If you thinks that Krumpus is the worst kind of monster to see during the Christmas season, buddy, you are about to meet the nosferatu. Sorry, Nosferatu with a capital "N". And we are talking about the version by Robert Eggers, he of The Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman.
Some context: not willing to spare coin to adapt Bram Stoker's Dracula for film, Prana Film produced an unauthorised version of it. The film was called Nosferatu, which is an archaic Romanian word "a suggested etymology of 'Nesuferitu', meaning 'the offensive one' or 'the insufferable one'. Many details from the book were changed (Dracula is now Count Orlok; the setting was shifted to Berlin; Van Helsing was renamed as Professor Bulwer) but it wasn't enough to deter the Stoker Estate from suing. Alas, Prana Film declared bankruptcy but Nosferatu was hailed by film scholars that has set the standard for the horror genre.
Even though Nosferatu entered the public domain in 2019, it didn't stop unofficial remakes from being produced even earlier. With a tenuous connection to the original via its title, Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre starred Klaus Kinski as Count Dracula, not Count Orlok. There was even a remake by David Lee Fisher on Kickstarter starring Doug Jones. Robert Eggers' version is the only official remake to date.
It was announced that Bill Skarsgård (who's in, apparently, his goth phase) was cast as Count Orlok in Eggers' remake (very apt). Then it was followed by the news that Willem Dafoe was cast as well. There's a sort of poetry of Dafoe being in Nosferatu—Dafoe previously starred in Shadow of the Vampire, a fictionalised account of the filming Nosferatu, where Dafoe portrays Max Shreck (the actor who played Count Orlok) as an actual vampire.
For this overture, Dafoe will play Professor Albin Eberhart von Franz, whose name was changed from Professor Bulwer (who was based on Van Helsing in Stoker's Dracula).
At least, we saw a reason to create this.
Robert Eggers' Nosferatu also stars Nicholas Hoult; Lily-Rose Depp; Aaron Taylor-Johnson; Emma Corrin and Ralph Ineson. While the trailer doesn't show Count Orlok in all his horrifying glory, the feel of the teaser and the silhouette at the end conveyed all that's needed to tide us over for the full reveal.
Nosferatu will be released this Christmas.
