Robert Eggers' Nosferatu Thankfully Avoids A 40-Year-Old Horror Movie Change That I'm Sick Of

Summary

  • Robert Eggers to direct modern adaptation of Nosferatu, aiming to revive gothic horror.
  • The original Nosferatu adaptation will star a talented ensemble cast, set for release on Dec 25, 2024.
  • Eggers’ Nosferatu seeks to restore the frightening essence of vampires, distancing from romanticized portrayals.



The upcoming modern adaptation of Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu thankfully avoids a horror trope that’s getting old. More than a century after the original silent horror classic was released, modern horror auteur Robert Eggers has signed on to make a modern-day version that, based on his acclaim alone, is sure to be a critically acclaimed hit. Along with fellow horror filmmakers Ari Aster and Mike Flanagan, Eggers had emerged as one of the most proflic horror directors of the 21st century, having directed previous exceptional works such as The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman.

The original Nosferatu is based on Dracula by Bram Stoker and will be the first adaptation of the classic silent film in the history of cinema. Eggers seems like the perfect candidate to take on the cherished Hollywood film subject after his massive critical acclaim with The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman, which are some of the best horror movies and thrillers of the 21st century. The Nosferatu remake, which is also written by Eggers, is set to star Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bill Skarsgard, Emma Corrin, Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe, Nicolas Hoult, and more. It will be released on December 25, 2024.



Successful Vampire Movies Have Been Too Fixated On Romance & Blockbuster-Style Action

Nosferatu will be an appropriate return to form to vampire movies

Most the the more recent successful vampire movies have been too fixated on romance and blockbuster types of movies. This change really came about after the release of The Lost Boys, which is a great movie, but what came after has really diluted the folklore, mythology, and terrifying gothic nature of classic vampire movies. While there are tons of cult classics that avoid this, the ones that have been the most successful, like the Twilight franchise, Buffy-style films, and even Van Helsing, are more comical, fantastical, and romantic, making them more easily digested by the masses.


The Twilight movies are easily the most profitable vampire-related movies based on the celebrated novels by Stephanie Meyers. While the films did well to combine the sensibilities of pop culture wrapped around a vampire-focused narrative, which also features aspects of fantasy and even action toward the end of the series, the Twilight movies do not capture the true essence of gothic cinema as established by the original Nosferatu.The Lost Boys, while highly entertaining, did the same thing as well, using the origin of vampires as the hook rather than the central core of the story without diving too deeply into the history.

Willem Dafoe as Nemo from Inside

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Nosferatu Revives The Style Of Interview With The Vampire & Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Many modern vampire movies make vampire characters very likable

Interview with a Vampire 1994 Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise

On the other hand, some of the recent vampire movies are more closely aligned to the gothic themes of the original Nosferatu that Eggers will surely aim to replicate and even enhance in his upcoming highly anticipated remake, which I am extremely excited about. Some of the ’90s movies that really got a lot of the gothic sentiment of classic scary vampire movies right are Interview With the Vampire and the 1992 version of Dracula which started to bring back that approach. These were two of the biggest vampire movies of that era, but we haven’t seen many successful movies like them since.


Recently, there’s been a lot of romanticizing and glorification of vampires in cinema, but not so much horrifying of vampires in cinema, which seems to be working against the point. There are also the modern classic vampire films Only Lovers Left Alive and From Dusk Til Dawn, which also make vampires seem more or less fun and entertaining, as opposed to the villainous antagonists that they originally were intended to be. Eggers’ Nosferatu will finally legitimize vampires as socary forces and evil foes in this day and age when so many recent vampire works have made them likable and even sympathetic characters.

Willem Dafoe in Shadow of the Vampire and Nosferatu 2024

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Nosferatu Is Already Set Up To Be A Hit With Critics & At The Box Office

Eggers is one of the best horror directors of our time

The 2024 Nosferatu remake is almost guaranteed to be a critical success based on how his other horror movies were positively received. All three of Eggers’ previous movies hold 90% Rotten Tomatoes scores. Nosfeatu’s trailer already looks great, meaning that the film is projected to be one of the best horrors of the year and potentially one of the greatest movies of 2024. It’s also set to be released on Christmas Day, so Universal is giving it a great chance at commercial success. It will come right in time for awards season as well which Eggers is certainly no stranger to. All the stars are aligned for Nosferatu to be a modern instant classic of the horror genre.


Dracula-Nosferatu-in-The-Last-Voyage-of-the-Demeter-and-Andrew-Stehlin-as-Arvin-from-30-Days-of-Night

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