My older brother and I saw Nosferatu (2024) a couple of days after its release, which was on Christmas Day 2024. We attended a 12:30 PM EST showing on Friday, 27 December 2024, and even that early matinee had a very good crowd.
My brother and I had been anticipating the release of this film with an eagerness we rarely experience for movies anymore. I love movies, but there aren’t many films that get me excited to go see them.
Nosferatu promised “a symphony of horror,” according to its tagline (and the subtitle of the 1924 original), and it delivered—in spades.
Like most symphonies, it wasn’t perfect, for the same reason as most symphonies—they’re too long. I don’t think modern directors are capable of making a film under two hours in length, much less a ninety-minute one. The pacing was uneven, and the brooding atmospherics of the film—which are absolutely exquisite—had me dozing off during the protracted second act.
That is my only complaint, and it’s a slight one. The film is a masterpiece. As YouTuber Razörfist put it, “Gothic Horror is Back!“:
The film is a loving homage to the 1924 film, with director Robert Eggers’s legendary attention to detail. The first two-thirds of the flick are brooding and atmospheric, harkening back to the restored, mezzotint look of the grainy, silent-film era original. It follows the familiar story beats, but wisely refrains from showing Count Orlock in all of his terrifying glory until late in the film. The first appearance of the Count has him wreathed in shadows, which only enhances his menacing, devilish presence.
I don’t want to reveal too much more, so this will be a short review. That said, the cast brings in stellar performances. Willem DaFoe—a favorite of Eggers—gives a characteristically powerful performance as the Van Helsing-esque occult scientist. Johnny Depp’s daughter gives some serious Lydia-from-Beetlejuice vibes, which is appropriate for the lavishly Gothic sentiment of the film.
All in all, Nosferatu is a vampiric feast for the senses, a true return to the mysterious, alien, demonic, evil vampires of old.