THE WITCH Director Robert Eggers Discusses His Plans for the NOSFERATU Remake
A year ago it was announced that The Witch director Robert Eggers would be directing a remake of the classic 1922 vampire film Nosferatu. I'd normally be upset about this kind of remake news, but I was so impressed by what Eggers did with The Witch that I think he could actually direct an incredible Nosferatu film.
When the project was first announced it was described as "a visceral adaptation of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent film masterpiece that brings the horrific vampire of Eastern European folklore back to the screen." We now have some additional details on the film from Eggers.
In a recent interview with IndieWire, the director talked about how when he first saw a picture of actor Max Schreck as Count Orlok in a book in his elementary school he lost his mind. He made his mom drive him to the mall to buy him a VHS copy of the film. He went on to reveal that this wouldn't be the first time he's directed a take on the story:
“Then, when I was 17, I directed the senior play [of] ‘Nosferatu.' It was very expressionist, it was much more expressionist than the film is. It was ‘Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ style [German Expressionistic].”
He went on to talk about what he would have done with the film when he was 17, and what he looking to do with the film saying:
“That’s when I realized this is what I want to be doing. ‘Nosferatu’ has a very close, magical connection for me. Though if I were to make the movie 17-year-old Rob was going to make of ‘Nosferatu’ it would have been something between like ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ and ‘Sin City,’ whereas this is going to be the same approach as ‘The Witch,’ where 1830s Biedermeier Baltic Germany needs to be articulated in a way that seems real.”
He's obviously learned a lot since he was 17. I was really hoping that he would take that same approach he used on The Witch. I have no doubt that he's going to bring some insane detail to his film both visually and with the way the story and characters are brought to life. When talking about remaking a legendary film like this he explained that he has mixed feelings:
“[It’s shocking] to me. It feels ugly and blasphemous and egomaniacal and disgusting for a filmmaker in my place to do ‘Nosferatu’ next. I was really planning on waiting a while, but that’s how fate shook out.”
The original movie is an awesomely terrifying masterpiece based Bram Stoker's Dracula, and it follows a vampire named Count Orlok who "summons Thomas Hutter to his remote Transylvanian castle in the mountains. The eerie Orlok seeks to buy a house near Hutter and his wife, Ellen. After Orlok reveals his vampire nature, Hutter struggles to escape the castle, knowing that Ellen is in grave danger. Meanwhile Orlok's servant, Knock, prepares for his master to arrive at his new home."
Eggers is obviously fully invested in the project, and I think that he's going to give us something special and hopefully something that is just as nightmarish as the original movie. I can't wait to see what he does with it!