Vampire aficionados have probably gotten their fill of terror from Robert Eggers’ adaptation of Nosferatu.

The film, a new adaptation of the 1922 silent film directed by F.W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck, stars Bill Skarsgård as the title character, Count Orlok. Orlok is a vampire who feeds on an Eastern European town—likely a German town, as the original silent film hails from Germany. As he terrorizes the townspeople, he becomes fixated on Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp), the wife of Orlok’s real estate agent, Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult).

Echoes of Dracula

For many vampire fans, the similarities between Nosferatu and the various adaptations of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula are unmistakable. Eggers’ Nosferatu draws heavily from both Stoker’s novel and the 1922 film (itself an unofficial adaptation of the novel) but reimagines the story for a modern audience. This version provides Ellen, the central female character, with more backstory and agency. However, if you are familiar with the ending of the original Nosferatu, you can likely predict how this film concludes.

Ellen and Orlok’s haunting connection

In Eggers’ film, Ellen’s connection with Orlok began years earlier when she prayed for a guardian angel during a dark period in her life. That prayer unintentionally linked her with Orlok, granting him the ability to read her mind, possess her, and cause her distress. Orlok’s influence over Ellen diminishes after she falls in love with Thomas, but Orlok remains determined to keep Ellen for himself.

The final scene in ‘Nosferatu’

Depp described filming the climactic scene as a surreal experience. She told SyFy Wire, “We shot it so many times that I felt like it was kind of hypnotizing me in a way. After a while, I felt like I was stuck in this room with this demon. Not to where I was genuinely scared, but I started to feel like I’m in this crazy tornado moment with this demonic, horrifying being.”

She also reflected on Ellen’s empowering yet tragic journey, saying, “There’s so much power in the choice that she makes, and yet it’s a heartbreaking end. But I think she is plagued with the feeling that she brings so much darkness everywhere that she goes, that [being] able to do a good deed and feel that she’s bringing light, actually, to the world is a beautiful thing.”

Nosferatu

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