Nosferatu - Movie Review

Critics Score - 9 of 10

General Audience Score - 8 of 10

There are some directors whose names alone make cinephiles and movie critics ears perk up. From the man behind the films The Witch, The Lighthouse and most recently The Northman, Robert Eggers is one of the directors thats name being attached to a project immediately calls attention to it. When word first dropped that Eggers was helming a vampire film, expectations went through the roof because those two things seemed like a match made in Heaven. Or maybe more like Hell. Nosferatu, the newest Eggers film from Focus Features, drops into theatres on Christmas Day as a bit of anti-programming, for those looking for something a bit different than the standard happy holiday fare. As per the usual, Eggers has this world crafted to near perfection, it’s tonally dark and moody, it’s as nightmarish as they come. But its crafts are just the beginning. Besides being incredibly stylish and immersive, the story is well structured and doesn’t drag much, despite its almost two hour and fifteen minute runtime. The dread that the film maintains throughout is no small feat, both lead actors Lily-Rose Depp and Nicholas Hoult are putting in impressive performances to amplify the story. I’ll preface my general audience score by saying I thought about giving it a 9, but took it down just a point because it is horror, it is dark and bloody, and a bit out of the comfort zone for some mainstream audiences. But if you like horror, monster and vampire films, or if you just dig other Robert Eggers movies in general, head to the cinema this Christmas Day. Nosferatu will suck the blood right out of your veins . . .  and you’ll love every moment of it.

SYNOPSIS - Our nightmare begins with us hearing a girl weeping softly, an image appears of the girl, Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp), we see only her head and upper shoulders, her hands folded under her chin in prayer. She appears cold and white against a black background, her face and white dress are illuminated by a blue light to her left. As we watch her praying, she’s clearly in a state of peril as she pleads for a guardian angel, a spirit of comfort to find her, tears stream down her cheeks. Then in a deep, menacing voice we hear the Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård), say raspily in a long drawn out single word, “You”. Ellen opens her eyes gasping, staring straight ahead at the camera now, we hear a soft hissing sound and the camera begins to move slowly in a circular motion around her, allowing us to take in the room she’s in. We see a cross on the wall and other standard room features from an 18th century home as Ellen slowly moves forward, we see she’s been looking at an open doorway to an upstairs balcony. As we continue to slowly circle around her, the curtains are drawn across the door, but Count Orlok’s silhouette shadow appears as if he’s standing right behind it. Although as the breeze blows the sheet out of the way for us to briefly see the night outside, nobody is standing behind the slightly transparent, white curtain, yet the shadow remains.

We finally make our way 180° degrees around Ellen, with the camera also slowly backing away from her, until we finally become privy to the fact that she’s not slowing walking towards the doorway, but levitating. Her feet pointing down towards the floor, she’s pulled, or perhaps summoned, towards the doorway, Orlok’s shadow still playing upon the moving curtains. The menacing Count’s voice continues, “You are not for the living. You are not for human kind.” The scene cuts and we’re transported outside the large four story house, Ellen too has been taken out and stands, white dress swaying in the breeze, along the pathway in front of the large residence. After lingering for a few moments, we again hear the voice ask, “Do you swear it?”. The shot changes and we’re allowed to view just Ellen’s face as she whispers, “I swear”, and we slowly pull away to see her laying on her back in the grass. Her mouth agape, we linger on her face until suddenly we get a split second shot of the count standing over her, then see his hand clasp around her throat, she screams, her body paralyzed with despair. Her body begin to shake, he arm reaching up almost like it has a life of its own as she turns sideways and continues to have violent seizure like movements.

There is so much being done on a visual aesthetic level here that I could spend the entire review talking about just the first few minutes of the film. Needless to say, it is jaw dropping. Image after image of stunning camera work and composition overwhelm the audience. The title screen hits followed by the notation “years later”. Ellen wakes up in bed and calls for Thomas (Nicholas Hault), to which he responds “What’s that, my love?”, and the camera pans around the bedroom revealing his presence. The scene is in color, although the film shifts back and forth from some of the dreamlike sequences shot in mostly black and white, yet the color palette is so muted that there’s little to no notice of these fluctuations through the runtime. Thomas buttons on his vest and comes to sit beside her on the bed, she pleads with him to stay a bit longer. After a few more kisses and insisting he must leave for work, he departs, much to the dismay of Ellen. Out on the busy city streets of an 18th century town in Germany, Thomas makes his way through the crowd until he arrives at his workplace and speaks to one of the partners at his office. His new assignment will be to travel to Romania and secure a new deal for a property purchase with the wealthy but mysterious Count Orlok, who’s planning on buying a home in their lovely little town.

After some arrangements are made, Ellen goes to stay for the duration of his trip with their good friends Friedrich (Aaron-Taylor-Johnson) and his wife Anna (Emma Corrin). Thomas embarks on what proves to be no chance encounter with the Count, the journey being long and wearisome, the feeling of dread and foreboding slowly filling the air until the doors to the Count’s home loom before him. Thomas meets with the Count, who appears and disappears via the nature of the camera angles utilized, but despite his elusive nature, eventually the documents are signed, but Orlok has no plans on letting him leave so easily. As the true nature of Count Orlok’s plans slowly reveal themselves to Ellen via her visions and Thomas after he narrowly escapes the Count’s grasp and returns home, eventually Professor Albin Eberhart (Willem Defoe) is recruited to help them hunt down the vampire Orlok and stop the plague his evil threatens to bring upon them all.

You should already be able to guess what I think about Robert Eggers work in this film with what I’ve already stated. If you haven’t, I will tell you now. His vision is virtually unmatched, his craftsmanship is evident from the first moments until the final shot. His direction exceeds his writing here, which both are excellent, but Eggers, like Orlok, is absolutely diabolical in his delivery of this material. To say this film is haunting isn’t quite right, it’s more like an infestation, a plague if you will, that slowly takes over and you’re left with no other choice but to succumb to it’s will. I was completely obsessed with the production design of this movie. The minutest details in the sets, from the markings on tombs to the castle doors and rooms, every inch of this world we wander around in for two hours, feels inhabited by evil. When I say that the cinematography of the film is at legendary status, I mean if the Academy Awards refuse to acknowledge the work done in this film with a nomination, simply because it’s a horror movie, I will happily riot in the streets with all the other Robert Eggers junkies. The use of lighting effects and shadows in this film is otherworldly. One sequence with a fireplace I was particularly impressed with, but this movie is visually stunning in virtually every scene. The sound work, all the strange noises, creaks and groans, as well as the guttural human sounds made at various times, are again, next level. Although an aspect of the film that did leave me wanting was the score. This film stays strangely quiet through portions (think The Witch). We’re left in silence at moments, which was fine, but I kept expecting some of the score by Robin Carolan, with it’s chimes and subtle humming to pick up and add to the mood, but it never did and didn’t make much of an impression. Nicholas Hault and Lily-Rose Depp are both doing great work, as I mentioned at the outset, but Willem Dafoe is also throwing a great effort into the ring as a supporting player. A better person to play Count Orlok couldn’t have possibly been found, as I’m fairly certain Bill Skarsgård is some incarnation of an evil entity in how effectively he can control his voice and body movements through some of those sequences. The makeup, hair and costume design elements, as well as some of the prosthetic work on Skarsgård, are all impeccable. I really hope this film contends for Oscars in more than just one or two categories, it’s so deserving. Bottom line is Nosferatu is a masterclass in atmospheric, dread inducing, tension infused cinema. Galadriel from Lord Of The Rings summed up my feelings for this film when she described what would happen if she were to take the one ring and said, “All shall love me and despair.” That’s Nosferatu for ya.

SUMMARY - Robert Eggers, while paying homage to the original, pours his own fascinating perspective and creativity into this material. It’s dark, it’s creepy, it’s downright badass, but as a piece of cinema, for the purposes of capturing audiences attention, perhaps the one thing it is most importantly doing is entertaining. He is coming, this winter, so brace yourself, Nosferatu will have you on the edge of your seat.