Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror is a 2023 American Gothichorror film directed by David Lee Fisher.[1] It premiered at the Emagine Theater in Novi, Michigan on November 11, 2023,[2] prior to being released on video on demand via Amazon Prime Video in September 2024 and on Apple TV on 18 October 2024.
The film is a remake of the 1922 silent film of the same title, which in turn is a loose adaptation of the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. It stars Doug Jones as Count Orlok, a vampire who terrorises the fictional town of Wisbourg, Germany to torment a young woman.
Plot
In the German town of Wisbourg, Thomas Hutter is hired to sell a dilapidated property to reclusive Transylvanian nobleman, Count Orlok, by bewitched estate agent Herr Knock. He travels at the protestation of his wife Ellen, who moves in with their friends Wolfram and Ruth during his travels, concurrently plagued by nightmares. On his journey, Thomas encounters peasants who pitifully beg him not to go to Orlok's castle. He comes across an old tome describing the "Nosferatu", a vampire spawned from Belial.
Thomas arrives at the castle where he and Orlok dine and discuss Orlok's new property. Orlok attempts to drink from Thomas' thumb as he cuts it on a breadknife. Thomas becomes unconscious and awakes with a bite on his neck, which he initially attributes to insects. Orlok becomes infatuated with a photograph of Ellen and remarks she has "a pretty neck". In Wisbourg, Knock becomes manic after reading cabalistic writings from Orlok and is admitted to an asylum. Ruth attempts to seduce Ellen, who later sleepwalks as she is telepathically tormented by Orlok. Thomas deduces that Orlok is Nosferatu and escapes the castle, becoming addled and sheltering in a hospital. Orlok stows away on a ship bound for the city, spreading a plague among the crew and bringing it to Wisbourg. Knock escapes from his cell, ecstatic about Orlok's arrival.
Thomas returns to Wisbourg to find that the town is under quarantine, many having died from Orlok's plague, including Ruth. Thomas and Ellen, both tormented by Orlok, agree that they must find a way to defeat him. Ellen privately reads from the tome about Nosferatu, and learns that he can be defeated by exposing him to sunlight, to which he is vulnerable. Ellen feigns sickness, prompting Thomas to call upon Professor Bulwer, during which they witness Wolfram murdering Knock. Ellen submits to Orlok; unable to resist her innocent blood, Orlok feeds long enough until he is disintegrated by the rising sun. Thomas returns to learn of Ellen's self-sacrifice, before making plans to leave Wisbourg forever.
The film entered production after being successfully funded on Kickstarter on 3 December 2014. On 13 April 2016, it was reported that Doug Jones had been cast as Count Orlok in the film and that filming had begun. About 50-60 percent of the movie used green screen to insert colorized backgrounds from the original film behind the actors, a technique Fisher had previously used for his remake The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (2005).[3][4]
In an interview with Dread Central, Doug Jones stated: "I don't think Orlok realizes how much he's faded. In his mind, he's still the dashing count he once was, and that dichotomy fascinated me". His makeup was restricted to his face and hands, and took four hours to apply. Regarding his portrayal, Jones said: "The farther you get from human, the harder it is to play, ... Orlok's humanity is still there, buried under layers of torment and hunger. That's where the real performance comes from—his desires, regrets, and fears".[5] Director David Lee Fisher explained that this interpretation of Orlok was deliberately distanced from Klaus Kinski's portrayal and approached Max Schreck's original performance more closely, being "an elemental force of nature ... definitely destructive, but not necessarily evil".[6]
Release
After several years with no updates as to the status of the film,[7]Nosferatu premiered at the Emagine Theater in Novi in November 2023.[8] It was later released on video on demand via Amazon Prime Video in September 2024 and on Apple TV on 18 October 2024.[1]
Reception
Jones' performance as Count Orlok received mixed responses, with Tarryn Gaherty of Collider praising him as one of the best aspects of the film, "masterfully combin[ing] physical acting with prosthetics and practical effects",[9] while Jennie Kermode of Eye For Film compared him unfavourably to prior Orlok performers, stating "he cannot capture the same air of uncanny charisma [as Max Schreck], which the film really depends on; neither can he compel the viewer's attention as Klaus Kinski did in his attempts".[10]
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