Nosferatu - A Horror Opera

Nosferatu

English - Horror / Drama
132 mins
JioHotstar

Horror is not  my favourite genre, but I almost always end up watching a few every year!

Some horror movies come at you like a bat out of hell. Others creep up the staircase, one shadowy step at a time. Nosferatu does the latter, while it may test your patience, it rewards you with a hypnotic, ghoulish beauty that feels like stepping into a cursed oil painting. Also, a polite warning on the haunting and gruesome imagery.

Robert Eggers has never been in a rush to tell his stories on screen. If The Lighthouse was a descent into madness and saltwater rot (inspiring certain sequences in Bramayugam), and The Northman was a blood-soaked primal scream, then Nosferatu is his opera — low, slow, and haunting. Expectedly, there are no jump scares. It is like listening to a violin string pulled taut for two hours, waiting for it to snap.

Is the pacing languid? Absolutely. There were stretches where I could feel the stillness settling into my bones—and yes, the 1.25x speed helped (a huge helps for me when I watch scary movies, I admit 😊). But that stillness is part of its spell. Eggers treats time the way Count Orlok treats his victims: draining it slowly, methodically, until you are too entranced to fight it.

Visually, though? This thing is a gothic fever dream. The production design is just breathtaking—castles that seem carved out of nightmares, hallways that feel alive with mildew and menace. Every frame is carefully composed, bringing to life the Transylvania we think we know, while injecting it with new rot and ritual. The cinematography is stunning—shot in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio, the frames ensnare you.

The sound design—good lord. The creak of wood, the moan of wind, the echo of footsteps on stone… and when Count Orlok is heard? It is all used with surgical dread. You do not just watch this movie; you hear it crawling through the walls.

The makeup and costume detailing is outstanding. This Count Orlok (played by Bill Skarsgård) is grotesque in a way that makes Max Schreck’s version look like a wax doll. He’s a rat-faced revenant with teeth like knives and a presence that defiles every frame he enters. The movie deserved its four Oscar nominations for cinematography, costume, sound and production design.

There is a scene—no spoilers—where he simply stands still, and it’s more unsettling than a dozen modern horror finales. I do hope, however, that this is the last we see of Bill Skarsgård in such roles. For such a tall, handsome young man (like his brother Alexander), it would be nice to see him in a “regular” character for once.

The cast around him does solid work. Lily-Rose Depp (Johnny Depp's daughter) carries an eternal sadness as Ellen, and Nicholas Hoult is quite good as the helpless husband. When his face trembles in the presence of Orlok, you feel it. Willem Dafoe is perfect as the busy, Exorcist-like Prof. Franz.

This is definitely not movie for everyone to enjoy. If you are looking for thrills, you might come away frustrated. But if you are in the mood for something slow, sumptuous, and soaked in old-world horror, Nosferatu is a spell worth falling under.