‘Nosferatu’ Comes Back to Life in First Remake Trailer

Nosferatu, the iconic horror classic that is basically just Dracula with all the names of the characters changed, is getting yet another remake — this one from Robert Eggers, this talented director behind recent cult faves like The Witch and The Lighthouse. And the first trailer for the film looks just as creepy as you would expect.

The original German silent Nosferatu from 1922 directed by F.W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as the bloodsucking Count Orlok, was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula — it actually predates the famous Bela Lugosi version by almost a decade. It proved successful (Stoker’s estate sued for copyright infringement) and was later remade by another great German director, Werner Herzog, who cast the unforgettable Klaus Kinski in the title role.

Eggers’ version stars Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe, and It’s Bill Skarsgard as the new Orlok. Check out the first teaser below:

In a fun bit of synchronicity, Dafoe has a Nosferatu connection. Almost 25 years ago, in the clever horror satire Shadow of the Vampire, Dafoe played Max Schreck, the man who played the actor in the silent Nosferatu. That film explains his uncanny performance by claiming Shreck actually was a vampire, and building off that conceit. (It’s kind of a forgotten movie, but a good one.)

Hoult has a Dracula connection too; he recently starred in the horror comedy Renfield, which imagined what might happen in the present day if Dracula’s longtime lackey grew a spine and tried to be his own man.

Here is Eggers’ film’s official synopsis:

Robert Eggers’ NOSFERATU is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.

Nosferatu is scheduled to open in theaters on Christmas. ’Tis the season!