatu, that character that many of you know from the novel published by Bram Stoker or for the 1922 German film. A tribute to a fundamental figure of both literary and cinematographic terror. Both in the atmosphere and in the narrative, most purists will appreciate the new version of the myth.
A Tribute to Vampirism
Nicholas Barber, of the BBC, assures in his criticism that “what separates ‘Nosferatu’ from Eggers from the rest is the depth with which he explores the images and themes of the vampiric tradition”. Vampires exist in the folklore of many countries, especially Europeans, and with special incidence in Romania and nearby regions. Everything seems to indicate that the work of Robert Eggers is a tribute to everything that surrounds the vampire as a classic, phantasmagorical, and terrifying character.
Pure Terror
Robert Eggers is a master of terror as demonstrated by ‘The Witch’, and to a lesser extent with ‘The Lighthouse’. He knows where to place the camera and how to play with the montage when creating a terrifying atmosphere. The press already anticipates that ‘Nosferatu’ is one of the scariest experiences of recent years, a unique proposal of its kind that will create a school as it already did F.W. Murnau in 1922.
Sound Brings Depth to the Expressionist ‘Nosferatu’
It may seem like a negative point, but ‘Nosferatu‘, the 1922 film, was a very communicative expressionist silent film. However, it still presented some of the shortcomings of silent cinema in terms of transmission of emotions, something that Robert Eggers has solved with a script written with delicacy, conceptually very interesting, and with many nuances.
