Bleeding the Last Drop from Nosferatu

Here's another unedited review I did for Cryptic Rock. 

 Why for the love of God would Hollywood remake a silent film in 2024? 

Nosferatu came out in 1922 with the title Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens by German writer/director F.W. Murnau (Faust (1926) for the studios Jofa-Atelier Berlin-Johannisthal and Prana-Film GmbH.  It was based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but Stoker’s estate would let them have the rights to film, hence, the name change.  The word "Nosferatu" is an archaic Romanian word that means "vampire". It may come from the Romanian word nesuferitu, which means "the offensive one" or "the insufferable one".

The film starred Max Schreck as Count Orlok, Gustav von Wangenheim as Thomas Hutter, Greta Schröder as Ellen Hutter, Georg H. Schnell as Harding, Gustav Botz as Professor Sievers, Alexander Granach as Knock, John Gottowt as Professor Bulwer, Hardy von Francois [de] as a doctor at a mental hospital, Max Nemetz as the Empusa captain, Wolfgang Heinz as the Empusa first mate, Albert Venohr [de] as the Empusa sailor, Fanny Schreck as a hospital nurse, Karl Etlinger as one of Bulwer's students, and Guido Herzfeld as an innkeeper.

Although banned in Sweden “for excessive horror” until ’72, it grossed $45,595 ($850,877.21 today) on an undisclosed budget.  It also holds an impressive 97% and 87% on Rotten Tomatoes.

In ‘79, Werner Herzog directed a film called Nosferatu the Vampyre (Nosferatu - Phantom der Nacht), which was intended to be a remake of the ‘22 film.  It starred Klaus Kinski as the newly restored character name Count Dracula, Isabelle Adjani as Lucy Harker, Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Harker, Roland Topor as Renfield, Walter Ladengast as Dr. Abraham van Helsing, Dan van Husen as Warden, Jan Groth [de] as Harbormaster, Carsten Bodinus as Schrader, Martje Grohmann as Mina, Rijk de Gooyer as Town official, Clemens Scheitz as Clerk, John Leddy as Coachman, Tim Beekman as Coffin bearer, Margiet van Hartingsveld, and Lo van Hensbergen.

Werner Herzog decided to restore the original names of the characters the day the copyright of the Bram Stoker’s Dracula expired in ’30 when it entered the public domain, while still following the movie blueprint laid out by F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.  It made $3,451 on an $2.5 US budget.  It also carries 94% and 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.

In 2000, E. Elias Merhige released Shadow of the Vampire.  Based around the filming of Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) is hampered by the fact that its star Max Schreck is taking the role of a vampire far more seriously than seems humanly possible.  It starred John Malkovich as Frederich Wilhelm Murnau, the director of Nosferatu, Willem Dafoe as Max Schreck, who plays Count Orlok, Cary Elwes as Fritz Arno Wagner, the cinematographer, John Aden Gillet as Henrik Galeen, the screenwriter, Eddie Izzard as Gustav von Wangenheim, who plays Thomas Hutter, Udo Kier as Albin Grau, occultist; the producer, art director, and costume designer, Catherine McCormack as Greta Schröder, who plays Ellen Hutter, Ronan Vibert as Wolfgang Muller, Nicholas Elliott as Paul, Sophie Langevin as Elke, and Myriam Muller as Maria.

It made $11.1 million on an estimated $8 million budget.  It carries a 82% and 74% on Rotten tomatoes.

Then, in ’15 Robert Eggers was set to write and direct a remake (why?), and Jay Van Hoy and Lars Knudsen were to produce it for Studio 8.  So, why did it take nine years to release?  It was a passion project for Eggers, which meant finding the right cast to achieve Egger’s vision to the standards of his notorious attention to detail with the budget he was able to secure.

Released Christmas Day, Nosferatu stars Bill Skarsgård, who was in this year’s Crow remake, as Count Orlok, Nicholas Hoult, who was in this year’s Juror #2, as Thomas Hutter, Lily-Rose Depp, who’s the daughter of Johnny Depp and was in last year’s The Idol series, as Ellen Hutter, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who’s in this year’s Kraven: The Hunter, as Friedrich Harding, Emma Corrin, who was in this year’s Deadpool and Wolverine, as Anna Harding, Willem Dafoe, who was in ‘00’s Shadow of the Vampire as Max Schreck, as Prof. Albin Eberhart Von Franz, Ralph Ineson, who was in this year’s First Omen as Dr. Wilhelm Sievers, and Simon McBurney (Carnival Row series (’19-’23) as Herr Knock.

A gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.

First, although beautifully shot in the US, UK, and Hungary, Nosferatu's just Coppola’s ’92 Bram Stroker's almost beat for beat with filler added and '24 sensibilities.  This is sad to say since it was a passion project for Eggers, but it’s true.  And, going from silent to talking didn’t help anything except for people who don’t have attention spans for silents.

The cast is all beautifully or handsomely dressed and play their characters straight as if they’re actually living in the world, but what’s with Count Orlok’s new stache?  He looks like a pasty Doctor Robotnik from this year’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3!  Like they did with Skarsgard’s Pennywise, they tried too hard, and the character just wasn’t scary…especially adding that stache the original Orlok didn’t have. 

So far Nosferatu has made $43.3 mill on an estimated $50 mill budget.  It holds a respectable 86% and 71% on Rotten Tomatoes with one December 30th review saying, “Good movie had a great thriller sense to it but not scary more chilling! Would recommend to others to see as well!”

It was fun to see how Egger’s translated a 102-year-old silent film to 2024 film, but honestly, it’s only good for a one-off.

PS. I know Dracula has a stache in the book and that's what Egger was following, so he says, but then don't bill the movie as a remake of Nosferatu, call it a reimagining or something.