Nosferatu First Reactions: A Devilishly Seductive, Deeply Chilling Horror Masterpiece
Critics on social media say Robert Eggers delivers a knockout of a film that's superbly crafted and features an astounding, career-making performance from Lily-Rose Depp.
Robert Eggers and Nosferatu are a match made in heaven (and hell), according to critics who have seen the new film. The writer-director of The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman is back with a remake of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 horror classic, which itself was based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and the first reactions on social media are gleefully glowing. Some are saying it’s Eggers’ best yet. Some are saying it’s one of the year’s best films. Everyone is saying that Lily-Rose Depp gives a breakout performance. This sounds like another must-see movie.
Here’s what critics are saying about Nosferatu:
Has Robert Eggers crafted another masterpiece?
The movie is absolutely spectacular.
– Jordan Hoffman, Fangoria
Nosferatu is a knockout.
– Germain Lussier, io9.com
I loved Nosferatu.
– Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times
A masterful, unnerving, spine-tingling gothic horror of the highest order.
– Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
Robert Eggers continues his impressive streak of crafting highly detailed and transportive period films with Nosferatu, one of the most seductively macabre films ever made.
– Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
Nosferatu surpasses the hype.
– Griffin Schiller, FilmSpeak
Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu is a period delight, a fantastic horror tale exquisitely mounted and efficiently told.
– Anne Thompson, Variety
A superbly crafted film and great sound design coupled with a haunting score.
– Jazz Tangcay, Variety
Top-notch filmmaking. Score, Production Design, Costumes, Make-up, and Cinematography, as always with Eggers films, masterful.
– Gregory Ellwood, The Playlist
Gorgeous and horrifically brilliant. I’m a fan.
– Clayton Davis, Variety
(Photo by Aidan Monaghan/©Focus Features)
Where does Nosferatu rank among Eggers’ movies?
Robert Eggers’s best film.
– Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
Nosferatu = my favorite Robert Eggers.
– Tomris Laffly, Variety
Eggers has made what could be his best feature.
– JimmyO, JoBlo’s Movie Network
Eggers’ most assured work, one in which you can feel his obsessions flow through every nocturnal frame.
– Jordan Raup, The Film Stage
Dude is just clearing his throat in cinema. He hasn’t yet begun to sing, and I’m digging all of his numbers.
– Clayton Davis, Variety
Not my favorite Eggers but excellent nevertheless.
– Germain Lussier, io9.com
It could be Robert Eggers’ most accessible film.
– Andrew J. Salazar, Discussing Film
Nosferatu is unfiltered Robert Eggers. He’s a good match for the material, which he allows to breathe in a way that may test impatient audience members, but rewards those willing to get on his wavelength.
– Joey Magidson, Awards Radar
(Photo by Aidan Monaghan/©Focus Features)
Is this one of the best films of the year?
Easily one of the year’s best.
– Griffin Schiller, FilmSpeak
It’s one of this year’s finest films. Unforgettable!
– JimmyO, JoBlo’s Movie Network
It’s one of the most achingly beautiful films this year.
– David Crow, Den of Geek
Nosferatu goes HARDER than any other horror film this year. Holy f–k. A gorgeous grotesquerie of dread-infused terrors and a divine dark delight.
– Courtney Howard, Variety
Not only one of the best horror movies of the year but also the horniest!
– Andrew J. Salazar, Discussing Film
I admittedly didn’t walk out of Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu thinking that it’s going to end up on my “Best of 2024” list, but there is an amazing degree of passion on screen.
– Eric Eisenberg, CinemaBlend
(Photo by ©Focus Features)
How does it compare to the other versions of the story?
Robert Eggers delivers a perfect remake.
– Jazz Tangcay, Variety
Eggers delivers a wickedly sinister reimagining of the iconic legend… If you love the horny fever dream of Coppola’s Dracula, you’ll adore this.
– Griffin Schiller, FilmSpeak
Nosferatu incorporates breathtaking homages to Murnau’s masterpiece with thoughtful thematic artistry.
– Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
Robert Eggers digs deep into the native soil beneath Nosferatu and Dracula, finding the gruesome (yet perversely alluring) core of the creature’s appeal. He also transforms THE vampire story into a Jungian tragedy.
– David Crow, Den of Geek
A bold and startling new vision of this iconic tale.
– JimmyO, JoBlo’s Movie Network
What a fascinating way to approach a remake.
– Andrew J. Salazar, Discussing Film
While it does crank up the original’s sexual subtext, people should not be expecting a f–kfest from this thing.
– Jordan Hoffman, Fangoria
(Photo by Aidan Monaghan/©Focus Features)
Is it scary?
It’s a deeply chilling nightmare that lingers.
– Griffin Schiller, FilmSpeak
Nosferatu is a chilling stunner. A film that wastes no time digging its claws in and making its evil feel inescapable.
– Perri Nemiroff, Collider
A moody, gothic, EROTIC horror with sharp teeth—grabs you by the throat, takes its time.
– Tomris Laffly, Variety
Gross and weird, but also classically haunting.
– Joey Magidson, Awards Radar
Devilishly bloody and grotesque.
– Jazz Tangcay, Variety
Gory, creepy, propulsive, with a hint of devilish humor.
– Germain Lussier, io9.com
Nosferatu is a hypnotic, psychosexual nightmare.
– Andrew J. Salazar, Discussing Film
Nosferatu is paralyzing fear fully realized.
– Clayton Davis, Variety
Bill Skarsgård’s Count Orlok is pure sinister nightmare fuel.
– Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
[Its] breathtaking final shot sent chills through my body as I left the theater.
– Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
(Photo by Aidan Monaghan/©Focus Features)
Does it have anything interesting to say?
Strangely comforting this week to watch a film that feels conjured from the darkest depths of pure evil.
– Jordan Raup, The Film Stage
It further crystallizes Eggers’ exploration of evil as an elemental force, as inherent to existence as desire, emerging from the same divinity as kindness. It’s so inextricable from us, fighting it demands great sacrifice.
– Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times
(Photo by ©Focus Features)
Are there any standout performances in the movie?
All of the performances are top-notch, with Bill Skarsgard vanishing into Orlok to the point where you see only an entity. Nicholas Hoult brings a sense of desperate pathos to the Harker/Hutter role. But this really is Lily-Rose Depp’s movie. Her possession scenes need to be SEEN.
– David Crow, Den of Geek
Between this and Juror #2, Nicholas Hoult is killing it. Bill Skarsgård… you have to see for yourself. But the main attraction to me is Lily-Rose Depp.
– Tomris Laffly, Variety
Lily-Rose Depp’s performance is thoroughly gripping.
– Jazz Tangcay, Variety
Lily-Rose Depp is ASTOUNDING!
– Griffin Schiller, FilmSpeak
Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgard are out of this world.
– Jordan Raup, The Film Stage
Lily-Rose Depp is fantastic as the woman at the center of it all and Bill Skarsgard’s vampire is wholly unique and grounded.
– Germain Lussier, io9.com
Skarsgård continues to prove he’s an unparalleled creature actor. Hoult delivers big, blending sheer terror with a palpable love that drives his character. McBurney is wildly captivating as Knock, teeing up the evil on the horizon. And then there’s Depp, who’s an utter powerhouse, brilliantly carving her character’s intoxicating path toward the darkness.
– Perri Nemiroff, Collider
Lily-Rose Depp gives every ounce of her body and soul to this eye-popping performance of tormented possession, while the overall portrayal of Count Orlok is so utterly compelling every moment he’s on-screen that his presence lingers even when he’s not.
– Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
Bill Skarsgård is menacing while Lily-Rose Depp is haunting. Every movie gets automatically upgraded simply because Willem Dafoe is in it.
– Clayton Davis, Variety
Lily-Rose Depp is superb. Willem Dafoe is having a blast.
– Gregory Ellwood, The Playlist
Lily Rose Depp and Nicholas Hoult’s best work to date.
– Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
(Photo by Aidan Monaghan/©Focus Features)
How does it look?
Gorgeous.
– JimmyO, JoBlo’s Movie Network
From the cinematography to the sets… I was completely swept away — it’s absolutely gorgeous.
– Darren Scott, SFX Magazine
Robin Carolan’s haunting compositions, Jarin Blaschke’s painterly cinematography & Craig Lathrop’s inspired production design augment its frightful atmospheric allure.
– Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
Is it an Oscar contender?
A major below-the-line player. Could it crack Best Picture? Hmmmm. Rose Depp has a shot in a packed supporting actress race.
– Gregory Ellwood, The Playlist
Nosferatu
(2024)
opens in theaters everywhere on December 25, 2024.
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