Succumb to the darkness. -Tagline

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

In Wisborg, Germany in 1838, a young/ambitious estate agent, Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult), reluctantly leaves his anxious bride, Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), in hopes of securing a lucrative deal. While her husband is away, Ellen lives in the household of their close friends, Anna (Emma Corrin) and Friedrich Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). The Hardings are in a more comfortable life, having (inherited) wealth; they are raising 2 young children. After Thomas arrives at the isolated castle of mysterious/rich Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard), an evil presence begins to haunt Ellen’s mind.

Over 100 yrs ago, F. W. Murnau made the silent classic of the same title. This kicked off how vampires (incl. Dracula) could be depicted in film. Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre was released 50+ yrs after Murnau’s version; I recently learned of this movie. If you are Gen X (like me), you may be most familiar w/ Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula (1992) starring Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, and Keanu Reeves.

American director Robert Eggers (b. 1983) is known for being fresh, well-researched, various locations, and fine details in his (period-specific) films. This was my 1st time watching on of his movies; horror fans may be familiar w/ his debut- The Witch (2015). If you know me (online), y’all know that I went to see this b/c of Hoult. The movie’s pacing is deliberate and somber; as some viewers noted, it felt slow in the middle. You may feel a sense of dread, rather than jump scares (as used in “typical” horror movies). The snow is not CGI; Eggers used a technique (from the 1940s- shoutout to my classic film fans) where frozen potato flakes are crushed and made into snow-like particles. The exterior of Orlok’s castle was filmed at Hunedoara Castle (AKA Corvin Castle); it’s a Romanian castle located in Transylvania (one of the largest European medieval castles).

[1] …the attention to detail here is impeccable; the period costumes and sets are dazzling, and the cinematography is top-notch, with repeated uses of muted grey night-time sequences that border on black-and-white (intentional I’m sure, as an ode to the Murnau original).

[2] The story, adapted from both Dracula and Nosferatu… but mostly Nosferatu, was very well written. With dialog that felt natural and authentic to the time period, another one of Eggers specialty, the film flowed rather nicely and almost transports you to that time and place.

[3] And despite how good some of the acting is in this film, it failed completely to connect with me on an emotional level. […]

-Excerpts from IMDb reviews