NOSFERATU is in theaters this Christmas. Not the film you would expect during your yuletide celebration, but certainly one for award season. If you have had your fill of traditional love stories via Netflix and the Hallmark Channel this might be a pallet cleanse for sure.
SYNOPSIS: A gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.
There have been a few films based on the Nosferatu character dating back to the original German silent film in 1922. Obviously when it comes to Dracula, vampires, and the undead the number of movies and shows are too numerous to…count. Even Sesame Street has its own. It is almost to the point that Dracula and Vampires have become endearing more than terrifying. Well thanks to writer/director Robert Eggers that version ends here. Let us be traumatized once again.
Fans of Gothic horror will enjoy every bite of this one. The set design, cinematography, color choice, and make up create a beautiful film in spite of its horrifying content. This is an instant classic that genre buffs will watch yearly, just probably not at this Holiday. Preferably a few months earlier.
Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) is a young bride who somehow latched on to the Vampyre Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) years earlier through some sort of fever dream. Orlok is now obsessed with having her, body and soul. When Ellen’s husband (Nicholas Hoult) is sent to Orlok’s castle on a business venture – I know that sounds silly but works in the film – it is all part of a devious plot to get Ellen.
Much of the film centers on Ellen and her possession which causes her to go into trances and indescribable fits. Ellen is staying with close friends Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Anna (Emma Corrin) Harding who get caught up in the tragedy simply by association. In fact I feel as if the Harding’s suffer the worst. They do there best to try and comfort Ellen as they try and decipher what is causing the fits.
Depp is fantastic. No more need said. Some might say that her pale, waif countenance is just her normal look. If so she uses it splendidly here. There are times when she has to convince us that what she is seeing and we are not is real. You will be convinced. You feel for her and wish for her and her husband to be free of all of this. Speaking of husband. We have seen Hoult is several films this year and this might be the best as it is quite different than what we are used to. He loves his wife and logs to provide her with a beautiful life. Even if it means sacrificing his own.
One the best characters in the film is Prof. Albin Eberhart von Franz played marvelously by Willem Dafoe. Franz recognizes Ellen’s condition straight on and is convinced that more sinister business is afoot. It is more than a plague or outbreak. Something is coming. Dafoe plays the part so organically that you think Dafoe actually lived through this. He is so comfortable and sure of what is happening and it makes his character the only one you would trust. His description of events and the Vampyre is told with the same calm certainty of someone ordering off a drive through menu. Just another day at the office.
The events that take place at the castle or the creepiest for sure and Orlok is one scary dude. His voice and stature are menacing and Skarsgård does not overplay the role. He does not swoop into the room with cape flowing. Instead he is more the lurking in the dark shadows sort of Count. He will stop at nothing to get to Ellen and there is a wake of carnage in his path. When he feeds it is not delicate bur ferocious. In fact many of the jump scares and chilling moments are during these times.
Certainly not for the squeamish and many might wait until after the New Year to feast on this one. And this is understandable. If you can see it in the theater that will offer the best use of the beauty in which the movie is shot. It is rated R for bloody violent content, graphic nudity and some sexual content. Hotel Transylvania or Fright Night it is not. In fact NOSFERATU is a in a leauge all its own and elevates the Vampire genre to new heights. It is gothic horror at its best.
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