''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' is a 2023 American Gothic

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

directed by David Lee Fisher. It premiered at the Emagine Theater in Novi, Michigan on November 11, 2023, prior to being released on video on demand via

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

in September 2024 and on

Apple TV Apple TV is a digital media player and a microconsole developed and marketed by Apple. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include ...

on 18 October 2024. The film is a remake of the 1922 silent film of the same title, which in turn is a loose adaptation of the novel ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

'' by

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912), better known by his pen name Bram Stoker, was an Irish novelist who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. The book is widely considered a milestone in Vampire fiction, and one of t ...

. It stars Doug Jones as

Count Orlok Count Orlok (; ; ) is a fictional character who first appeared in the silent film ''Nosferatu'' (1922) directed by F. W. Murnau. Based on Bram Stoker's Count Dracula, he is played by German actor Max Schreck, and is depicted as a repulsive va ...

, a vampire who terrorises the fictional town of Wisbourg, Germany to torment a young woman.

Plot

In the German town of Wisbourg,

Thomas Hutter Thomas Hutter is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the silent expressionist horror film '' Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens'' (1922) and other films based on it. He is a young man who works as a real estate agent and lives i ...

is hired to sell property to a reclusive

Transylvanian Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

nobleman,

, by bewitched estate agent Herr Knock. He travels at the protestation of his wife Ellen, who moves in with their friends Wolfram and Ruth during his travels, concurrently plagued by nightmares. On his journey, Thomas encounters villagers who bid him not to go to Orlok's castle. He comes across an old tome describing the "''Nosferatu''", a vampire spawned from

Belial Belial (; , ''Bəlīyyaʿal'') is a term occurring in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament which later became personified as the devilSee the reference to "Beliar" in ''The Ascension of Isaiah'', at EarlyChristianWritings.com', specifically at 1:8� ...

. Thomas arrives at the castle where he and Orlok dine and discuss Orlok's new property. Orlok attempts to drink from Thomas' thumb as he cuts it on a breadknife. Thomas becomes unconscious and awakes with a bite on his neck, which he initially attributes to insects. Orlok becomes infatuated with a photograph of Ellen and remarks she has "a pretty neck". In Wisbourg, Knock becomes violently manic after reading cabalistic writings from Orlok and is admitted to an asylum. Ruth attempts to seduce Ellen, who later sleepwalks as she is telepathically tormented by Orlok. Thomas deduces that Orlok is ''Nosferatu'' and escapes the castle, becoming addled and sheltering in a hospital. Orlok stows away on a ship bound for the city, spreading a plague among the crew and bringing it to Wisbourg. Knock escapes from his cell, ecstatic about Orlok's arrival. Thomas returns to Wisbourg to find that the town is under quarantine, many having died from Orlok's plague. Ruth dies off-screen from the plague and the townspeople accuse Knock, who has become insane. Thomas and Ellen, both tormented by Orlok, agree that they must find a way to defeat him. Ellen privately reads from the tome about ''Nosferatu'', and learns that he can be defeated by exposing him to sunlight, to which he is vulnerable. Ellen feigns sickness, prompting Thomas to call upon Professor Bulwer, during which they witness Wolfram murdering Knock. Ellen submits to Orlok; unable to resist her innocent blood, Orlok feeds long enough until he is disintegrated by the rising sun. Thomas returns to learn of Ellen's self-sacrifice, before making plans to leave Wisbourg forever.

Cast

* Doug Jones as

/Nosferatu *

Emrhys Cooper Emrhys Cooper (born 14 February 1985) is a British actor, singer, dancer, and filmmaker, best known for playing cult leader Rowan Cunliffe on Coronation Street, and Alastair on the Emmy nominated StyleHaul Drama Series ''Vanity'' (2015) in whi ...

Sarah Carter Sarah Sanguin Carter (born October 30, 1980) is a Canadian actress, singer, writer and director. She is known for her recurring role as Alicia Baker in the superhero series ''Smallville'' (2004–2005), Madeleine Poe in ''Shark (American TV ser ...

as Ellen Hutter * Jack Turner as Wolfram Harding *

Joely Fisher Joely Fisher ( ; born October 29, 1967) is an American actress and singer, the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Connie Stevens, and half-sister of actress Carrie Fisher. Her breakthrough came in 1994, starring as Paige Clark in the Ame ...

as Ruth Harding * Time Winters as Professor Sievers * Eddie Allen (credited as

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

) as Knock * George Maguire as Professor Bulwer

Production

The film entered production after being successfully funded on

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

on 3 December 2014. On 13 April 2016, it was reported that Doug Jones had been cast as

in the film and that filming had begun. About 50-60 percent of the movie used green screen to insert colorized backgrounds from the original film behind the actors, a technique Fisher had previously used for his remake ''

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' () is a 1920 German silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene and written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. The quintessential work of early German Expressionist cinema, it tells the story of an insane hypno ...

'' (2005).

Release

After several years with no updates as to the status of the film, ''Nosferatu'' premiered at the Emagine Theater in Novi in November 2023. It was later released on

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

via

in September 2024 and on

on 18 October 2024.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews, though Jones' performance as Count Orlok was widely praised.

References

External links

* {{Dracula 2020s American films 2020s English-language films 2020s monster movies 2020s supernatural horror films 2023 films 2023 horror films American independent films American remakes of German films American supernatural horror films American vampire films English-language horror films Films based on adaptations Films set in Transylvania American gothic horror films Horror film remakes Kickstarter-funded films Nosferatu films Sound film remakes of silent films Works based on Nosferatu