Nosferatu Repeats The Best Trick Of Bill Skarsgård's $704 Million Horror Movie From 8 Years Ago
Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu sees Bill Skarsgård as the terrifying vampire Count Orlok, and the movie repeats the best trick from Skarsgård’s other big horror project from eight years ago: Andy Muschietti’s It. Robert Eggers has become one of the most acclaimed filmmakers in recent years and has become especially popular in the horror genre. Eggers’ latest project is Nosferatu, a remake of the 1922 classic German expressionist movie of the same name, itself an unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, starring Bill Skarsgård as the legendary vampire.
Nosferatu takes the audience to 1838 to meet Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp), a young woman haunted by nightmares of a mysterious and terrifying creature. When her husband, Thomas (Nicholas Hoult), is sent to Transylvania to sell a house to Count Orlok, the latter terrifies the former, unleashing a real nightmare as Orlok is the creature haunting Ellen and wanting to take her. Despite Orlok’s presence being what kicks the movie’s story off, he isn’t seen often, thus repeating the best trick of 2017’s It.
Count Orlok & Pennywise Don’t Have Much Screen Time In Their Respective Movies
There’s Not Much Of Bill Skarsgård’s Count Orlok & Pennywise
Bill Skarsgård is now best known for his horror roles, a trend that began in the 2013 Netflix series Hemlock Grove. Skarsgård's big break not just in the horror genre but in general was in Muschietti’s It, the first big-screen adaptation of Stephen King’s 1986 novel of the same name. It changed the time setting of the novel and took viewers back to 1989 to meet the Losers Club when they were kids.
Nosferatu isn’t Bill Skarsgård’s first time playing a vampire, as his character in Hemlock Grove, Roman Godfrey, was one.
Following the death of Georgie Denbrough, his older brother, Bill (Jaeden Martell), and his friends begin to be haunted by a mysterious, shapeshifting, evil entity they simply refer to as “It.” This creature takes the form of its targets’ biggest fears to terrorize them and feed from their fear, but its preferred shape is Pennywise the Dancing Clown (played by Skarsgård). Pennywise is also the best-known form of It, and he uses it to haunt the Losers – however, Pennywise doesn’t get much screen time in either of Muschietti’s It movies.
According to Screen Time Central’s Matthew Stewart on Twitter/X, Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise has a total screen time of 11 minutes and 17 seconds in It, and 13 minutes and 29 seconds in the sequel, It Chapter Two. Skarsgård’s Count Orlok doesn’t get much screen time in Nosferatu either, though, at the time of writing, there isn’t official data on his total screen time.
Count Orlok & Pennywise’s Reduced Screen Time Makes Them More Terrifying
Not Enough Orlok & Pennywise Is A Lot Better
Despite Pennywise and Count Orlok being the main villains in both It movies and Nosferatu, respectively, their reduced screen time makes them a lot more terrifying. Without Pennywise getting much screen time, both It movies focus more on the journey of the Losers (individually and together) to confront and defeat the creature. Thanks to this, there’s a lot more attention and time to explore the effects of Pennywise’s presence in their lives and how they cope with their individual traumas.
Nosferatu doesn’t need to show Orlok all the time to let the audience know how powerful and disturbing he is.
Nosferatu repeats this trick by not giving Orlok much screen time and keeping him in the shadows in most of his appearances. Orlok is as terrifying as Pennywise if not more, as he has too much control over Ellen and begins to manipulate her surroundings as well so he and only he can have her. Nosferatu doesn’t need to show Orlok all the time to let the audience know how powerful and disturbing he is, and it does so by showing how he affects Ellen, Thomas, and those closest to them.
Ultimately, it’s a lot more effective for movies like It, It Chapter Two, and Nosferatu to focus more on the effects the villain and their presence have on their victims rather than showing them in full. Unlike slasher villains, who rely on graphic deaths and on following the villain’s steps, It and Nosferatu appeal to deeper fears that are better portrayed through the fear of the victims.
Nosferatu Learned A Key Lesson From Pennywise’s Biggest Mistake
Nosferatu Kept Orlok A Secret Until The End
Nosferatu not only repeated It and It Chapter Two’s best trick, but it also learned from their biggest mistake. When It was in development, there was a lot of anticipation around Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise look. The first official look at Skarsgård’s Pennywise was released in July 2016, followed by an image of his full Pennywise look in August. The first trailer for It was released in 2017, so by then, the audience already knew what the new Pennywise looked like.
There was a lot of online discussion about Skarsgård’s Pennywise, especially because he’s very different from Tim Curry’s in the 1990 miniseries. Of course, there were some unpleasant and rude comments about it, and Skarsgård told Esquire in 2024 that he felt the studio’s decision to release the first look at Pennywise way before the movie’s release was “kind of mean.”
Keeping Count Orlok’s appearance a secret until Nosferatu was released was a wise move by Robert Eggers and company. Nosferatu completely avoided a similar situation to the backlash and debate Pennywise received, and it created more interest and anticipation around the film. Nosferatu kept its best tricks and elements a secret until the end, making each viewer’s experience a lot better and more complete.
Nosferatu is a remake of the 1922 silent film of the same name from director F. W. Murnau. Robert Eggers is crafting his own version of the story for the reboot as writer and director, with Bill Skarsgård stepping into the shoes of Count Orlok. Nosferatu tells the tale of a young woman who falls victim to a vampire utterly infatuated with her.
- Cast
- Bill Skarsgard, Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Ralph Ineson, Willem Dafoe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Simon McBurney, Paul Maynard, Stacy Thunes
- Runtime
- 132 Minutes
- Director
- Robert Eggers
