Nosferatu: Review

11th December 2024

Nosferatu: Review. By Jake Peffer.

In this remake of Nosferatu, Director Robert Eggers puts a new spin on a classic tale. Taking the same basic premise and adding his signature style, Eggers effortlessly brings this story to modern day and makes one of the best horror remakes in years. Set in Germany in the early 1800’s, the story follows Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) and his wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp). Thomas is tasked with heading to Transylvania to meet with Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard). Little does Thomas know that Count Orlok is the being that haunts his wife Ellen’s dreams, and he has grown an obsession for her. Now Thomas must do whatever he can to save his wife from this powerful being.

From the opening shot, this movie is beautiful to look at. Despite the color palette being mostly greys and blacks and everything looking quite bleak, it all still looks incredible. The cinematography alone is enough to make this worth seeing. This has all the ingredients of a great gothic horror movie and Eggers does his best behind the camera to make almost everything here work as well as he can.

Clocking in at two hours and thirteen minutes, the movie does overstay its welcome by a small margin. In the middle there are some moments where the story gets a little sluggish. The story does move at a slow pace so there are times when it feels like it is taking a little too long to get to the next part. Aside from those few gripes there isn’t much else to dislike here as everything else is hitting on all cylinders.

The performances from the cast are all top notch but the standouts are for sure Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgard. This is a breakthrough performance for Depp as this is the first time in her career that she is really getting the opportunity to show off her acting chops. Skarsgard is doing what he does best as count Orlok. This is another creepy character for him to sink his teeth into (no pun intended) and he does so brilliantly. Everyone else in the cast does good work here as well. Nicholas Hoult gives a solid performance as this has been quite a nice year for him. Willem Dafoe is always a delight to see, as is Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Rounding out the cast are Emma Corrin and Ralph Ineson, who both add in good performances to this very talented cast.

Seeing the character of Count Orlok for the first time is quite an experience. The marketing for this movie has done a great job at not showing the design of the character outside of showing him the shadows or in silhouette. Once you see him it is an image that you will not forget. It is a different take on the character that what has been used in the original movie and in other media, but the makeup effects really do make it work. Add Skarsgard’s great performance and it is nothing short of spectacular.Nosferatu is a stellar horror remake that is able to take a classic story and make it feel new. Robert Eggers makes this his own and adds his touch to the story. Add in great makeup and special effects as well as fantastic performances from the cast, especially Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgard. This is easily one of the best horror movies of the year.

Rating: 8.5/10

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