Fans of cinema – sign up here.
Whether Robert Eggers’ work – the man behind the likes of The Northman and The Lighthouse – is accessible enough to ever evolve into true mainstream cinema is up for debate, but there’s no doubting the production values behind every movie he makes.
And this is arguably – if only just – his most accessible yet.
Even though it would still be a struggle to directly recommend it to friends and family.
That’s not because there’s anything at all wrong with it. It just doesn’t fit your usual cinematic horror stereotype – being more unnerving than terrifying.
This remake of the 1922 silent film – which was scarily ahead of its time and based on an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula – has a foreboding feel from start to finish, which is arguably mainly due to its 1838 early-European industrialised setting.
The film starts a few years earlier where we see a young girl, Ellen (Lily Rose-Depp), pleading for the arrival of a supernatural being – with her cries awakening a creature who makes her pledge herself to him eternally.
Now roughly eight years later, she lives happily with her new husband Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) in the German town of Wisborg, but is slowly being haunted by dreams of marrying ‘Death’ – and the pleasure it gives her – which leaves her looking a little ‘unhinged’ to friends of the couple.
But their life is turned upside down when Thomas accepts a commission from his employer (Simon McBurney) to sell a decrepit home to the reclusive Count Orlok (IT’s Bill Skarsgard) to ensure financial security.
Unfortunately he has to travel to Transylvania’s Carpathian Mountains in Central Romania to secure the deal, which drags him into the eerily-disturbing world of the menacing Orlak – leaving him haunted by his experiences. We soon realise this has been a set-up as he’s the ‘entity’ that is following Ellen, with him instigating Thomas’ ordeal in Transylvania.
In the meantime Ellen – who was left in the care of Thomas’ wealthy friend Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, seen most recently in Kraven the Hunter), his pregnant wife Anna (Emma Corrin) and their two young daughters – is suffering from severe bouts of seizures which eventually drags Ralph Ineson’s Dr Sievers and Willem Dafoe’s Professor Von Franz into her disturbing world.
So when Orlak – who we now know is pretty much a pseudonym for the legendary vampire Count Dracula – trails Thomas back to the German port where Ellen resides, he brings a rat-infested plague with him that causes deathly destruction, as he aims to ‘reunite’ with his ‘true love’. Which puts Ellen and everyone she loves in grave peril.
And via Eggers’ exceptionally visceral imagery – switching from black-and-white to bleak colour – and haunting musical score, this comes alive to become a tremendous modern day retelling of a 1920s movie in the 2020’s.
Even if you don’t quite take to the ‘artistic’ styling, there’s no denying under the surface this is still evolutionary cinema.
It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but Eggers drives another stake through conventional cinema with his truly revolutionary direction.
You can’t help but take notice – whether you’re ultimately a fan or not – as this is classic cinema reinvented with a contemporary bite.
Rating: 4/5
Gavin Miller
Odeon Luxe Peterborough & Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough, Out Now
Cast: Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgard, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson & Simon McBurney
Running Time: 2 Hrs 12 Mins
Director: Robert Eggers
For all the latest film information & showtimes at Peterborough’s Odeon Luxe & Showcase Cinema De Lux cinemas go to www.odeon.co.uk and www.showcasecinemas.co.uk
Comments