The first reactions are in for Nosferatu and they are glowing. We had high hopes for Robert Eggers' long-awaited return to horror and, rather than exceeding expectations, it sounds like he blows them away.
Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgård receive the lion's share of praise, while the movie's stunning imagery and themes appear every bit as effective as the horror and gore that you'd expect from a vampire movie. Crucially, it's being hailed as the "perfect remake."
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, director Robert Eggers teased Count Orlok's appearance - which has yet to be fully revealed - and explained that he's more akin to a corpse than a traditional vampire.
"This Orlok is more of a folk vampire than any other film version," the filmmaker said. "That means he's a dead person. And he’s not like, “I look great and I'm dead.” Folk vampires in some ways are more visually similar to zombies."
"The reason why he looks the way he looks and he dresses the way he's dressed is because for the first time in a Dracula or Nosferatu story, this guy looks like a dead Transylvanian nobleman," Eggers continued. "Every single thing he's wearing down to the heels on his shoes is what he would've worn. That's never been done."
It sounds like we're in store for something special with this one and with it looking increasingly unlikely that Count Orlok will be unveiled before opening day, it might be hard to avoid leaks if you aren't in theaters on Christmas Day.
A new take on F. W. Murnau's 1922 version and Werner Herzog's take in 1979, Nosferatu is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.
Written for the screen and directed by Robert Eggers, Nosferatu stars Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney and Willem Dafoe.
Check out a sampling of the first Nosferatu reactions in the X posts below.