The scariest thing about Nosferatu is how Robert Eggers portrayed Bill Skarsgård

This article contains Mild spoilers For “Nosferatu”.

There’s a lot to expect from Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu.” If you’re familiar with previous cinematic incarnations of Dracula, vampire films in general, Eggers’ films, or a combination of the three, you won’t necessarily be surprised by everything in the film. There’s plenty of bloodshed, a palpable sense of dread, an authenticity of time and place, and a psychosexual relationship between vampire Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) and his victims – all aspects that prior knowledge of vampire films and Eggers’ work should prepare you for. to.

However, part of the fun that comes with following the work of a real author is seeing how much he can surprise you, even when he stays true to his own quirks and tendencies. There’s no denying that “Nosferatu” is as much an Eggers film as it is a quintessential vampire film, yet it’s a bit shocking how fresh and invigorating it feels. Yes, part of this is probably down to how inundated we are with vampires in the media – even a simple meandering that we expect to be a zigzag is enough to attract some interest – but the enthusiasm with which the director attacks this material has to be seen, believe me, especially when it comes to… It’s just how scary the movie is. After all, we’re so used to vampires at this point in popular culture, how could they be this scary again?

The answer, of course, lies in craftsmanship and presentation, two things at which Robert Eggers excels. The way Skarsgård shoots in the film, along with the other filmmaking techniques and elements he uses, come together to make “Nosferatu” is one of the scariest vampire movies ever made.

By far one of the most surprising, fascinating and even shocking aspects of “Nosferatu” is the way Skarsgård’s Count Orlok is presented and presented. This is of course in keeping with the “Nosferatu” tradition, as F.W. Murnau’s original 1922 film (unofficially based on Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula”) featured Max Schreck portraying Orlok in a make-up designed by the actor himself that is still very effective. Noticeable and frightening after more than a century. Schreck’s presence is further enhanced by Numerous rumors and unanswered questions persist to this dayurban legends that lead to imaginative perception “Shadow of the Vampire” from 2000 is a film that posits the idea that Shrek was a real creature of the night surreptitiously hired by Murnau.

In a letter Eggers wrote to members of Critics’ Choicethe director went into some detail about how he, Skarsgård, and collaborators like costume designer Linda Moyer and makeup prosthetics designer David White helped make Orlok eerie and alien by giving him a “folk vampire look.” As Eggers described:

Bill Skarsgård’s Count Orlok marks the first time the character of Dracula is presented as a vampire from folklore – a walking corpse, zombie-like in appearance – and also the first time he dresses up as a Transylvanian nobleman.

That aesthetic and its harrowing struggle with the banal is what makes Orlok so disturbing. He is at once an eternal creature of myth and the supernatural while being of his own place and time; A presence that cannot be easily overlooked or dismissed. In addition to the makeup (including a big, bushy mustache that only helps hide the actor’s boyish appearance), Skarsgård reportedly worked with an opera voice coach to lower his voice a full octave. This is, for my money, the most transformative performance from an established actor since Robert De Niro in “Raging Bull” The overall effect it has on the viewer hits the uncanny valley. We know who he is, but we can’t recognize him, and that puts us exactly where the filmmakers want us to be.

Perhaps Eggers’s most obvious but still very effective trick in “Nosferatu” is the way he uses his camera. Even a cursory viewing of the film for the first time allows anyone to see how long Eggers, cinematographer Jaren Blaschke, and editor Louise Ford held on to many shots. This technique defines one of the film’s main themes, which is the way in which Orlock and the vampires affect the dream-like human psyche, blurring the line between dreams and reality. It’s the film’s most important relationship to “A Nightmare on Elm Street” by Wes Craven. Which features similar scenes of characters appearing to be dreaming only for it to be implied that the events have actually happened (or vice versa).

In other words, “Nosferatu” is a waking nightmare, and Eggers wants to keep the audience trapped in that nightmare with his heroes. The director mentions in his aforementioned letter that these “long, uninterrupted tracking shots” required the help of not only the camera department, but also the lighting department (for the candles that illuminate many of the scenes) and production designer Craig Lathrop, who was to make sure the sets were wild (re: Animated) to accommodate the camera that slides through and around the space. This choice has an additional effect on the nightmare as well, as many shots (particularly those involving the journey to Orlok’s castle in Transylvania) fly through space as if from a first-person perspective. The point of view of who is playing it is a debatable point, suffice it to say that it is ultimately the point of view of the audience, which makes the process of watching “Nosferatu” an experimental one. Eggers doesn’t exactly break the fourth wall, but there’s no doubt that we’re part of his film, too.

From the most obvious to the subtler technique: “Nosferatu” is a film shot in color, but it has a distinctly monochromatic color palette. Each set designed by Eggers and Lathrop appears to have been drawn and coordinated to subtly suck the color out of everything (pun intended), even before Count Orlok arrived in Germany. Of course, this is partly because Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) is our main character, and has been stalked, courted, and harassed by Orlock for years before the story begins. Another reason for the look is that it recalls both Murnau’s classic silent film and the 19th century in general, or at least our collective subconscious’s version of that period, given our cultural shorthand associating the past with black and white.

On top of these reasons is the fact that this painting enhances the effects of the previous two aspects of the film. It also adds to the uncanny valley of Orlok and the film itself, playing literal tricks on our eyes as we watch the film. It also heightens the dream-like nature of the film, creating the false impression among some viewers that the film was actually shot in black and white, making one’s recollection of its images tainted and untrustworthy. Like a master of horror, Eggers deftly combines the expected trappings of the genre—music stings, jumps, aggressive sound design, theatrics, and lots of gore—with these subtler, more disturbing elements. The overall effect of this is that when the film’s predictable scary elements wear off, the insidious undercurrents continue to unsettle.

Finally, the choice to shoot a film in color with barely any emphasis on color helps the film’s other heroine besides Eileen – daylight, which is the only thing that can defeat Orlok. Eggers appropriately holds back from sunlit scenes until the end of the film, with even the candlelight not being enough to completely dispel the darkness. With this and all of its skill on display, “Nosferatu” is as rich an experience as one could hope for in a horror film, one that is just as frightening on a first viewing as it is on repeated viewings.