Nosferatu (2024) review

    NOSFERATU (2024) is a movie that I was initially somewhat ambivalent about seeing. This is because Nosferatu is basically Dracula but for the genius of FW Murnau that made it a visually astonishing work of art. I love Dracula and should be all over this but I'm not sure that you can remake Nosferatu and capture the original essence. Basically, it's not an adaptation of a movie, it's an adaptation of an adaptation. So, what did I think? Eh, it's okay I guess.

    There's a lot going for Nosferatu. Lily Rose Depp does a fantastic job as Ellen Hutter, Aaron Taylor Johnson is good as Friedrich, and Bill Skarsgard has some fantastic makeup effects. The atmosphere as well as visuals are fantastic. You really do feel like you have been transported to a Gothic world akin to Gotham City or Ravenloft's Barvoia. It's a place that feels far removed from Earth but decidedly Burton-esque in its environment.

    Unfortunately, the movie also suffers from the fact that it can't quite manage the tone between Gothic tragedy, sexual horror, and ridiculous homage. Count Orlock, for example, is absolutely terrifying at some points but other times comes off as an incredibly silly cariacture of a vampire. The choice of adding Squidward's mustache, for example, is something that can very easily take you out of the movie.

    One element that the movie has somewhat mixed expressions on is its handling of sex. Basically, there is a lot of it with young Ellen being attacked as a child after she did a ritual to send her a lover. Since that time, Orlock has stalked her dreams and intends to make her his bride whether she wants to or not. She gets victim blamed, ignored, and put through some gaslighting to convince her that this is all her fault. Fine, that's a decidedly feminist message of sorts. Yet, the movie also has difficulty framing her resistance as heroic.

    It reminds me a bit of Promising Young Woman of all things where, essentially, the plot is that a woman is willing to utterly blow her up life to get justice for her friend. The movie is meant to be a triumph but ends on such a depressing note that any sense of triumph is utterly absent. The fact it is the Van Helsing analog (played by William Dafoe) who keeps goading her into making sacrifices doesn't help the message's confused feeling.

    The movie attempts to sell Ellen as deeply in love with her husband but he's so dismissive of her and eager to find any solution that doesn't involve listening to her that it doesn't feel like he's worth all the effort that Ellen goes to on his behalf. That's another mark against the movie that is meant to be empowering. There's a lot of Ellen being talked down to and it really gets tiresome. Yeah, yeah, it's the Victorian times but that doesn't matter it better.

    Still, there's some genuinely great moments spread throughout the film. The Romani killing a vampire with an old fashioned ritual, Orlock tricking Fredrich into selling his marriage for gold, Ellen's periods of possession, and the fact that Orlock is more book-accurate than any other Dracula I can remember. This Dracula is an evil wizard who became a vampire rather than just a vampire. That's my kind of handling of the subject.

7/10