Nosferatu (2024)

Director: Robert Eggers

Starring: Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgård, Willem Dafoe

A gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.

With all the hype and critical acclaim for the film, I expected a new vision of a familiar story, but there’s nothing new here. What’s the point of doing a remake if its almost identical to another film?

‘Nosferatu’ was the very first vampire movie back in 1922 (based on Bram Stoker’s novel ‘Dracula’, but essentially the same story just with names being changed). The film was remade in 1979 as ‘Nosferatu the Vampyre’, starring Klaus Kinski, and again in 1992 as ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’. (Ok, many will argue this film is not a remake, but it practically is). In 2000, a film called ‘Shadow of the Vampire’ was released, starring Willem Dafoe, and was a partly fictional/partly factual story about the making of the 1922 film.

‘Nosferatu’ (2024) was so similar to ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ that this remake literally is a copy/paste, but with most of my favourite scenes from ‘Dracula’ being omitted here. The 1992 film had a heart-pounding, nail-biting finale, whereas there hardly is a climax in ‘Nosferatu’. Reminiscing the 1992 film I was holding my breath to see what it would look like in this new version, but alas, they settled for a subdued climax, which was over in a whiff! Hardly a climax…

If ‘Nosferatu’ was the first remake, I probably would have liked it a lot more. The film is atmospheric, with good costumes, makeup and production design, but I found the film too dark (literally), and at times the editing made the film very confusing. The shadow effects are good, but the effects in ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ was far more superior, and creepy.

When it comes to performances, Bills Skarsgard makes a creepy Dracula, but Gary Oldman’s performance as Dracula in ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ was by far the best performance of a vampire character EVER! (Oldman won several Best Actor awards for his portrayal.) Willem Dafoe – generally a very good actor – sounded like he was reciting a Shakespearean play.

Although ‘Nosferatu’ is a well made film, I’m disappointed in many aspects, mostly the fact there’s no originality here. For those who haven’t seen ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’, I’m sure they will love this film. But if you haven’t seen that film yet, do yourself a favour and watch it.

‘Nosferatu’ was a box office success, earning nearly $157 million, on a budget of $50 million. At the time of writing this review, it already received 178 award nominations with 30 wins, including Best Art Direction, Best Production Design, Best Actress, and Best Cinematography.

Would I watch it again? No.