Oh, the weather outside is frightful. But don’t head to the multiplex to stay warm. Not if you’re seeing “Nosferatu,” anyway. Bring your hand warmers, toe warmers, heart warmers and soul warmers — this update of the 1922 silent vampire classic will chill you to the bone.
But it may not terrify you. Everything in Robert Eggers’ faithful, even adoring remake, from his picturesque 19th century German town to those bleak mountain snowscapes leading to that (brrr) imposing castle in Transylvania, looks great. But with its stylized, often stilted dialogue and overly dramatic storytelling, it feels more like everyone is living in a quaint period painting rather than a world populated by real humans (and, well, vampires) made of flesh and, er, blood.
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Bill Skarsgard arrives at the premiere of "Nosferatu" on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
This imaged released by Focus Features shows Nicholas Hoult, left, and Lily-Rose Depp in a scene from "Nosferatu". (Focus Features via AP)
This imaged released by Focus Features shows a scene from "Nosferatu". (Focus Features via AP)
This imaged released by Focus Features shows Lily-Rose Depp in a scene from "Nosferatu". (Focus Features via AP)
Eggers, who writes and directs here, has described being haunted since youth with F.W. Murnau’s 1922 “Nosferatu,” starring Max Schreck (which borrowed so much from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula” that the author’s estate sued for copyright infringement). Eggers has said he wanted to present a true vampire, meaning the original folk variety — the horrifying, ugly, venal sort. Not the seduce-you-in-a-dinner-jacket kind.
And certainly not the “veggie vampire” who drinks only animal blood (think “Twilight”). No, Eggers’ vampire, Count Orlok, wants only human blood — preferably from a lovely damsel.
The damsel here would be young wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), the focus of Orlok’s obsessive desires. In a nod to changing times, Eggers brings the character to the forefront and suggests that in 19th century society, she was unfairly seen as “hysterical” when actually, she was, you know, possessed. The lovely Depp fully commits to the high drama — but we don't learn much about what's in her head. Like everything here, it's a stylized performance that feels like a piece of art but keeps us at a distance.
After a prologue in which Ellen’s spiritual connection to Orlok is established, we begin our story in fictional Wisborg, on the Baltic coast. Ellen has just been married to handsome, fresh-faced Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult, giving his all), who aims to gain employment with a real estate firm.
But first, Thomas is told by the shady-looking boss, he must undertake an out-of-town assignment, traveling into the Carpathian mountains to obtain the signature of a shadowy client on the deed for a local fixer-upper. And he sets off, to the protestations of Ellen, who has been having some truly terrible dreams.
Note to self: When accepting job assignments, maybe think twice if your boss is sending you, solo, deep into wintry Transylvania? But if Thomas had used his noggin and sat home by the fire with his bride, we would have no movie.
Waiting for Thomas in the dark, lonely castle — the exteriors of which were actually filmed in Transylvania — is Orlok himself (Bill Skarsgård, truly unrecognizable in heavy, ugly makeup). They get down to business, but Thomas unfortunately cuts his finger, and his blood awakens a thirst in Orlok. Thomas soon realizes he's in a very bad place and needs to get back to his wife forthwith.
Back in Wisborg, Ellen is staying with the couple’s friends, the Hardings (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Corrin, not given much to work with), and suffering from seizures and spells. Orlok is calling to her, staking his claim. The friends are trying to help, and when traditional medicine fails they turn to a specialist in the occult — and a gift to the rest of us, because he’s played by Willem Dafoe.
Dafoe’s naturally witty presence gives us a sense of relief from the stylized dialogue as the movie travels to its inevitable conclusion, and surely what true horror fans are waiting for: Orlok’s climactic confrontation with Ellen.
For such fans, the frightening tableau of a skeletal Orlok lying atop a drained Ellen will be satisfying enough to make the experience worthwhile. The rest of us might leave with the same feeling we had in the beginning: a deep but distant chill.
“Nosferatu,” a Focus Features release, has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association “for bloody violent content, graphic nudity and some sexual content.” Running time: 133 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
Bill Skarsgard arrives at the premiere of "Nosferatu" on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
This imaged released by Focus Features shows Nicholas Hoult, left, and Lily-Rose Depp in a scene from "Nosferatu". (Focus Features via AP)
This imaged released by Focus Features shows a scene from "Nosferatu". (Focus Features via AP)
This imaged released by Focus Features shows Lily-Rose Depp in a scene from "Nosferatu". (Focus Features via AP)
COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Rep. Thomas Massie was stuck in Washington for a vote on Capitol Hill, so one of his supporters made the pitch for his campaign in a banquet hall packed with Republicans in northern Kentucky.
The audience had just heard Ed Gallrein, who was drafted by President Donald Trump to run against Massie in next Tuesday's primary, describe the congressman as suffering from “a severe case of Trump derangement syndrome.”
Then Gex Williams, a state senator backing Massie, told the audience at the Lincoln Day Dinner not to worry about all that.
“If you are thinking that you can’t be for President Trump and for Thomas Massie, you certainly can be,” Williams said.
Whether voters agree will determine if Massie's political career survives Trump's most aggressive attempt to purge the Republican Party of dissenters. The president already succeeded last week in dislodging several Indiana state senators who opposed his redistricting plan, and he's supporting a primary challenge against U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana on Saturday.
But nothing compares to the vitriol against Massie, who Trump has called a “moron” and a “nut job” who “will go down as the WORST Republican Congressman." Trump made an unusual trip to Kentucky to campaign against Massie, and some of the president's top advisers are working to help Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL.
Massie angered Trump by voting against his signature tax legislation over concerns of adding to the national debt, pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and opposing his decision to go to war with Iran. His positions, Massie insists, reflect the America First promises Trump initially made on the campaign trail.
In a Kentucky district where the president won by 35 points two years ago, Massie told The Associated Press that the upcoming primary is “by far the most challenging reelection I’ve ever faced.”
The race is playing out across Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, which sweeps northeast from the outskirts of Louisville along the Ohio River, through the suburbs south of Cincinnati and over to the lush foothills and old coal towns of Appalachia.
Voters here have sent Massie back to Congress ever since his first election in 2012, embracing his stalwart independence and jaunty personality. Back in 2020, they brushed off Trump's social media demand to “throw Massie out of Republican Party” because he was a “third rate Grandstander.”
Now, Republican voters are debating whether they will do the same thing again.
“If all we’re doing is pulling in yes men, then how do you grow from that? How do you have the best end product if everyone just says, ‘Oh yeah, that’s a great idea,'” said Tonya Young, an attendee of the Lincoln Day Dinner who is leaning toward Massie but still undecided.
“However, I do feel like it’s important to stay loyal. That’s where, I’m like, I’m a hot mess,” said the 57-year-old special education teacher. “Sometimes you have to just bite the bullet and compromise on things.”
Young said she will plumb through the Republican-backed bills that Massie voted against before she makes up her mind. What isn't a major part of her calculation is Trump's endorsement of Gallrein or his epithets against Massie.
Young still supports Trump, rating his second term at a "B to a C+" relative to his campaign promises. During Trump's first term, Young said, she'd “probably put more stock in" his endorsement.
At the Lincoln Day Dinner in Covington, well-dressed Republicans sat at circular tables, ate dinner and listened attentively as candidates gave speeches.
Steve Jarvis, a 77-year-old retired law enforcement officer, who stood near the late night coffee station, has decided to vote against Massie for the very first time.
“Made me sad, truly it does," said Jarvis, wearing a bespoke American flag bow tie made of feathers, "I like Massie.”
When Massie first ran for Congress, Jarvis bought a Massie campaign sign, sized for a freeway overpass, and planted it outside his home, a few doors down from which lived Massie’s opponent.
But some of Massie's departures from the party, he said, "made me nuts. I can't do it anymore.”
One was Trump’s flagship Big Beautiful Bill, which Massie voted against citing the consequent budget deficit and increased inflation.
“I understand voting your principle once or twice," said Jarvis, “but at some point in time when it becomes crucial, I think they have to get in line.”
Gallrein, he said, would get in line.
Jana Kathman came to a different conclusion.
“I’m going to vote for Massie even though he makes me mad," she said while shopping for bagels at a local farmers market outside Covington.
The 56-year-old registered nurse said, “I just like him as a person, I like how he lives his life, and I know he stands very strong with his convictions."
Though she still likes Trump, his endorsement and attacks don't impress her.
“I don’t like when Trump plays the little games as soon as someone opposes him, but we know that’s how Trump lashes out," Kathman said.
Gallrein mounted the stage at the Lincoln Day Dinner with a prepared speech. He grew up on a family farm, was inspired by President Ronald Reagan to join the Navy SEALs and was recently asked by Trump to serve his country again in Congress.
He hyped up Trump — “Do you know he doesn't take a salary?” — and launched into a list of Trump-backed policies Massie had voted against, lumping him in with the “radical Democrats.”
Gallrein declined an interview request, and he's declined to attend candidate forums and debates with Massie.
Several voters said they were grateful for Gallrein's service, but still don't have a grasp of his platform, aside from his fidelity to Trump.
Massie argues that's why Kentucky should stick with him, using what has become a go-to refrain.
“Politicians promise during the campaign, and then they go to D.C. to go along to get along,” he said. “My opponent is promising to go along to get along.”
Massie is hopeful that Trump's anger will blow over once he wins the primary.
“Once this race is over, I don’t think there’s any benefit to him attacking me, I’ll have the antibodies from a natural infection,” Massie said chuckling.
After years of being considered a conservative gadfly in Congress, he said, maybe he has some of those antibodies already.
“This will be the booster shot,” he said.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY, exits the studio after a Kentucky Educational Television (KET) debate, Monday, May 4, 2026, in Lexington, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Guests look on as candidates speak on stage during the Kenton County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner, Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Covington, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Republican congressional candidate for Kentucky, Ed Gallrein, addresses the audience after giving on stage remarks during the Kenton County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner, Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Covington, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Republican congressional candidate for Kentucky, Ed Gallrein, participates in an interview during the Kenton County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner, Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Covington, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY, speaks to reporters after a Kentucky Educational Television (KET) debate, Monday, May 4, 2026, in Lexington, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
