When Nosferatu (2024) Is More Than Another Lustful Incubus on the Loose!

To answer the question of how many movies were made featuring Count Orlok aka Nosferatu is five. There’s the original film (1922) and the back-to-back takes from 2023 (subtitled Symphony of Horror) and Robert Egger’s tale, released December 2024. The 1979 version called him Count Dracula and in Vampire of Venice, simply Nosferatu (both played by Klaus Kinski). And in Shadow of the Vampire (2000), it’s a movie about making the seminal film. Those are the most well known.

What makes this filmmaker’s version stand out is how bleak the visual landscape looks. Also, he’s drawing on traditional Eastern European folklore to make this evil come alive!

Also, the Victorian world is bleak. One key element concerns the fears people had regarding change. The suffrage movement gained traction during this era and to make Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) the focus, just what she represents is very important. She feels stifled, and not all of it involves sexual tension. Ultimately, her desire to be part of the supernatural is why a new terror is about to strike! But can she control it?

Although she’s matured some, that nightmare keeps on manifesting in strange ways. When she asks her soon to be husband, Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) to stay, he doesn’t. He has a job to do, and that’s visiting a new client regarding the purchase of some real estate in their town. Part of the reason is that she doesn’t want to be alone while he’s gone. Those dreams have started up again, and when she is prone to sleepwalking, somebody better look out for her! Just whether her somnambulism is similar to that in The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, I think not.

Elsewhere, Herr Knock (Simon McBurney), has his own agenda to fulfill. He is this story’s version of Renfield, and while the two are very dissimilar in personality, there’s enough exposition regarding why the line, “The blood is the Life,” is important. And in this film, the way he communicates with the vampire is truly a lot more mystical!

As for Prof. Albin Eberhart Von Franz (i.e. Van Helsing), this version knows the classic folklore very well! But when he cannot convince the townspeople of a vampire in their midst, he’s more or less on his own. No one comprehends what is happening until Thomas escapes his prison and arrives home. But even then, this film only affirms the power of the woman in saving the day. 

As for how other films interpreted how this beast must die, I favour those where sunlight obliterates the body. I remember Werner Herzog’s movie showing the corpse laying on the ground. In other versions, the vampire faded away with the morning light! This effect is a lot more impactful. Bill Skarsgård nails that moment perfectly and if I had to rank death scenes, I’d say this moment ranks as number two.

In terms of which version of Nosferatu is the best of the lot, there’s no denying the original is the most effectively creepy as it was a silent film. There’s something about that cadence which makes that work more eerie when compared to others. Skarsgård is number three, and I would have to rewatch the other films to determine four and five.

5 Stars out of 5

Nosferatu (2024) Movie Trailer