Film: Nosferatu

Well, still back in Ireland - and, sad to say, New Year's Eve was even more of a damp squib than normal in Ireland, what with the storm. Frankly, the greatest excitement was Laurence Summers sending me his new Fitzrovia video! Shall be keeping an eye out for any more..

Finally got back to the cinema today - I had my eye on two films opening today, and am delighted to say they both have matinee performances! although not in my first two preference cinemas - I have to see both in the Odeon Limerick. Not a problem, I'm well familiar with it, and it's delightfully cheap. 

One, of course, was the new version of Nosferatu - now, this hadn't yet been rated on IMDB when I first looked, but I'm delighted to say it subsequently was, and its rating is terrific! An unofficial respin of Dracula, the original film was highly atmospheric - and the new one started with a slightly higher rating, but has since fallen to the same rating as the original. Stars Lily-Rose Depp - yes, Johnny's daughter - as Ellen Hutter (aka Mina Harker)! Willem Dafoe is the professor with an interest in the occult (aka Van Helsing), Nicholas Hoult is Ellen's husband, Thomas Hutter (aka Jonathan Harker). Oh, and Bill Skarsgard is utterly unrecognisable as Count Orlok, aka Nosferatu, aka Dracula himself. And I was so glad it's highly rated, because I was dying to see it.. so, that's what happened today.

Up late, I did make it in time - happily, traffic was light - and went straight in. I hadn't quite made it to my seat when the room went completely black.. thank goodness for phone screens! And I did have to find my exact seat - it was packed. I can only imagine what the evening shows were like..

Well now.. where do I start? When I saw the trailer, it really reminded me of Bram Stoker's Dracula, a film from some years back that I really love. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and with Gary Oldman as the Count, Keanu Reeves as Jonathan, Winona Ryder as Mina, and Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing, it had the same OTT visual style. And upon watching it, I can confirm that they have their similarities. What this new film does differently, however, is - it's quite simply nastier.

Thank goodness for a monster that is truly a monster. We've had years of handsome vampires seducing women, dressed in tuxedos, terribly suave. This Orlock isn't any of those things. He's massively tall, incredibly sinister, and speaks in an incredible voice that it apparently took Bill Skarsgard months to perfect. Booming, rasping, sinister. And we are never, never allowed to forget that he's pure evil - he's described as "The Lord of Rats" (they follow him everywhere), his skin is mottled with disease, he never dresses up, and his seduction of Ellen is anything but sexy. In fact, here, he has more of a relationship with her than in the original film, where he becomes obsessed with her photo - oh no, in this one she summons him, lonely as she is: calls to whatever is listening to her. And he's the one that answers..

That was before she met, fell in love with, and married, Thomas.. and now, wouldn't you know it, he has to go all the way to Transylvania to conduct a business deal with this same individual. She does warn him.. ah well. What follows is completely strange. You know, I didn't see any practices in Transylvania when I was there myself that were reminiscent of what they do in this film - but gee, I got the impression from the place that such strangeness wouldn't be exactly alien to them.. as to the castle itself, where Thomas finds himself imprisoned, it's a fever dream, furnishings appearing to come to life.. truly amazing that he manages, finally, to escape.

Set in 1838, it's sumptuously costumed and looks beautiful, when it's not attempting to disgust. And oh, the imagery.. truly, there are some images I will never forget. Finally, what a gloriously miserable ending - no pat solutions here, no easy fix. No, this will require a sacrifice - and I couldn't take my eyes off the screen for the duration, what I was seeing was so awful. My mouth was agape for most of the film, and I often found, after a tense sequence, that I'd been holding my breath. Honestly, this is going straight into my Top 10 horror films of all time. Not everyone will agree - but I loved the story arc, and I loved the high gothic approach. And I particularly liked how it doesn't pull its punches - caveat, some scenes are unexpectedly gory.

Memorable.

Which leaves We Live in Time for tomorrow, a decade-spanning romance between Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. I saw him interviewed about it on Graham Norton, so feel mildly obliged to see it - and anyway, I don't have much else to do!

And that'll be it for outings until after I fly back to the Big Smoke on Sunday.. on Monday and Tuesday, I'm thinking film - and now that the listings are sort of out, for Monday I'm thinking Her Story, a decent-looking comedy. Showing in the Odeon Luxe Haymarket - early enough though, so it'll depend on me getting there fast enough after work!

And on Tuesday, I've booked for The Bibi Files - a documentary about the corruption case against Netanyahu, and showing in the Curzon Bloomsbury. Another of my free tickets, yay!

Next Wednesday, back with Movie Roadhouse London / The Hideout for their New Year's Social! In the BFI Riverfront Bar as usual - now, someone said there's a good food pub around the area somewhere; I don't remember where, but I've booked The Mulberry Bush, and we shall see!

And on the 9th, I'm back with CT for a play called 10 Nights, at Riverside Studios.