No bats, yet a scene with hanging macs gives an image hint, a cinematic simile, in Robert Eggers visually arresting version of the vampire classic, NOSFERATU.
With a creepy cadaverous count, Orlok, who goes for the aorta rather than the jugular, this vampire presents as a supernatural gas-lighting male with an Eastern European accent that proves indecipherable at times, making Bela Lugosi sound like a veritable Henry Higgins.
Fetid flesh, gnarly nails, and decaying dental is monstrous enough without the guttural, glottal goulash of the ghoul.
The casting of Bill Skarsgård in the role may be inspired but the vaudeville vocalisation is not. The original film has Orlok more silhouette than substance, a disturbing optical illusion until finally revealed in all its grotesqueness.
Lily-Rose Depp portrays Ellen, the conflicted, possessed central figure, object of desire of the undead. She possesses a spectral, ethereal presence that is sublime.
Another transfusion of talent arrives with Simon McBurney as the Renfield knock off, Knock, and Willem Dafoe as the Van Helsing inspired, Von Franz. Both of these fine actors find a vein in the narrative and nourish the film with a succulent robustness. These two performances are worth the price of admission.
Aesthetically pleasing, NOSFERATU reunites production designer Craig Lathrop, cinematographer, Jarin Blaschke, costume desiger Linda Muir, editor Louise Ford, all of whom worked on Eggers’ first three features, The Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman.
As a foray into the fanged film phantasmagoria, this version of NOSFERATU is a perfectly acceptable entrant into the pantheon of “you can’t handle the tooth.” Steeped in homage to the original, it seeks and strives to bring something new to the table. The stakes are high.
Does it succeed? Mostly. Eggers has created a visual architecture to sustain the cinematic scares. To the film’s soul source material, Bram Stoker and F.W. Murnau – fangs for the memory.
