Focus features has released the long-awaited teaser trailer for Robert Eggers’ reimagining of the vampire classic,Nosferatu. It’s absolutely spine-tingling.
Though the teaser threatens a vampiric threat capable of consuming an entire town, theThe VVitchandLighthousefilmmaker is promising more atmosphere and harrowing character moments than all-out vampire hunting action.
Genre fans will be glad to see that, much like the classic Francis Ford Coppola adaptation ofBram Stoker’s Dracula, Eggers’Nosferatuseems to blend elements of new and old filmmaking such as CGI and miniature work to come up with uniquely unsettling imagery.
But, having come out in 1922, it’s completely understandable that most are entering this ride out of love for Eggers’ past work, not because they know a thing aboutNosferatuitself. Let’s find out all there is to know about it, shall we?
What is a Nosferatu?
The word Nosferatu has been associated with the specific image of a vampire with an almost goblin-like appearance. “A” Nosferatu is the opposite of the usual image of the suave aristocrat seen in most vampire tales.
In the popularVampire: The Masqueradeboard and video games, “the” Nosferatu are a clan of vampires that’s confined to the sewers as the Masquerade believes there’s just no way they could blend in with society at large.
“Nosferatu”, however, is just the old Romanian word for “Vampire”.
The originalNosferatutold the story of a vampire named Count Orlock but he was meant to be Count Dracula. Filmmaker F.W. Murnay just wanted to adapt the story of Bram Stoker’sDraculaand avoidcopyright-related repercussions, so the production changed the name, a few story beats, and the character’s overall appearance. Eggers is sticking with the name Nosferatu instead of Dracula, seemingly because he loves the classic.
Is Nosferatu a remake?
Though it shares the name with 1922’s film, the newNosferatuis being touted as a reinvention of the classic. This is the second retelling of this sort-of bootlegged story, as Werner Herzog also gave it a shot withNosferatu the Vampyreback in 1979.
Lily-Rose Depp will star alongside Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Nicholas Hoult, who’ll be joined by Eggers regulars Willem Dafoe and Ralph Ineson. Though we only see glimpses of the titular Nosferatu in the teaser, we know he’s played by Bill Skarsgård, whom you might know as Pennywise the clown fromIt.Nosferatuwill open on December 25.
