The Vanilla Ice hit “Ice Ice Baby” and its likeness to the song “Under Pressure” is a prime example of the unauthorized use of someone else’s art. In the end, Vanilla Ice was sued by Queen for his use of their song done with David Bowie and ended up settling. The reason I bring this up is because this week’s film review is a much older example of this, but still fits into this theme.
Nosferatu is the latest film directed by Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse) and stars Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgard, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, and Emma Corrin. It is Germany in 1838, and Thomas Hutter (Hoult) alongside his new bride, Ellen (Depp), move to Transylvania because of his job with a real estate firm. They travel there to finish a deal with a recluse named Count Orlok (Skarsgard) and find that this will not be a simple business deal because of who the count truly is.
This film’s visuals are outstanding with a great blend of CGI and practical locations that simply blew me away. Plainly put, this is one of the best films in this category that I have seen in years. The performances are fine with people like Defoe (who has worked with Eggers before), and even though I know it is award season I don’t feel that there are any performances worthy of award recognition or nomination.
For those unaware, this is remake of a 1922 silent film of the same name; but, just like the original, it is actually an unauthorized and unofficial adaptation of the 1897 novel of Bram Stroker’s Dracula. It was so badly taken from that source material that I would not have been surprised if Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder or Keanu Reeves from the Francis Ford Coppola version showed up with a cameo. Pair that with the fact that Nosferatu runs over two hours, it just drags on and on. In the third act, the plot just got weird, making me wonder what the point was during multiple scenes. It is no secret to how I feel about remakes of iconic films, and this film in no way helps the cause in the aspect. Due to the visuals, I will recommend this film, but only as watching it from a home cable service like HBO.
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