Filled with a foreboding and menace, Nosferatu from director/writer Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse) is an excellent update of the original 1922 classic by F. W. Murnau.
It is 1838 in Germany and a woman, Ellen (Lily–Rose Depp), is plagued by visions of a deadly presence even as her beloved husband, Thomas (Nicholas Hoult), is called away on business for a mysterious client in a remote castle. It is Count Orlock (Bill Skarsgård), a vampire with designs to relocate and feed on the populace while seeking Ellen, the object of his passion. He travels undercover by ship to bring with his disease and pestilence to new environs while Ellen feels impending dread and inevitability. Even as Thomas enlists the help of a professor (Willem Dafoe), Orlock advances to his obsession, and Ellen comes to the realization that she must face this nightmarish menace face-to-face.
This is an intensely atmospheric, even sensuous film, with memorable imagery beautifully shot and with sumptuous, period sets and costumes that compliment beautifully realized set pieces, all in keeping with a unified vision. With meticulously assembled vignettes, this long gestating project, a labor of love by Eggers generates a pervasive mood, one of inevitability and doom. It’s not an exaggeration to say this film is an homage not only to the original, silent version, but a tribute to the German expressionist era.
Depp
is excellent as is
Skarsgård (It) who seems to thrive on
villainous, horror roles, but it is the overall atmosphere that brilliantly
acts as a character in an impressive, memorable film that can stand alone in
its accomplishments. Vampire purist may relish in this lavish production that comes across as more gothic horror
(with a couple graphic moments). Eggers is triumphant.
****1/2
of ***** stars (for vampire purists)
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