Nosferatu: A Fresh, Seriously Brilliant Symphony Of Psychosexual Horror

Count Orlok’s shadow ascending the stairs in the original Nosferatu is one of the most influential images in cinematic history – even if you haven’t seen the 1922 silent film classic, there’s no doubt you’ve absorbed much of its legendary imagery through cultural osmosis.

It’s a seriously impressive achievement, then, that Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu is able to feel like a unique, fresh take on the material it shares its namesake with, as well as Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

As a remake, its story naturally feels familiar to anyone who’s experienced these stories before and often pays homage to genre history; but it’s that sense of familiarity that allows Eggers, as well as his supremely talented cast and crew, to deliver a terrifically realised film with depth and horror in spades.

A classic tale reimagined

You’re probably familiar with the story: Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) is tasked with travelling to the castle of the mysterious Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) to sell him a house in the town of Wisborg, Germany. However, Orlok is much more than just an aging old baron, and he has his eyes set on Thomas’ wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), bringing a plague to their town as he relentlessly lusts after her.

Despite its familiarity, Eggers makes a number of key changes to his version of Nosferatu that helps it stand apart from other adaptations. He doesn’t shy away from the psychosexual element of vampirism and its invasiveness; there are some particularly nasty scenes throughout where a terrifying Count Orlok drinks blood from unfortunate victims.

But the most explicit cruelty comes in a major change to the story: the fact that Orlok has known Ellen since childhood, and groomed her to be his.

Though she attempts to reject this in her marriage, Ellen remains under Orlok’s twisted influence as he invades her dreams and causes her body to contort inhumanly; long before he arrives, his shadow drowns her in darkness.

Alongside the illicit exploration of sexuality in the film, Eggers also imbues Nosferatu with a number of new themes; class anxiety, as well as the deliberate ignorance and misogyny of 1800s European thinking that have rarely been so expertly articulated.

The remarkable performances of Nosferatu

A vital part of Nosferatu‘s success is owed to Lily-Rose Depp, who gives a remarkable performance as Ellen Hutter.

Her range seems endless in the film; there’s one scene where Depp effortlessly oscillates between despair, primal rage, anxiety and sensuality that makes her truly feel like a woman possessed. Whether she’s screaming, swearing or sweating, Depp definitively proves her skill and control as an actress in Nosferatu with her transcendent performance.

Similar praise goes to Bill Skarsgård, who is utterly transformative turn as the grotesquely-realised Count Orlok. The prosthetics and makeup alone would be enough to make the character frightening, but Skarsgård makes Orlok feel truly evil with a deep, rumbling voice and hunkering physicality that ensures his dark presence is felt whether he’s on-screen or not.

The rest of the cast are also seriously impressive – Nicholas Hoult as kindly Thomas Hutter, Willem Dafoe as crazy occultist doctor Albin Eberhart Von Franz, Emma Corrin as Ellen’s friend, to name a few – and work brilliantly as an ensemble to bring Eggers’ vision to life.

A new symphony of horror

And what a horrific vision Eggers has – Nosferatu is one of the most dread-inducing and gnarly vampire films of recent memory.

Known for his intense attention to detail in portraying historical settings, he brings with him this time a deeply unsettling sense of horror that slowly winds up a ball of anxiety in your stomach. It truly feels as though every frame of the film has been finely tuned by human hands to generate sinister vibes, all while using naturalistic lighting to give it a feeling of period specificity.

Eggers’ usual cinematographer Jarin Blaschke returns and does career-defining work here. Shots in Nosferatu are usually dominated by a single primary colour, often light blue contrasted against darkness, and it consistently looks phenomenal. A number of scenes sent a wave of chills crashing through my body, such as when Thomas is escorted to Orlok’s castle.

All the elements come together to make it well worth succumbing to the darkness of Nosferatu, with incredible performances, impeccable filmmaking and interesting themes injecting new life into this century-old symphony of horror.

★★★★½

Nosferatu is in cinemas now.