Nosferatu

Bill Skarsgård stars as the vampiric Count Orlok in Robert Eggers’ faithful, richly detailed remake of the German horror classic. The result is a dark delight

Film Review by Ross McIndoe | 19 Dec 2024
  • Nosferatu
Film title: Nosferatu
Director: Robert Eggers
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney
Release date: 1 Jan
Certificate: 15

Robert Eggers’ new version of the classic vampire tale Nosferatu isn’t a reimagining but a resurrection. The style is classical and the storytelling straightforward, staying largely faithful to the plot and tone of the 1922 original. And, thanks to Eggers’ skill as a conjurer of bad vibes and Bill Skarsgård’s guttural performance, Count Orlok retains all of the mesmerising power he wielded a century ago. 

Six-and-a-half feet of nervous limbs and good English manners, Nicholas Hoult is perfectly cast as Thomas Hutter, the young estate agent sent by his employer to a strange castle in Transylvania. It’s a big opportunity for him but his wife, Ellen (Lilly-Rose Depp), begs him to turn it down all the same, convinced that something awful will happen. He goes, she’s right, and soon their entire town is at the mercy of a towering, growling vampire.    

The world of Nosferatu is richly rendered as a high-class period piece – all sumptuous costumes, worn cobblestone streets and warm candle-lit rooms. As Orlok’s evil influence grows, Eggers takes great delight in draining the vitality from the screen, bathing the whole film in pale blue moonlight and finding all sorts of clever, creepy ways to play with shadows. The whole film is a dark delight, often dancing on the line between horror and humour, and never allowing you to forget, even for a moment, that you are under its power.

Released 1 Jan by Universal; certificate 15