Robert Eggers has retold one of the most iconic vampire stories in film history with Focus Features’ version of Nosferatu, but his adaptation of the classic 1922 German film has some notable differences. One of the most telling changes is the shift in the physical appearance of the film’s titular vampire, the fearsome Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). While the overall look of Count Orlok is heavily based on the original film, audiences will likely pick out a few differences, and Eggers recently revealed his reasoning for the changes in an interview with Variety.
While many of the features of Count Orlok remain the same — long nails, pointed ears and sharp teeth — Eggers said he wanted to make some changes. “To try to make a more scary vampire than we’ve had in quite some time, I went back to the folklore,” Eggers explained. “It’s something that I like anyway, but the early folk vampire was written about by people who believed that vampires existed. There was going to be some good stuff there, and the vampire of folklore is a putrid, walking undead corpse.” Skarsgård’s Count Orlok is heavily based on Transylvanian mythology, which Eggers elaborated on:
“The question then became, ‘What does a dead Transylvanian nobleman look like?’ That means this complex Hungarian costume with very long sleeves, strange high-heeled shoes and a furry hat. It also means a mustache. No matter what, there’s no way this guy can’t have a mustache. Try to find a Transylvanian person who’s of age who can grow a mustache that doesn’t have a mustache. It’s part of the culture. If you don’t want to bother Googling, think of Vlad the Impaler. Even Bram Stoker had the sense to give Dracula a mustache in the book.”
‘Nosferatu’ Tells the Tale of the Undead Vampire
Based on the 1922 film, which is itself based on Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, Nosferatu tells the tale of a young married couple, Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) and Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp). Thomas, a real estate agent, is tasked with selling a home to the nobleman Count Orlok, who in reality is the vampire Nosferatu. However, once Thomas and Orlok meet, things quickly devolve when the vampire goes after Ellen. Thomas must then team up with an occult professor to save his wife and vanquish the vampire — but there is more to the story than he realizes.
The film also stars Emma Corrin, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, Ralph Inseon, and Simon McBurney. Eggers directed Nosferatu from a self-adapted script. The Focus Features film comes from Studio 8, Maiden Voyage Pictures, and Birch Hill Road Entertainment, and is produced by Eggers, Jeff Robinov and John Graham for Studio 8, and Chris Columbus and Eleanor Columbus for Maiden Voyage.
Nosferatu is in theaters now. Eggers’ prior film, The Northman, is streaming on Prime Video.
In Nosferatu, a reclusive vampire’s presence disrupts a small European village, drawing an unsuspecting young couple into a battle against an ancient evil.
- Release Date
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December 25, 2024
