Hello there internet people, it’s Slick Dungeon! I just watched Nosferatu (2024) and wanted to get my thoughts about it out here. There are some spoilers here but if you’ve seen or read Dracula in almost any form, you know the plot.

A quick summary

For a speed read of a review on this, the movie is just Dracula but with some elements changed and a different ending. While the changes are notable and interesting, I didn’t feel like this movie delivered as well as it should have. The production design is incredible and Nicholas Hoult and Bill Skarsgård have excellent performances. However, I personally felt there was a bit of overacting on the part of Willem Dafoe and Lily-Rose Depp. I can understand what they were going for but it just seemed a notch too high here and there.

There is some incredible makeup in the film. And it does deliver a decent sense of dread, especially in the first third of the movie. The middle section drags just a bit. The end of the film does wrap up well and there are some incredibly memorable moments but not all of them work.

The story

Dracula and Nosferatu (2024) share very similar story lines for a good reason. In 1922 a film was made called  Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. And it’s a film classic. But it was an unauthorized adaptation of the book. So while the characters in Nosferatu are not named the familiar names of Johnathan and Mina Harker, and Dracula is instead called Count Orlok, the integral elements remain the same.

There is a young solicitor who has to leave his young wife to go to a castle in Transylvania and seal a land contract with the Count who lives there. While there, he is taken prisoner and has to escape to return to his wife. And the young wife seems to be somehow entranced by this count. You basically know how this story goes.

The creature

What I do find interesting about both the original Nosferatu and this one, is the look of our favorite vampire. This is no smooth and beautiful creature who charms women. This is an ugly demonic thing which uses its power to dominate both men and women.

There’s also an added element in the third act of the 2024 version that ups the stakes for not just our heroes but all of society. In my opinion, that was a good change. But it wasn’t enough to make me think this film is superior to other versions of Dracula.

In conclusion

Despite this being a rehashed Dracula, it is an entertaining film. There are some great elements of gore, makeup, and special effects. And the production truly feels like walking into the past. I am looking forward to seeing how director Robert Eggers handles werewolves in his next project.

But I also feel like if you don’t see this one in theaters, you’ll be fine streaming it whenever it gets to a service you have. It’s a good take on Dracula but in my opinion not a great one. I know a lot of people might disagree with me here, and that’s totally fine. It just didn’t fully sell me on it the whole way through. But I do love seeing big and bold horror productions so I hope we get more movies like it. I just hope they can be a tad more original and have a couple performances more grounded in reality.

Vampirically yours,

Slick Dungeon

P.S. Want to see a classic horror film? Check out Dracula (1931)!