Yesferatu.

Of all the monsters in all of cinema history, few have quite as curious and as contentious a history as Nosferatu. Essentially created as a Dracula knock-off, the Max Schreck-starring Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror should never really have seen the light of day, with Bram Stoker’s widow, Florence Balcombe, immediately killing the film dead by suing for copyright infringement and having all prints of it destroyed.

Except, as it turns out, they weren’t all destroyed. With the survival of a handful of prints, Nosferatu had somehow lived to see another day and would eventually go on to be regarded as one of the most important films in cinema history.

By its very nature, Nosferatu is a cinematic quirk and a true outsider film that holds a unique place on the horror landscape. There have been several attempts to revive the Nosferatu name in the past – most notably Werner Herzog’s 1979 remake – however, considering the inimitability of the film’s history, there are few horror filmmakers out there today more suited to adapting it for a new generation than Robert Eggers.

In 1830s Germany, estate agent Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Holt) travels to Transylvania for a fateful meeting with Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård), a prospective client. In his absence, Hutter's new bride, Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), is left under the care of their friends, Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Anna Harding (Emma Corrin). Plagued by horrific visions and an overwhelming sense of escalating dread, Ellen soon encounters an evil force that's far beyond her control.

As modern horror filmmakers go, Robert Eggers is a true one of a kind. Coming out all guns blazing with the off-kilter folk stylings of The Witch, following it up with the unhinged sea-lashed crustiness of The Lighthouse, and then topping it all off with the brooding blockbuster brutality of The Northman – Eggers’ idiosyncratic horror approach is unlike any other director in the game.

And it’s precisely this brand of idiosyncratic horror that makes Eggers the perfect candidate to reimagine Nosferatu. Since its very inception, Nosferatu has been an outsider vampire that, by all accounts, should not technically exist, and there seems no director out there better suited to reviving him than one of the premiere outsider filmmakers in Hollywood today.

The man just gets it, and his trademark brand of grim, quirky folk horror is honestly the perfect match for Count Orlok and co, and while this version of Nosferatu is, on a story level at least, a very faithful adaptation of the 1922 original, Eggers makes every other aspect of the film his own.

Some may be disappointed that Eggers has resisted the urge to shake the narrative up, but while that’s entirely understandable considering his past work, you’ll be pleased to hear that the directors’ patented style and unique horror sensibilities are otherwise fully intact. The plot, as it were, is more or less that of the 1922 original, and while it would’ve certainly been interesting to see how far and in what direction Eggers could’ve pushed the story, it’s far more important that his unique voice and vision are channelled through visuals, themes, and characters.

Viewed purely on a visual level, what Eggers has managed to achieve here is something rather special indeed. Full of monochrome murkiness and the deepest and darkest of shadows, Nosferatu is Robert Eggers in his gloriously gothic element, and the result is a thing of unhinged beauty that’s equal parts delectable and detestable.

With darkness, death, and decay dripping from the screen, Nosferatu makes for one hell of an immersive viewing experience as it beckons you to sink deeper and deeper into its gothic gloom. It’s a film that demands you embrace its bleakness, and once it has its teeth dug in, you have no option but to submit to its spell.

Beautiful, alluring, dirty, and downright dangerous, this is Eggers in full horror force. Few filmmakers can conjure a mood and an atmosphere quite like Robert Eggers, and he’s managed to double down on that here, further cementing himself as one of the premiere horror visionaries working today.

Dark, daring, and utterly deranged in parts, Nosferatu feels very much of a piece with Eggers’ previous work, but while Nosferatu is certainly reminiscent of its predecessors, the director takes it all one step further. Make no mistake, we are fully imbedded in Eggers’ world here, yet there’s something different this time. Something deeper. And something significantly bleaker than anything we’ve seen or felt before.

Crammed full of unflinching closeups, sweeping camerawork, and fluid, disorientating editing –Nosferatu drags you kicking and screaming into its world before slamming the casket shut and nailing you in. As the camera sweeps and glides unnervingly between stark closeups, decaying, plague-hit cobbled streets, and beautifully composed yet utterly haunting landscapes, Eggers gleefully casts a mesmerising spell that holds you firmly in its grasp and doesn’t let go.

Nosferatu is a grimy, gory gothic beauty and a dark, despicable delight to be embraced, however, just as much as it makes for a visual feast to be devoured, it’s also something to be enjoyed. For all its gore-soaked grimness, Nosferatu is an absolute romp of a film and a lusty, horny trip that’s made to be relished.

Quite honestly, Nosferatu is an absolute blast of a film and a riotous watch that sees both the director and his cast going all in for a horny horror extravaganza with style and swagger to spare. And, while much of this is down to Robert Eggers’ keen eye for gothic grandeur, a good portion of the credit must also go to the cast for their full-blooded commitment to the cause.

Across the board, the film’s performances are superb, yet, as the key focus of the story, Lily-Rose Depp stands out as a real force to be reckoned with. With a delicate yet powerful performance, Depp manages to add depth, dimension, and a commanding presence to a character that could otherwise feel like a weak cliché in lesser hands.

Without a doubt, Depp’s Ellen is a far more nuanced depiction of the character with far more purchase in the story than anything we’ve seen previously from a Nosferatu (or, for that matter, Dracula) film, and much of how this lands is down to the actress herself, who incrementally grows in stature as the film goes on. While she’s certainly not a complete acting newcomer, this very much feels like a coming out performance for the young performer and will surely garner her some well-deserved recognition come awards season.

Alongside her, Nicolas Holt is as fantastic as ever, as he once again proves himself one of the most reliable, versatile performers in the game, taking a role that could’ve easily fizzled into the background and ramping it up to another level entirely. As does Bill Skarsgård’s barely recognisable turn as Count Orlok - a role that he elevates from the shadows with an enormous presence and a voice that (while initially rather ridiculous) commands the screen with ease.

Around these three, it’s the rest of the ensemble cast that really supplement things and take the film to new and incredibly exciting places. Among them, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is great, Ralph Ineson always a welcome presence, and Willem Dafoe knows the assignment all too well, while a special shoutout must go to Simon McBurney as Knock, who continues to do exceptionally showy work in unshowy roles with a raucous, guttural performance that very nearly steals the show.

Without being overly glitzy or overtly star-studded, it truly is a stellar cast, and while it constantly runs the risk of overcrowding itself, Robert Eggars nevertheless manages to balance them all superbly. There are certainly tweaks and alterations to some characters from previous iterations of the story, yet nothing ever bloats the film or derails the narrative at all, as Eggers remains steadfast and laser-focused on retaining the story’s pitch-black purity and telling the best Nosferatu tale possible.

At once hypnotic, horny, beautiful, thrilling, and utterly repulsive - Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu is a thing of grainy, gory gothic glory. Full of captivating performances (not least from Lily-Rose Depp), visceral splendour, and spellbinding visual flair, Nosferatu is a thoroughly immersive viewing experience of intrigue, dark desire, and unrelenting fear that will sink its teeth in and slowly bleed you dry.