Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” has never lacked for cinematic adaptations.
The original 1922 silent film “Nosferatu” was followed by Bela Lugosi as Dracula in the 1931 English adaptation, the German “Nosferatu the Vampyre” by Werner Herzog, and Francis Ford Copolla’s ambitious “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” in 1992.
With all these hailed films from beloved directors, Robert Eggers “Nosferatu” has a lot on the line.
Dark narratives tie together Eggers’s filmography. His debut, “The Witch,” and subsequent follow ups “The Lighthouse” and “The Northman” proved brooding and dark, and so does “Nosferatu.”
Nicholas Hoult and Lily-Rose Depp star as newlyweds Thomas and Ellen Hutter living in the small town of Wisburg, Germany, circa 1830.
Ellen, suffering with premonitions of the shadowy Nosferatu Orlok (Bill Skarsgard), spirals out of control as her husband travels to Transylvania to sell a property in Wisburg to Count Orlok.
Upon his arrival Thomas, aware of his grim conditions at Orlok’s castle, sells the property in his small town, unleashing devastation upon his wife and the people of Wisburg.
The film’s depiction of 1830’s Germany is flawless. Eggers has made his love of time period pieces well known, and he only seems to get better at it as he goes.
The score is grandiose and ominous, and the cinematography is some of the best of the year, taking advantage of the dark to build on the tone of the story.
Between Depp and Hoult’s chemistry, Bill Skarsgard’s disturbed job as Nosferatu, and Willem Dafoe’s support as Doctor Albin Eberheart shine in this dark drama.
As a whole, the film is a monolith, a version of the tale that will stick out forever amongst its predecessors.