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It is a tale as old as time, no not that one, but it does involve a beauty and a beast. A beautiful woman calls out to the unknown in search of answers and instead of finding hope something sinister grabs a hold instead. Nosferatu or vampire if you will, a beast that longs for its prey, most often the women it believes can be its eternal salvation. While Bram Stoker’s book was released in 1897 it has spent several centuries being the fascination of millions all under the count’s trance. In 1922 one of the first “vampire” films was released known as “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” starring German actor Max Schreck as the infamous Count Orlok. But several changes had to happen to this German expressionist film even if a lawsuit from the Stoker estate nearly caused it to be lost to history. And yet even with all the Dracula renditions, “Nosferatu” continues to intrigue audiences all the way to this year’s release of Robert Eggers’ NOSFERATU a gothic historically accurate inspired take on the beast. Eggers has made quite the name for himself with just three previous films whether its his Viking saga, “The Northman” or watching people descend into freedom of madness with “The VVitch” and “The Lighthouse.” Eggers knows how important it is for every bit of the production to feel based in the reality we are watching and even for a tale of legendary creatures NOSFERATU is no different. A film so in tune with the voice of its filmmaker that you can practically see how giddy Eggers must have been to just get to play in the sandbox with all his cinematic toys. Eggers with his entire filmmaking crew deliver a film that while the story may be familiar feels so exciting to be invited back into this horrifying world. Orlok may be the creature haunting everyone but it is Eggers that has you completely under his spell and NOSEFRATU truly is his sinister gift to his prey.

Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) is calling out for help. A young, beautiful but terrified woman, Ellen in her youth calls out for some “guardian angel or spirit of comfort” her call is heard but perhaps not in the way she ever intended. From the opening moments, Eggers and his cinematographer Jarin Blaschke quite literally set the mood with a blue dimmed palette and shadowy lighting guiding every move. Far too many horror movies today (or any film for that matter) do not know how to properly light a film. It isn’t a question of real or fabricated light but instead an inability to just show the audience that they are trying to see. NOSFERATU lets us know early on this will not be a problem. Every frame feels like its own gothic painting and from the moment Ellen steps onto screen the film is entranced with Lily -Rose Depp bringing her right into the forefront. Cued in to these moments are ambient lighting and a haunting score from Robin Carolan that feels made for its own opera. NOSEFERATU grabs both Ellen and the audience by the throat and never lets up for the next two hours. After youthful nightmares of being stalked by a mysterious beats, Ellen has grown up and married Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) a real estate agent who is already being shipped off, mere days after their honeymoon, to the mysterious home of Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). Orlok lives all the way up in a Carpathians, a mountain range that at the time lined across many Romanian forests. But for Ellen missing her husband goes beyond the simple empty bed. Ellen longs after her husband and her sexual desires are often reduced to her younger years where she faced, as men at the time referred to it, melancholy and hysteria. A modern audience has no trouble understanding Ellen’s feelings and desires but Eggers and his main ensemble (including Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Corrinn as two old friends) create an old familiar world where a woman with sexual needs must also be inflicted. While her connection to a Orlok may seem deadly it is also a bond of two people being the only ones who understand one another.

NOSFERTU as a story hits all the beats you want with your modern Dracula adaptation, and yet it still feels like a new version entirely based on historical accuracy. Eggers has always been a stickler for this and you see it in every frame. As Thomas travels to Orlok’s Transylvania castle he encounters Romanian Gypsies dancing traditional song and dance that yes if you take the time to look it up is spot on to the same music played at the times. 1838 Germany (the Nosefertu story moves from England to Germany one of its several major changes) was a time of fearing the plague and very little financial and innovative progress. The world was changing and yet many felt stuck in their ways. Ellen is a great representation of someone not of this time who can see beyond her years and know the world she lives amongst is far too limited. Eggers uses Ellen and all his historical accuracies as a guide to showing how the world can never move fast enough for those with ambitions. But Ellen isn’t the only one not fit for this world. Orlok is another level in itself and the way Bill Skarsgård portrays the Count is something that needs to be seen to be believed. Marketing for the film has correctly avoided (for the most part) any reveal of Orlok’s look or sound and it cannot be overstated that the best way to experience your first encounter with Orlok is in the theaters with no preview. Orlok is terrifying but even more so is Skarsgard’s ability to not just blend into the character but rather completely have you removed from Bill as a human and only see the monster he portrays. We hear all the time about how actors are unrecognizable but NOSFERTAU just laughs in the face of those films with its Orlok.

As Thomas and Ellen are eventually reunited Orlok’s grip on everyone is already at large and inescapable. The doubters including Ellen’s friend Anna (Corrin) and her husband Friedrich (Taylor-Johnson) are nothing but Flesh for Orlok allowing both humans and the town itself to always feel victim to the Count. The entire film is filled with enough dread to have even the most positive lose all hope. Even when a maniacal and outlandish Professor Albin Eberhart von Franz (an always insane Willem Dafoe) arrives his laugh in the face of danger is one with that also carries great fear. He knows how the beast must be defeated but at great cost. But no matter how much these men try to fight of Orlok they like the film itself discover the main key is Ellen and for the audience, Lily-Rose Depp. Depp may not have a ton of credits to her name but is already an online obsession from modeling career to just day to day celebrity life. However NOSFERATU is her crowning achievement delivering a role so beautifully haunting and gruesome that she practically redefines what a physical human can do with their voice and body. Scenes involving mass hysteria as they call it have Depp flaring around one moment and seducing you the next with great ferocity. Her voice drops then it raises shockingly and spewing out all sorts of fluids whether it be puke or blood. Depp truly gives a whole new meaning to the “screaming, scrying throwing up” meme. But even for all the physicality Depp is the emotional force behind every movement of the film. A final girl to re-write the meaning of final girl. A woman so tossed aside by her society that the only way to reach them is to find her ending. It is captivating and devastating behavior from a performer already at the top of her game while still showing no signs of slowing down.

NOSFERTU may be the “feel bad movie of Christmas” but it indulges in the title and thrives in knowing how successful it truly is at its re-telling. There is an ego in the film that is lacking from many other big studio film. The rare film that can be cocky because its ego has plenty to use to back itself up. Eggers as a a filmmaker seems to know he and his crew can often be the smartest people in the room, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t time for learning. A director that continues to educate himself on the history of his own works while also accepting the ways modern audiences come to his inspirations. It would be a missed opportunity for this critic not to mention how many people in his generation come to know Nosferatu from a certain famous episode of “Spongebob Squarepants” and yet even that familiarity makes sense with this film. It’s a bizarre insert in an already strange world. A comfort for many as well and while NOSFERATU has its own strange moments and so many live rats) the film feels indebted to everything that came before it both serious and silly. Eggers knows how to pay his respects but he too is calling out for something greater, to find a willing audience to take this gothic often disturbing ride with him into the darkness. And with NOSEFERATU it is impossible to resist and all you’ll want to do is reach out yourself and let the beast take hold. 

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NOSFERATU WILL BE RELEASED IN THEATERS BY FOCUS FEATURES ON DECEMBER 25