A couple days ago, we got our first look at the “crazy vampire hunter” character Willem Dafoe plays in The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman writer/director Robert Eggers‘ remake of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic Nosferatu (watch it HERE). So we know what he looks like in the film… but we may not be prepared for what the overall film looks like. While speaking to IndieWire, Dafoe said this take on Nosferatu is unlike anything he has ever seen before!
An unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the original Nosferatu has the following synopsis: In this highly influential silent horror film, the mysterious Count Orlok (Max Schreck) summons Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) to his remote Transylvanian castle in the mountains. The eerie Orlok seeks to buy a house near Hutter and his wife, Ellen (Greta Schroeder). After Orlok reveals his vampire nature, Hutter struggles to escape the castle, knowing that Ellen is in grave danger. Meanwhile Orlok’s servant, Knock (Alexander Granach), prepares for his master to arrive at his new home.
Eggers’ Nosferatu is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman in 19th century Germany and the ancient Transylvanian vampire who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him.
Dafoe is joined in the Nosferatu cast by Lily-Rose Depp (The Idol) as Ellen Hutter and Nicholas Hoult (Renfield) as her husband Thomas, Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Bullet Train) as Thomas’s friend Friedrich Harding, Emma Corrin (The Crown) as Friedrich’s wife Anna, Ralph Ineson (The Witch) as Von Franz’s cohort Dr. Wilhelm Sievers, and Bill Skarsgard (It), who plays the title character, Count Orlok. Simon McBurney (The Conjuring 2) is also in the cast.
Dafoe didn’t want to say too much about Nosferatu, but he did tell IndieWire, “(Eggers) gets better and better and better, gets more articulate, more on top of it. He’s so clear when he works. It opens in December of next year, which is a long time away. Trying to be an optimist, I think the studio must feel very strong about it, because that’s quite a tough slot, so I’m excited about that. I saw some footage when we were shooting, and I can honestly say, visually, it was like unlike anything I have seen. … The look of it and how it was shot was extraordinary.“
He added that the look is very beautiful, and that his co-stars look like they stepped out of 19th century paintings in their wardrobe. He hadn’t seen the final, cut-together footage yet, but was about to see some of it because he has an ADR session in his near future.
Focus Features will be giving Nosferatu a theatrical release on Wednesday, December 25, 2024, “making it a prime holiday season release.” Are you excited to see this film that has clearly blown Willem Dafoe away? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed