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Robert Eggers' Nosferatu premiered in theatres on December 25, 2024, and brought this classic story to the modern screens in a huge way. Starring Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgard, Willem Dafoe, and more, the film follows a young couple as they are forced to fend off the vampire known as Count Orlok after he gets infatuated with Ellen Hutter.
Nosferatu is a remake of a 1922 film of the same name, directed by F.W. Murnau. However, that film was inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula. While the film's main vampire is known as Count Orlok in the film, he is pretty much the character of Dracula, but instead, he is not called Dracula and that is due to legal reasons.
This is mainly because Murnau never sought permission from Stoker's estate to adapt Dracula, and went forward with making the film anyway by tweaking the names of the characters and some events from the story.
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Exploring the century-old conspiracy behind Nosferatu
Bram Stoker's Dracula is considered the quintessential vampire novel. The 1897 gothic horror story has been considered a commendable work of classic literature for more than a century now, and it follows solicitor Jonathan Harker who stays at the castle of Count Dracula. However, Harker escapes the castle after realizing Dracula is a vampire and the monster then brings the plague to the town of Whitby.
While there is more to Dracula's story, this is essentially what makes up most of Nosferatu's tale. The movie is pretty much an unofficial adaptation of Stoker's classic with Jonathan Harker being turned into Thomas Hutter and Count Dracula being known as Count Orlok. The film also changed many other details and names from the novel and this eventually did land it in a lot of trouble.
Following the release of the 1922 movie, Stoker's estate still pursued a lawsuit, which resulted in a court order that all copies of the 1922 film be destroyed. This is primarily the reason why Count Orlok is not called Count Dracula. However, several copies of the film survived, which is why they are available to watch today.
The word Nosferatu also has a connection to the wider genre as well. The word itself is a synonym for vampire and is a Roman archaic word. It was only popularized in the 19th and 20th century.
What is Nosferatu (2024)?
The most recent release of Nosferatu is the second remake of the 1922 film. It is directed by director Robert Eggers who is best known for directing The VVitch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman. It is a gothic horror film that stars Bill Skarsgard as the threatening Count Orlok and Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter, joined by Nicholas Hoult as Thomas Hutter.
The official synopsis of the film as per Focus Features reads as:
"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."
The film also stars Willem Dafoe as Prof. Albin Eberhart Von Franz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Friedrich Harding, and Emma Corrin as Anna Harding. The film is currently playing in theatres right now.
