It’s funny that, even though F.W. Murnau’s NOSFERATU was ostensibly a knockoff of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (which the director couldn’t get the rights for), it is considered a masterpiece of both German expressionism and the silent film era, as well as being a template for most modern gothic horror.
It’s had such an impact that when someone says they’re remaking NOSFERATU, you get why they say that and not simply “We’re doing another DRACULA.
Jeff Robinov’s Studio 8 has hired Robert Eggers to write and direct an as-yet-untitled remake of NOSFERATU, EINE SYMPHONIE DES GRAUENS. The company apparently angled hard to lock down the rights (which, of course, are separate from the DRACULA rights), and hired Eggers, who is also working on a medieval film titled THE KNIGHT for them.
Eggers’ first film, THE WITCH, was well-received at Sundance this year, and clearly had enough style and atmosphere on display to land him this high-profile gig. This hire makes me more curious than ever to check that film out; it’s gotta be worth something if it convinced Studio 8 that he was the right man to update the all-consuming darkness and shadows of NOSFERATU to 2015.
Werner Herzog also remade the film in 1979 with Klaus Kinski (of course), Bruno Ganz, and Isabelle Adjani. It’s a slow-paced, somber riff on the original, but it has some great surreal imagery and a feral, pathetic performance by Kinski that make it totally worth checking out.
And let’s not forget about SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE, the overlooked 2000 film that hypothesizes that Max Schreck’s iconic performance as Count Orlok was in part due to the fact that he was, himself, a real-life vampire.
Even with those flicks in existence, as well as the countless Dracula adaptations out there, you think there’s still room for another cinematic depiction of NOSFERATU?
