I had zero expectations going into 2024's Nosferatu. I assumed that director Robert Eggers would treat this particular horror icon with proper reverence, and he did. This was never going to be an out-and-out goose egg. Actually, I became more invested in the story than I thought I would, given how familiar these beats tend to be in the modern day. We didn't need another Dracula film. I'm not complaining, though. I don't have much to complain about, aside from...I don't think this is a spoiler. Is it? No, you're safe. Why - dear God, why - does Count Orlock have a moustache?
It's a cosmetic (and ultimately superficial) foible, but come now. A moustache??? It took me right out of the staggering ambiance that Eggers worked so hard to establish. Why couldn't we see a more traditional Orlock? Everything else about Nosferatu brings tradition to mind, so why is our centuries-old vampire cosplaying as Magnum, P.I.? Of course, the acting is phenomenal. I loved Willem Dafoe as Professor von Franz, our Van Helsing equivalent. Nicholas Hoult and Bill Skarsgard are fine-tuned as the protagonist and the antagonist, respectively. But that moustache. Whose idea was that?
Overall, Nosferatu is rock solid. Maybe four Z'Dars. I will say, it's not something that needs to be seen on the big screen.
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