Nosferatu (2024) – The Scary Dracula Adaptation I Didn’t Know I Needed

Nosferatu (2024), directed by Robert Eggers, caught my eye on social media right after I watched Dracula: A Love Story (2025)—another fresh take on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel. It was wild seeing two adaptations of the same book drop just a year apart, but they couldn’t be more different. Where Dracula: A Love Story leaned hard into the romance and obsession, Nosferatu cranks up the pure horror and dread, making the vampire feel like an unstoppable plague instead of a brooding lover. That shift hooked me immediately. The visuals are stunning, the scares are legit, and it’s a gothic nightmare I won’t forget. 8/10—my favorite horror adaptation of the novel so far.

Starring Bill Skarsgård as the terrifying Count Orlok, Lily-Rose Depp as the haunted Ellen Hutter, Nicholas Hoult as her husband Thomas, and Willem Dafoe as the eccentric vampire hunter Prof. Von Franz, this 132-minute R-rated remake honors the 1922 silent classic while feeling totally fresh.

The Plot: From Transylvanian Castle to a Town in Terror

In 1838 Germany, real estate agent Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) heads to a creepy Transylvanian castle to seal a deal with the shadowy Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). He has no idea Orlok is a vampire who’s been stalking his wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) through psychic nightmares and seizures. When Thomas vanishes, Ellen’s dark visions intensify, and Orlok sets sail for their quiet town of Wisborg—bringing rats, plague, and death in his wake.

It’s a gothic obsession story: Orlok fixates on Ellen as his twisted soulmate, but she’s the one who might end him. No big spoilers, but the horror builds like a storm—slow at first, then unrelenting.

Why This Nosferatu Stands Out (And Why the Name?)

What makes Nosferatu click is how it captures the raw terror of Stoker’s novel that so many adaptations soften. Orlok isn’t sexy or sympathetic—he’s a bald, clawed monster with a shadow that moves on its own, spreading horror like a disease. Ellen’s psychic link to him feels cursed, not romantic, and Thomas’s suffering is straight-up brutal. Eggers nails the dread: empty hallways that breathe, rats scurrying in the dark, a ship arriving silent and rotting.

And the name? “Nosferatu” is straight from Dracula—Stoker uses it a few times when Jonathan Harker’s in Transylvania, where locals whisper it means an undead vampire, like a Romanian curse. It’s perfect for this version’s ancient, evil vibe.

A Quick Nod to the 1922 Original

Nosferatu (1924) was this wild unauthorized rip-off of Dracula, made by Prana Film on a shoestring budget for German audiences. They changed names (Dracula became Count Orlok) and details to dodge copyright, but the intertitles basically admitted it was from Stoker’s book. Set in Germany with local flavors to make it feel immediate and real. Stoker’s widow Florence sued hard, and a court ordered every copy destroyed. But some prints survived secretly, turning it into a horror masterpiece that basically invented the vampire movie genre. Kim Newman calls it the blueprint for all scares since—shadowy dread, unstoppable evil, and that iconic Orlok silhouette. Eggers’ remake honors that silent symphony while cranking it to 11.

What I Loved

• Cinematography is out of this world—moody shadows, stormy seas, every frame like a haunted painting.
• The horror hits hard: Orlok’s arrival feels like the apocalypse, and Ellen’s seizures are nightmare fuel.
• Performances: Skarsgård is monstrous perfection, Depp brings quiet terror, Hoult sells the desperation, and Dafoe chews scenery as the Van Helsing-type expert.
• It’s a faithful-but-fresh Dracula: scary vampire, suffering heroes, plague-bringer Orlok—everything the novel’s horror side deserves.

My One Real Issue

Some parts drag with that slow, quiet Eggers style—long silent stares, relaxing music that almost lulled me to sleep. At 2h12m, those stretches test your patience before the terror ramps up. Tighten it a bit, and it’d be flawless.

Ratings and Critical Reception

• IMDb: 7.1/10 (250,000 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes: 85% critics (381 reviews) / 73% audience (10,000+ ratings)
• Box office: $181.3 million worldwide on $50 million budget—Eggers’ biggest hit yet
• Oscar noms: Best Cinematography, Costume Design, Production Design, Makeup & Hairstyling

Critics rave about the visuals and atmosphere (Roger Ebert calls it an “awesome achievement”), but some knock the slow pace and lack of big scares. Audiences are split too—love the dread or bail on the runtime. My 8/10 fits right in the middle.

A Chilling Must-Watch for Horror Fans

At 8/10, Nosferatu is the gothic vampire movie we’ve been waiting for—scary, stylish, and soaked in Stoker’s dread. If Dracula: A Love Story gave you the romance, this delivers the nightmare. Skip if you hate slow burns; dive in if you want horror that haunts.

Watching these two back-to-back made me appreciate the novel’s layers even more. Bram would be proud.

What did you think of Nosferatu? Scarier than Dracula: A Love Story, or did the slow parts lose you? Drop your thoughts below!

And suggest my next movie—after this vampire double-feature, I’m down for more gothic horror or another classic remake.

If this review got you hyped (or warned you about the quiet bits), like, follow, share. See you in the next one!