A figure that has spanned popular culture since its inception, Dracula has heavily influenced every generation. Hitting cinemas in Australia this January Nosferatu looks to reignite our love of dark cinema in a way that can only be handled by Robert Eggers with his fourth feature film firmly cementing him as the heir apparent to cinemas horror throne.
In the darkest of night Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) cries out into the darkness for someone to love and protect her. An ancient voice answers her calls booming across the night sky, here to grant her every desire and save Ellen from the profound loneliness plaguing her. A moment quickly followed by that of pure lust, hallucinations and an unholy union as Ellen gives herself to the mysterious being sealed simply with “I swear”. Truly one of the most horrifically beautiful and terrifying openings I have seen on film in some time.
Years later Germany. 1838, Ellen is recently married to her betrothed Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) with whom she is madly in love with. Thomas is beginning his new job at an estate agency in hopes of providing the best he can for his new wife. He is quickly given his first assignment, to travel to a remote region in the Carpathian Mountains to complete the sale in person of an old local mansion. The suitor is the mysterious Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard) who is described as having one foot in the grave and looking to relocate to their small town to live out his final days. Of course Thomas in need of his new position and much to the dislike of Ellen begins his perilous journey.
His final night on the road Thomas enters a small village near Orlok’s castle, alive with music and dance, that is until they realise his final destination and try to persuade him from going on further. Thomas, determined to grow his standing amongst his peers, leaves early the next morning on foot for the final push to the castle. On this solitary and dimly lit road an unmanned carriage appears to ferry him to his meeting with the count.
Count Orlock is an imposing character. A towering figure with pale aged skin who covers himself in an oversized fur coat, breathes as if each breath is his last and speaks in a thick Eastern European accent that demands attention and obedience. His voice is deep, cruel and creates terror everytime he speaks, it is in these moments that the tension truly grips and Eggers cinematography refuses to let you relax from the moment Orlak graces the screen.
While Thomas is very clearly unsure of Orlok’s presence and his frightening aura, Eggers denies us clear vision keeping the creature confined to the shadows or shrouded in a gloom creating a heightened sense of dread and anticipation. All while simultaneously disorienting us with smooth transitional camera work cleverly designed to make us look not where we should but where the filmmakers want us too.
Nosferatu stays close to its source material with Thomas falling victim to Orlok’s deceptions while he grapples with his own sense of duty to protect Ellen. Orlok, infatuated with the beautiful Ellen and their other worldly connection begins his trip to her side slowly driving her further into a madness that Thomas was shielding her from.
Ellen’s descent into madness leaves family friends Friedrich Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his wife Anna (Emma Corrin), with whom Ellen has a close bond, looking for answers with the local physician Dr Wilhelm Sievers (Ralph Ineson) but when his prescriptions of blood letting, tying her down to the bed and a healthy dose of ether fail to yield any results he turns to his old mentor the now disgraced Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz (Willem Dafoe). It is Von Franz who recognises the signs and determines Ellen is under the influence of something much older and darker than they are prepared for.
Lily-Rose Depp’s Ellen is in a constant state of fear and torment for the entirety of the film. Moments of lucidity are quickly whisked away as the creature once again takes hold of her. Depp’s performance gives new meaning to hauntingly beautiful while still being unhinged enough to have us fearful of the characters well being. Ellen struggles from the trauma of her past while deeply conflicted between what she loves and what she desperately lusts for.
Each and every performance from the young cast in Nosferatu is career defining. Depp proves that she is one to continue to watch as she refines her craft further and will continue to light up the screen with each performance. Holt returns with his usual frazzled energy that is perfectly suited to Thomas’ struggles with Dafoe once again providing the manic energy that I didn’t realise was missing until it was skillfully injected once again.
Skarsgard’s commanding portrayal of Orlok is everything and more we can ask for in a creature so vile and frightening. Off screen his presence is felt through his booming voice constantly twisting and drawing you into him waiting for him to reveal himself from the shadows. When on screen Orlok is a physically imposing figure, using the shadows to his benefit and bereft of any humanity left only with his animalistic lustre.
His desire for Ellen forever on show ultimately manifests itself into a poison that befalls all.
The entirety of Nosferatu is shot with an almost monochromatic hue allowing your senses to be completely drawn into what is unfolding on screen and feeling a true sense of fear and tension that I have been longing for in cinema for some time. Set to a sinister soundtrack not once throughout are you allowed to feel safe as Orlok crafts his desires as if reaching out from within the screen itself.
I tell you all this as Nosferatu is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time, or at least it should have been. Unfortunately through all the brilliance that Nosferatu and the sheer haunting beauty that it brings to the screen it didn’t sit well with me. Count Orlok when we finally got to see the creature was a let down, he didn’t have the frightening aura that I had come to expect from the intense build up nor did he have the charismatic allure that Dracula is known for. While vile and repulsive he was more closely modeled after a zombie than what I would normally expect from the creature. There are also many moments of prolonged discourse between characters that feel like they would work well in theatre but missed the mark for me on screen.
Nosferatu is a feast for the senses as it delves into the depths of erotic desires and themes of loss, loneliness and passionate wants. Beautiful cinematography and a haunting score keep you engaged but it is ultimately let down by some pacing issues and character design that didn’t live up to the feeling of dread I was so perfectly prepared for.
Fans of true gothic horror are going to enjoy this and quite rightly so, but many will walk away wanting something else to come from your time with the creature Nosferatu.
