Robert Eggers really is the filmmaker equivalent of the Brothers Grim. His resume is a rabbit hole of twisted fairy tales designed for horrifying effect and to also flip the genre on its head. His latest is as acclaimed, if not more so, than his previous works; gems like The VVitch, The Lighthouse, The Northman and now Nosferatu. For me, it is a crowning achievement and worthy of standing with the aforementioned Eggers’ thrillers… but it is also his weakest…
What Eggers can do to immerse Nosferatu in the gothic horror genre is something of a marvel! His wondrous play with shadows to create some of the most chilling sequences I’ve recently experienced in the cinema is beyond the limits of mastery. The cinematography, matched with superb editing, is something that if the Oscars will (predictably) not champion, then we certainly must. I cannot bang the drum for Jarin Blaschke enough; we have a master at work!
My history with Nosferatu is hazy but I am aware of its unconventional impact on film; an accidental Dracula variant became this cultural staple. Eggers adheres to that through his underlying love letter to the era and a passion project to uphold the importance of Nosferatu; because there was a time when people had this before Dracula could be the cinematic icon he is now.
The cast is relatively strong. Lily Rose Depp has been an actress I always found special to watch but never hit the limelight, probably because of some iffy career moves. This will hopefully prompt her stardom as she keeps viewer’s focus on her amidst a cast of equally stellar and more famous actors. Her bravery to the role’s various demands sets her up for one of the industry’s forces of nature.
Willem Dafoe’s hypnosis he conceals in his mannerisms can make Count Orlok jealous. Just another role he completely gets lost in and he’s wonderful as always. Aaron Taylor Johnson was a casting that at first worried me but the raw emotions he delivers later on marked him as a stand out. And Nicolas Hoult makes his mark as a pure scream queen.
Bill Skarsgard does exceptionally well as Count Orlok. However, I found myself deterred by the more we saw of his design. Yes, I’m a moustache hater! I understand why they opted for it – homages to the character’s Vlad the Impailer origins – but it failed for horror effect. I remember how genuinely scared I was watching Max Schreck from the 1922 version and the albino creature he embodied looks impressive than this overblown redesign.
My main flaw is that Nosferatu is a movie that dazzles on the aesthetic aspect and through its homages to its roots, but struggles to make care for anything at the core of it. The characters, aside from Rose Depp and Dafoe, all seem in favour to the aesthetic and beyond that they seem very simplistic.
This lack of emotional grip on the story and the turmoil of the humans populating it is but a taste of a few sporadic and moralistically odd sequences. For example, Hoult’s character commits an act of pure villainy, which derails my investment in him, and for Eggers to gloss over that made me question why that was needed.
Nosferatu is Eggers at his best and worst; I fear the prospect of remake a hundred and two (or three depending on UK releases) year old film with modern filmmaking elements shelved his character writing and story depth, something he’s usually been mastery over. I question whether his ego may have overtaken his artistic merit now his name is on the map. Still the film a technical wonder and a glowing cinematic experience.
