By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: **** RUNTIME: 133 minutes

This is the 1st film we’ve seen Depp in and the daughter of actors Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis is both other-worldly and hugely captivating in a pivotal role that must convince in this tale of 2 very different worlds colliding here.

• Read on for reasons including how this is a superbly crafted horror from a director at the top of his game

You join us in the early 1830s as the cries of a young girl named Ellen who pleads for a supernatural being to ease her loneliness awaken a mysterious creature who makes her pledge herself to him eternally.

Fast forward to 1838 where Ellen is married to Nicholas Hoult’s (film The Favourite) devoted Thomas Hutter in the German town of Wisburg when he is sent east to visit the reclusive Count Orlok played by Bill Skarsgård who wants to buy a local property and she begs him not to leave her.

Nosferatu was originally a hugely influential 1922 budget film that was based on the familiar Dracula story but tweaked for legal reasons to differentiate itself from it.

Directed by Robert Eggers, it’s already the hot director’s biggest grossing film and has been nominated at March’s Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

The biggest compliment we can pay it is that it’s beautifully shot and although in colour it’s at times so dark and reliant on shadows it feels like it’s black and white, lovingly evoking the styles of its predecessors.

Orlok, of course, is the supernatural being owed a debt by Ellen and feeds on her husband before stowing away aboard a ship infested with rats and bound for Wisburg.

The supporting cast is strong and Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Corrin (Orlando, Garrick Theatre) appear as friends of Ellen and Thomas who take her in as she starts to lose her mind after her husband’s departure.

In other hands, the story could have become needlessly overblown and campy but Depp brings plenty of agency to her role as she strives believably to save her hopeless husband.

This is a superbly crafted horror from a brilliant director at the very top of his game.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Nosferatu Tickets
• Have you seen a Robert Eggers film before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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