Nosferatu
[Blu-ray/Digital Code]
Can you feel it? Everyone’s got Nosferatu FEVER! Well, maybe that’s just the plague. Or maybe it’s the pneumonia that was going around. I, for one, was certainly a victim of that, coughing almost uncontrollably in the theatre while watching Count Orlok seduce poor Ellen.
But it takes a certain kind of director to make something unique and so weird that it compels people to reference and meme it endlessly. There’s just so much of this movie that’s intriguing and just plain cool, which is hard to do since Dracula has been done to death. And yet, this iteration works very well. Eggers said he watched Mel Brooks’ Dracula: Dead and Loving it to understand what’s silly about Dracula and avoided it. Sounds like he gets it, right?
Nosferatu checks all the boxes of a good horror movie: it’s got suspense, a beautiful build-up and reveal, wacky and memorable characters, and a wild ending that’s both tragic and outrageous. It also LOOKS great. The colors are so muted that it almost looks black and white. Orlok’s design is so familiar yet unconventional that he’s even more imposing as an antagonist. Also, there is actual backstory to these characters and we understand their decisions and motivations even more. I was wondering on my third watch if Orlok was really a villain. Crazy, right?
Which makes it even more of a shame that we have to watch Lily-Rose Depp act with a capital A and really chew up the scenery. Oef! I think her convulsions, tantrums, possessed voices and face contortions are more reminiscent to me of what my toddlers do at home when they’re dizzy on lemonade. It’s not scary, really, more funny and sad. Were they going for that? Me thinks not. Can the movie still be great in spite of her presence? Only time will tell.
The blu-ray edition comes with some cool features. A behind the scenes making-of going through the character and set designs, the costumes and music, and Lily-Rose Depp’s input on what she “truly believes” about the actors and the movie. You can find it on YouTube somewhere. There’s a commentary track which is pretty fun and informative, an “extended” edition which adds only 4 minutes of interesting dialogue (give me another hour!), and “deleted” scenes which are mostly just extended shots. It’s a cool package!
This is a cool movie! I highly recommend it! It’s a well-executed endlessly-rewatchable modern-yet-familiar take on a classic and almost everyone is great in it!
