Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu” is creeping nearer.
The latest version of the classic 1922 silent film by F.W. Murnau, which was famously remade in 1979 by Werner Herzog, had splashy screenings in New York and Los Angeles (where Guillermo del Toro moderated a post-screening Q&A with Eggers) on Thursday. And the response was rapturous, with people hailing the movie’s production design, cinematography and fastidious attention to detail, all hallmarks of previous Eggers movies like “The Witch,” “The Lighthouse” and “The Northman.”
This new “Nosferatu” stars Bill Skarsgård as the vampire, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin and Willem Dafoe.
Rodrigo Perez, editor in chief of The Playlist, said the film was “a masterful, unnerving, spine-tingling gothic horror of the highest order, Robert Eggers’ best film.” He also singled out Rose-Depp’s performance, a common refrain among those who saw the movie yesterday.
Perri Nemiroff of Collider called the film a “chilling stunner.” And Germain Lussier of io9 described it as “gory, creepy, propulsive, with a hint of devilish humor.” (Lussier did not think it was Eggers’ best.)
Variety’s Oscar prognosticator Clayton Davis said it was “gorgeous and horrifically brilliant,” plus a lot of more questionable stuff.
Freelance film writer Courtney Howard said it was a “gorgeous grotesquerie if dread-infused terrors.” Say less!
Here are some more reactions to “Nosferatu,” which hits theaters on Christmas Day.
