Riot’s Reviews: Nosferatu
Vampires. The well of content surrounding the mythical monstrosity runs about a deep as it can possibly get. A quick Google search pulls up a plethora of titles in film, television, art, and fiction and it’s a subject matter that will likely never have an end to its adaptations and re-imaginings. The vampire is a staple of fictional culture, hailing from warm and fuzzy places like Sesame Street, Halloween Town, and Transylvanian hotels to the bloody and terror-ridden worlds of last voyages, month-long nightfall, and jolly old London (extra points if y’all guess every reference). I chuckled internally as I scrolled through the list and realized I had seen a large majority of all of these vampire iterations, then laughing again when I noticed the only ones I really enjoyed weren’t of the horror genre (being real, I think I need to commit to not going to anymore of these for the rest of the year). I just wanted to convey my reluctance to see Robert Eggers next, certain to disturb me, re-imagining of Nosferatu, buuuut when multiple people voice their wish to hear my thoughts on the film, I have no choice but to oblige. Honest disclaimer: I’ve never seen Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, but I had cursory knowledge about the history behind it and its interpretation/link to Bram Stoker’s, Dracula (big recommend btw). So, how was 2024’s latest run at the immortal bloodsucker genre?
Gross, it was gross. The visuals were gross, the scenes were gross, the nihilistic ending was gross, and the way it made me feel was gross. Nothing about this should be surprising, as I’ve said many times, horror is not my bag. And while I haven’t seen the rest of Egger’s films, I remember, vividly, how I felt watching The Lighthouse. I was almost immediately transported back to that horrible, uncomfortable state right after the starting gun. Having not seen the original Nosferatu, I don’t know how much creative licensing was used for the events of the story, but once it was all said and done, I left confused about why the conclusion played out the way it did. As a personal disappointing note, this was the first Willem Dafoe role I have actively disliked in a very long time (and I sat through the irredeemable trash that was Poor Things). Egger’s version of Nosferatu I think was billed a lot more like a psychological thriller as well, which didn’t really play out in the way it was maybe intended (that was the impression I got from the trailer at the very least). I’m not even certain it was a decent vampire story either; think The Exorcist more than anything else. Lily-Rose Depp’s (Ellen Hutter) was basically pulled straight from those types of movies, complete with bodily contortions, convulsions, and facial disfigurements.
I don’t want to harp on the negatives like they mean it was a bad movie though. In fact, as far as I can tell it was a fantastic horror film, I just didn’t enjoy it. The superstar cast, being probably the biggest draw, delivered. Bill Skarsgard as Count Orlok was absolutely horrific/gruesome. While I refuse to watch the IT movies, it seems like Skarsgard is cornering the market on these deeply disturbing, monstrous portrayals. The things he was doing with his voice were unreal. Nicholas Hoult and Aaron Taylor-Johnson put on great performances as two friends desperate to sort out the mystical chaos Orlock is bringing to their lives. And while I wasn’t particularly fond of Dafoe’s poser Van Helsing, I really enjoyed Ralph Ineson’s, Dr. Sievers. The cinematography was fascinating throughout a majority of the film and there were a few surprising/interesting effects (CGI and practical) spattered here and there. The color filter lens work really helped emphasize how daylight/nightfall affected the different events in the story and the score, combined with often shrieking sound effects, heightened the uneasy feeling you consistently have, making the multiple jump scares that much more shocking.
There’s a lot in this movie to be wary of. Setting the disturbing visuals and gore aside, there is an excessive amount of unnecessary nudity/sexuality that sincerely adds nothing to the story. Leaning too far into the occult and mysticism of the story I think was a mistake overall as well. The weird “psychological link” between Orlock and Ellen did nothing to increase the gravity of the situation. There could have been a really interesting assessment of evil and doing whatever is necessary, no matter the cost, to vanquish it. But in the end I felt it was ruined by the grotesque imagery, especially surrounding the final… “confrontation.” The pacing drags for a horror movie and the dialogue is patchy in its impact in a lot of places. Do I think horror fans are going to like this one though? I can’t imagine they won’t. Does it play to a general audience? I’m going to go with, no.
Riot’s Rating: 6.8/10: Functionality wise, Nosferatu accomplishes what it sets out to do, which is to disturb the audience. With some editing/condensing and a few extra dashes of substance, it could have had a more meaningful reach, but for me, myself, and I, no bueno.