Robert Eggers writes and directs the latest iteration of Nosferatu, following in the footsteps of the iconic 1922 silent film directed by F. W. Murnau, and the 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre from Werner Herzog.

As the story goes, the 1922 film blatantly ripped off Dracula, and delivered some of the most iconic horror imagery committed to screen. So I eagerly anticipated Eggers take on it. All the beats you come to expect from the classic tale are there, as Eggers expands the tale, and wraps up ideas presented in the previous versions in the dark shadow that it casts.

Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard) is infatuated and drawn to Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) the new bride of Thomas (Nicholas Hoult). He creates a compact, one that must be signed in person, and Thomas is dispatched by Knock (Simon McBurney) to Transylvania.

Once there, Thomas is held by Orlok, and back in Germany, the undead’s shadow reaches closer and closer to Ellen, connected almost telepathically.

Ellen struggles with her ‘melancholy,’ in the home of her friend, Anna (Emma Cortin) and her well-to-do husband, Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and their two young daughters. Help is sought out in the form of Dr. Sievers (Ralph Inerson), who reaches out to his mentor, Professor von Franz (Willem Dafoe).

There is vampirism as plague, there is the question of women and their sexual impulses (and their often vilification of same) and there is gorgeous cinematography.

Eggers masterfully works the frame, and creates beautiful image after beautiful image. It’s a stunning watch. There is no surprise that the film walked away with four Oscar nominations, including one for cinematography, every frame is stunning.

It’s a moody, gothic, almost dream-like vision of a film. Eggers and his entire cast and crew seem to be on the same page when it came to making this film. It’s beautiful, horrifying, and a simply stunning watch.

The film itself seems a wonderful blend of practical and visual effects, as it explores themes of infection, infatuation, sexuality, and tells it all in a story that has stood the test of time for over a century.

And Skarsgard is simply terrifying in every scene he is in.

I could go on about imagery, framing, performances, themes, but I’m rather late to the party on this one. I feel it’s all been said already, and Eggers has proven that he’s a master storyteller. And this iteration may be one of my favorite takes on the Dracula story, right along side Coppola’s.