Written by: Ryan Dailey
Are reboots needed? For the most part, no. The Crow and the upcoming Idle Hands are testaments to that fact. Nosferatu is an exception in that Eggers did his research and has a deep love for the source material, something that is more than relevant on screen.
The film centers on Thomas (Nicolas Hoult) and Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) as Ellen deals with vicious night terrors. Thomas is a real estate salesman that must travel to the castle of Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard) to complete the sale that promises he and his bride a life of security and luxury. Both Ellen and Thomas begin to experience dark visions, prompting the services of Professor Eberhart Von Franz (Williem DaFoe.)
Much like the piece that inspired it, Nosferatu 2024 should be a prerequisite in any film studies course. Eggers manages to draw the viewer in through his setups and direction the way Orlok draws in his victims, meticulously and with a feeling of dark magic.
The acting in this film is a masterclass. The cast manages to balance insanity and normalcy in ways that are never seen in film, which leads back into the subplot of the film, which is a study in mental illness and how it is/was approached.
Eggers has done the impossible. In the current cinema landscape,it is hard enough to reach any level of success with an original intellectual property, let alone remaking a 100 year old classic that has inspired countless films and filmmakers. Eggers has done it. He is ushering in a renaissance in not only horror filmmaking, but filmmaking in general.
The runtime is a bit bloated at over two hours, but the viewer will not even notice as this gothic fever dream is so engaging that the audience will be hungry for more.
Overall, Nosferatu is taking back the vampire genre by not having the vampire be a glitter coated 29 year old playing a teenager or the other trope of sophisticated man of wealth using sex appeal to “hunt.”
Overall, Nosferatu is easily a 4 out of 5, a film that would benefit only by the most minor of cuts.
Nosferatu is currently available to buy or rent on some streaming platforms.