Review of Nosferatu, directed by Robert Eggers

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

I recently fell into a spell of unemployment probably during the worst time to be unemployed, as it was very hard to find a job. I was applying to hundreds of jobs, getting interviews, but no offer was manifesting for me in the near future. So during this time, I had a lot of free time, and spent a good chunk of it chipping away at the blog.

Back in the day, when I had a car (a kid totaled it a while back, and because I was unemployed, I didn’t want to take on a car payment while I did contract/freelance work remotely), I used to go to the movie theater two or three times a week. I had AMC A List, and because my county had quite a few AMC options, and I went to New York often, I had the chance to go and see whatever I wanted.

I ended up canceling my A List because I had no car and I thought I was moving abroad, which fell through after waiting four months and being told that it was going to happen. I missed my A List dearly during this time, especially as there were so many movies I wanted to see and no longer had the chance.

Nosferatu is one of the movies I definitely would have gone to see if I had a car and my A List back. But because I didn’t have them, I was forced to wait until it showed up at my local library branch as a DVD copy, which wasn’t the worst thing in the world because I didn’t need to pay for it then.

Once I got the DVD, I was so excited I watched the movie immediately. Let’s get into the review, as I know introductions can get quite long and they’re not what you’re here for.

A woman falls under the spell of Nosferatu, a revived vampire lord.

This movie begins at the beginning of the 1800s, when a girl, Ellen, asks for a companion to help her feel a little less lonely in the world. Turns out the universe wants this companion to be the vampire Nosferatu, as a psychic link is forced between the two, and she has seizures because of it.

Years pass, and Ellen is now married to Thomas Hutter. They have an estate in Germany, but things are about to get ugly when Thomas is told to sell a manor that belongs to a recluse. Ellen doesn’t want him to go, but he goes anyways, leaving Ellen behind with his friend Friedrich and his wife Anna.

When Thomas gets to Transylvania, he sees how the locals are weary about the estate he has to sell and avoid him. The old woman he rents a room from even tells him not to go to Orlok’s castle, and Thomas watches as a group of people kill what they think is a vampire. The next morning, his horse is gone, the people missing, and Thomas walks to the castle.

There, he finds the bizarre Orlok, who sells the estate. However, Orlok also tricks Thomas into ending his marriage ona. document and Thomas begins realizing that something is wrong here and asks to leave. Orlok demands he stay, but then Thomas wakes up, sees bite marks all over him, and flees after he sees Orlok in a coffin.

Orlok wakes up and chases after him, and Thomas narrowly escapes. Orlok then goes with his coffin on a ship to find Ellen, and the ship’s crew all die of the plague. Back home, Ellen is becoming possessed by her psychic link with Orlok, and has seizures and episodes. A scientist from Switzerland, Albin Eberhart von Franz, visits and determines officially she has a link with Nosferatu.

The ship arrives and the plague spreads to the population in the town. Knock, who was found out to be working for Orlok, escapes and brings Orlok to the manor, while Orlok also tells Ellen through her dreams that she has to come to him or everyone she loves will die. Anna is attacked by rats, who are infested with the plague, when Ellen wakes up, and Thomas returns.

Ellen is upset that Orlok managed to manipulate him so easily, but then they have sex together, angering Orlok enough he kills Anna and her two children. Friedrich dies not long after that, having gone mad and infected with the plague, but not before he has some unfortunate action with his wife.

Von Franz continued his research while all of this went down, and he realizes that if a fair maiden sacrifices herself, then Nosferatu can be taken down. Ellen realizes it has to be her, and Thomas can’t stop what’s about to happen. As Thomas is lured away by the scientist, Ellen allows Orlok to feed on her until sunrise, which kills him, and Thomas returns home just as Ellen is dying.

However, her sacrifice means that everyone else can live peacefully without the threat of Nosferatu/Orlok.

Overall Thoughts

This is such a dark movie, but I found myself enjoying the gothic aesthetics. For those who know their film history, this was actually directly inspired by the Nosferatu that came out a hundred years prior, in 1922, and is a modern adaptation oft he classic tale that’s much older than the original movie.

I have not seen the original 1922 movie, so I can’t compare this film to that one, but I do think I’ll get around to it eventually. Regardless, this is a solid movie, but it can be a bit dense and bogged down, especially with its slower pacing. Not sure if modern audiences would go for this one typically unless they’re in the mood, which is fine. Not everything is meant to be mainstream.

The standout for me though is definitely Nicholas Hoult. He’s such a fantastic actor who has taken on a wide range of roles, and while I wanted to like Depp more in this film, she was just fine. That’s definitely part of the limitations of her character though, that’s for sure.

Go watch this one if you’re interested. It might be worth it if it sounds like something that typically would go for, and might make a good horror night session.

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