When a star transforms for a movie role the press likes to hail him as “recognizable.”
However, in the case of Bill Skarsgård, this praise is not only undeserved, but also meaningless.
The 34-year-old actor has made a name for himself as a scary shapeshifter; Modern day Lon Chaney who was born with the habit of having nightmares. And, as he proved with the film “Nosferatu,” Skarsgård is Hollywood’s new horror king.
In Robert Eggers’ skin-crawling remake, the actor with the deep-set, almost insane eyes takes on an even more iconic role Pennywise the Clown in “It” -Count Orlok, the undead villain of FW Murnau’s seminal silent vampire classic of 1922.
Skarsgård, adopting a deep and shaky Carpathian accent, is terrifyingly scary and unexpectedly charming as he basically becomes Dracula.
Murnau’s simple black-and-white original was an unauthorized German version of Bram Stoker’s novel, with names, locations, and minor plot points changed to resonate with Deutschland. (He was prosecuted nonetheless.) But the bleak and oppressive story of 1838 bears a striking resemblance to the story of the OG blood donor.
And, though nearly an hour long and with no audible dialogue, “Nosferatu 2024” also remains the same course in storytelling as its classic cinematic progenitor. Eggers, whose “Witch” Having established him as a visionary of the horror genre, he is clearly a devoted fan of Murnau’s film. It is alright.
Mostly at home in the dark, Eggers embraces the famous shadows of “Nosferatu”, Orlok’s long, spindly fingers, stifling Victorian-era rooms, thousands of disgusting live rats and doors that magically open on their own and to today’s eyes and Let’s update it with something attractive for the ears.
Another clever piece of casting is the haunting Nicholas Hoult as Thomas, a naïve real estate agent sent to Transylvania by his eccentric employer Herr Nock (Simon McBurney) to get a contract signed by a wealthy home buyer – Orlock Is.
He says goodbye to his wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) and rides to the castle on horseback. Once he is in the woods, Eggers’ talent for using nature to overcome primitive fears comes into play. No one since “The Blair Witch Project” can make leafless twigs look as scary as Eggers.
Disappointed villagers warn Thomas against going all the way to Orlok, and once he arrives it becomes immediately clear why. Its host is a vampire.
Back in Visborg, Ellen begins to suffer from strange spells and seizures as she is cared for by her friends Frederick (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, recast in the role) and Anna (Emma Corrin). And Nock is off his rocker, cutting off the heads of chickens and yelling about blood.
Meanwhile, Thomas attempts to kill Orlok, but soon the thirsty Count takes the cargo on a ship bound for Germany where he will unleash his wrath.
Some people may be disappointed by Eggers’ addition of some humor, especially by Willem Dafoe as Professor von Franz – a Van Helsing stand-in. However, the jokes provide balance to a long film that can’t run entirely on scares. I believe it still comes down to about 98% fear.
Eggers’ casting is the epitome of beauty. Blood-soaked Gothic faces abound, as if they’ve all been kidnapped from an Edgar Allan Poe themed cocktail party.
Depp, who awkwardly stars as Linda Blair as the troubled and bedridden Ellen, certainly learned a thing or two about dead people from her father, Johnny Depp, who starred in “Dark Shadows” and “Sleepy Hollow. Apart from acting, he also fronts a band called Hollywood Vampires.
Here are some actors with Nightwalkers in their resumes. Most recently, Hoult played Dracula’s troubled sidekick in “”.renfieldAnd Dafoe has an even closer connection. He was Count Orlok – aka Max Shreck – in the 2000s.shadow of the vampire,
Skarsgård is ace though. Without exaggerating, and never falling short of frightening, he turns Orlok into a much richer character than the bat-like Shrek.
Their sad, albeit disturbing, final scene almost tugs at our hearts.
