Lily-Rose Depp, left, and Emma Corrin in “Nosferatu.” Credit: Aidan Monaghan/Focus Features via TNS
Atmosphere is a term that’s hard to define when talking about the qualities of film.
For many people, it just comes down to intuition: How does a movie make its audience feel? What memories does it dreg up, what emotions does it bring to the surface?
For the original “Nosferatu,” released in 1922 as an unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s iconic “Dracula” novel, perhaps these feelings are a sense of fearful wonder, a bone-chilling search to understand that stranger who cannot be understood.
The “Nosferatu” that came to theaters this year lacks the ethereal qualities of the original rendition. Though it’s true the setting is a delight to look at — its heavy-contrast, sepia-tone darkness that bathes the Victorian-esque German sea town is reminiscent of a Caspar David Freidrich painting — it fails to haunt.
In fact, the greatest sin 2024’s “Nosferatu” commits is it startles rather than chills. For a film that’s clearly obsessed with creating a distinct world and color palette, its horror techniques are disappointingly cookie-cutter.
Instead of driving audiences mad with the fear of the unknown, it relies on scary faces jumping out at the screen like actors in a haunted house, as well as gratuitous and uninspired body horror.
Even with its clear focus on world-building, the Gothic look “Nosferatu” promised is bound to disappoint, unless a lot of black clothing and vague references to crucifixes are enough to satisfy.
It’s far too slick, too prim and proper, to evoke the experience of looking up and seeing the arches of a medieval Germanic church stained with the wear of time. Maybe 2024’s “Nosferatu” was always cursed to live under the shadow of 1922’s, but for all the modern cinematic techniques it offers, the present-day adaptation’s world pales in comparison to the original.
For a movie heavily advertised under the power of star performances by Bill Skarsgård (“It”) and Lily-Rose Depp (“The Idol”), it’s Willem Dafoe (“Spider-Man”) who carries the limited scenes he’s in, although even he seems incredulous at times from the cliche lines he has to deliver.
It’s hard to truly be scared of what’s on screen when every mention of the all-encompassing evil that’s supposed to take over the world feels ripped out of a “Star Wars” or “Harry Potter” movie — not to say that those franchises aren’t to be celebrated, but they should probably be held in distinction from the goal that “Nosferatu” wants to achieve.
The movie admirably tries to touch on some themes of femininity and the commodification of love and desire, it’s just not fully fleshed out, as the film instead devotes time and energy toward cheap scares.
“Nosferatu” claims it’s more centered on the lead female character, Rose-Depp’s “Ellen,” than previous iterations; yet her scenes are oftentimes buried under superfluous subplots involving doctors and various servants of the vampire Orlok, ironically stealing a central story from the film’s only woman lead.
“Nosferatu” lacks atmosphere. Where 1922’s “Nosferatu” is a walk through a graveyard under moonlight, 2024’s is a costume at a Spirit Halloween. It’s mildly entertaining at times and once in a while comes very close to emulating the spirit of the original, but it’s ultimately plagued by being an ancient story not made for modern times.
Rating: 2/5
