Movie Review: Nosferatu (2024)
Synopsis: As a child, Ellen made a pledge to a mysterious creature in exchange for ending her loneliness, leaving her broken and "soiled" until she falls in love with and marries Thomas Hutter. Soon after their wedding, Thomas is given the task of traveling to Transylvania to complete a real estate transaction with Count Orlok. He accepts despite Ellen's pleas not to and soon discovers Orlok is both a vampire and the creature Ellen made her pledge to years earlier, a pledge Orlok does not intend to let Ellen break.
Who's in it? The movie stars Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Willem Dafoe and Emma Corrin.
Review: While I'm a big fan of the original silent film version of Nosferatu, I had some doubts about this remake when it came out in December. As a result, I decided not to see it in the theater and instead waited until I could watch it at home. My wife and I did that last night, and it turns out I enjoyed the movie a lot more than expected.
I think the thing I liked most about this film was, like the original, it kept the basic plot of Dracula (while changing the names of the characters) but also added a few additional twists that made it a reasonably unique film. This included Ellen's (Depp) connection with Orlok (Skarsgård) that both haunted her and gave her the ability to see into the future while also secretly being the reason for her husband being sent to Transylvania in the first place.
While I don't think the movie could accurately be described as a horror movie, it did manage to maintain a creepy vibe throughout, building the mood. Orlok's scenes were also surprisingly intense, especially when Thomas (Hoult) figures out what Orlok is and realizes he is the count's prisoner.
The movie does have quite a bit more sex than I was expecting. It wasn't anything I would consider porn-like though and those scenes did fit within the context of the overall movie. In other words, I wouldn't describe the nudity as gratuitous.
The ending was also unexpected. I won't go into any detail to avoid spoilers, but it is considerably different than what you'll see in most Dracula-based movies.
My only real complaint about the film is the same one I have with most movies that are in excess of 2 hours, it did seem to be drawn out at times and could have easily cut 20-30 minutes of runtime without having any impact on the plot. In fact, the filmmakers could have cut a good chunk of that from the scenes involving Thomas traveling to Transylvania, which was beginning to feel like it was being shown in real time. It also says something when the extended cut is only four minutes longer than the theatrical version).
I may have been a bigger fan of the longer film had it been used to develop the relationship between Ellen and Thomas a little more. They spend so little time on screen together before both are traumatized, it is hard to judge just how strong that relationship really. A bit more background about how they met, how they fell in love, etc. might have helped with that.
Final Opinion: After consideration, I still like the 1922 version and 1931's Dracula more. However, the movie did add some fresh perspective and had a talented cast so I would still recommend taking the time to watch it.
My Grade: B+
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Here are some reviews of other vampire movies:
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