By R. Paul Dhillon

After hearing much hype about ace director Robert Eggers’ rehash of cinema classic Nosferatu movie being all that – I was forced to the cinemas for an early viewing instead of waiting for these boring remakes on streaming. 

Alas it was a wasted trip as Eggers mostly retells the same old Orlock-Nosferatu tale from the original film, a rip off of the Dracula legend basically, but more mysterious and beastly and in Eggers version a gory bird-rat chewing violent take. 

The original Nosferatu filmmakers were sued by the Dracula story rights holder and the studio behind the original film was forced to destroy all prints but one survived thus a legend of this version of the beast survived and became part of film history.

But the new Eggers film chose to keep the same tired plot of a newly-married Real estate broker Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) forced to go to the Beast’s hideout in some remote castle to sign for his new digs in a similar run down dump in the German town where Thomas resides with his wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), the real prize of Orlock (Bill Skarsgard) who has been haunting her for a long time as she is his beloved. 

We know this story from the original Nosferatu and similar tales from better Dracula films, including my favorite Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula starring Gary Oldman, but perhaps the Eggers decided the new generation this film is intended for doesn’t know the story at all. 

But it’s too by the numbers and for cinephiles like me familiar with the story – it’s like watching paint dry despite Eggers’ solid gothic visuals. There are some moments like the gypsies Thomas encounters before he meets the Beast that adds some punch and the film needed more of these kinds of story points instead of the rats-plague that’s everywhere. 

So yes as you might have heard (PETA was criticizing that the film was wrongly blaming the rats for the great plague – LOL), the rats do have a bigger role in this version but there really isn’t anything original dramatically as same key mythical characters show up like Herr Knock (Simon McBurney) similar to Dracula’s henchman Igor, and Dr. Wilhelm (Ralph Ineson) and Professor Albin (Willem Dafoe) who mostly do their parts efficiently.

So other than Eggers visual style, which no doubt deserves praise, there isn’t much to get excited about. Even Orlock with his accent is more comical than scary meanwhile Ellen as played by Depp needed a stronger, perhaps British, actress but she does chew the scenery effectively especially in those disturbing nightmares and beastly sexual scenes. 

There are moments of gothic horror that we are accustomed to from Eggers but the rehashed story seems stale and unbearable at two plus hours. 

However, many may find solace in the ending which was the only redeemable thing for me and it was beautiful and justified! 

But don’t believe the hype about the film being one of the best releases in the holiday season but it may satisfy horror and Eggers fan base!

R. Paul Dhillon is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker who has written, directed and produced over 40 productions including two theatrically released feature films starring Gulshan Grover.