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Holiday Special: Robert Eggers' Nosferatu Review
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🎥 Holiday Special: Breaking Down Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu! 🧛♂️
Welcome to our Holiday Special episode! This time, we’re sinking our teeth into Robert Eggers’ stunning reimagining of the horror classic Nosferatu.
In this video, we cover:
🕯️ The history and legacy of the original 1922 Nosferatu
📖 How Eggers weaves Bram Stoker’s Dracula and European folklore into his vision
🎬 A deep dive into the film’s script, music, editing, and overall atmosphere
Plus, some exciting announcements!
👉 Season 3 of The Average Reviews Podcast kicks off January 14th with a breakdown of the cult classic Clue!
👉 My new book, The Harvest of Briarville, releases this January. It’s a suspenseful, eerie story that’s perfect for horror lovers.
Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to join us as we celebrate the weird, wonderful, and spooky side of movies. Let’s keep the conversation going!
#Nosferatu #RobertEggers #HorrorMovies #TheAverageReviewsPodcast #HolidaySpecial #Season3ComingSoon #Clue #HarvestOfBriarville
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:31
Speaker
This is Bryce. This is Jonathan. And this is Tim. And welcome back to the Average Reviews Podcast. We hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season, whether you were decking the halls, feasting with family and friends, or just enjoying some well-deserved time off.
00:00:49
Speaker
As always, we're thrilled to have you here with us and today we're capping off the year with a very special episode. This week we're diving into Robert Egger's long-awaited Nosferatu. His first remake and a stunning reimagining of one of the most important films in cinematic history.
00:01:09
Speaker
Now Nosferatu isn't just another vampire story. It's a cornerstone of the horror genre and is one of the earliest examples of how cinema could turn folklore into something truly timeless. The original directed by F. W. Murnau in 1922.
00:01:28
Speaker
The original Nosferatu was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Stoker's widow even sued over the rights, leading to a court order to destroy the film. But like its titular creature, Nosferatu refused to die. It survived, became a classic, and cemented its place in the history books as a pioneer of both German expressionism and horror as a visual art form.
00:01:58
Speaker
Eggers, of course, isn't one to simply recreate what came before. His Nosferatu is as much a tribute to Murnau's original as it is a fresh and haunting vision inspired by the same source material, Stoker's iconic novel.
00:02:15
Speaker
Eggers brings his signature flair for historical authenticity, pulling not only from the Gothic pages of Dracula, but also from the dark corners of European folklore that birthed the vampire myth. The result is a movie that feels like a living nightmare, atmospheric, meticulously crafted, and dripping with dread.
00:02:35
Speaker
So in this episode, we're going to explore the legacy of that original Nosferatu, discuss how Eggers incorporates its visual language into his film while still making it undeniably his own. And we're gonna break down how he weaves Stoker's narrative narrative and folklore into a chilling new tapestry. We'll be diving deep into the film through categories like script, music, editing, and more, because celebrating how we all see movies differently is what this podcast is all about.
00:03:03
Speaker
But before we get started, ah shameless self-plug, I'm thrilled to remind you that my book, The Harvest of Briarville, will be releasing in January. So it's a chilling tale full of suspense in small towns and some ah rural horror, perfect for fans of horror with a touch of heart. So get excited for that. Now grab your blanket, maybe a clove of garlic, and settle in. It's going to be a bloody good discussion.
00:03:32
Speaker
so yeah into those those categories. We kick off each one with the story and the plot. So how who's seen the original? I've only seen clips of the original. I haven't actually seen the whole thing. So I can't really speak to the original work.
00:03:52
Speaker
I think I got about three quarters of the way through and I think I just got busy and I was just like, it's kind of hard to watch. So I just stopped watching. It it is. i I've seen it twice, both times with different music, because it's it's a silent film. And so depending on which version you catch, I'm not sure there's an official. Music that goes with it, but the music definitely does enhance it. ah it It's an iconic film. I definitely recommend watching it, but it is, it's an hour and a half silent movie. So it is- Only if you love movie history, yeah should you watch it. If you're a casual movie watcher and you just, yeah, it's yeah. It's pretty tough to just sit through if you're a casual goer, definitely. It is kind of tough. Loving horror. I don't really like vampires.
00:04:49
Speaker
as a storytelling device, except I love Bram Stoker's book, Dracula. I'm not so much of the Anne Rice, an interview with a vampire. I'm not so much, definitely not Twilight. ah I didn't even like Francis Ford Coppola's, Dracula, not my thing. Couldn't finish that movie.
00:05:10
Speaker
so but I've always loved Nosferatu and it probably has more to do with the visual style of that movie from the 20s. It's incredible. I love that. I knew it. So that being said,
00:05:32
Speaker
I love what Eggers did with the story in this film. He definitely took from that original Nosferatu, that bones, the structure, that's all there. And yeah, that's also based on Bram Stoker's novel. So, but it's kind of changed. And I liked what he did with this one of bringing in a little bit more of that German folklore. So we especially see that ah in that gypsy village. So we see that early in that gypsy village when is it it's not Jonathan, what's his name? Thomas. The husband's name, Thomas. Isn't it Jonathan in the Dracula novel?
00:06:19
Speaker
Yeah, something I think so. Yeah, like Jonathan Harker. Yes. So Thomas is the stand-in for Jonathan in the novel, much like Willem Dafoe's character is the stand-in for Van Helsing. Yeah, so that was one thing that really got me was like the difference in the character set.
00:06:35
Speaker
And I actually really appreciated that and how it drives the story versus, you know, uh, what you'd see in the light, what's typical in a lot of other vampire movies or anything that is sticking to the, the, you know, the, the Dracula story itself. Like you said, it's got the barebone structure of all of that, but the way that they, they changed a lot of stuff in here and like the way the characters portrayed, I think they did a great job on that for this. And then trying to make it a remake, but something just comes out original at the same time.
00:07:04
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I loved. I mean, we're there's so much to talk about in this movie, and I'm sure we're going to bring it up at multiple points. no The way he incorporated the. The various histories of Dracula into this version.
00:07:26
Speaker
I loved and I'm seeing it be pretty controversial on social media right now is his mustache mustache. I am seeing people, some people love it. Some people hate it. What I love about it, even though like it kind of, at first I was like, Oh, he's got a mustache. How does an undead being have a mustache? But then I'm like, I don't care because Bram Stoker's novel has a mustache.
00:07:54
Speaker
In Bram Stoker's novel, he's described as having a longer white mustache, ah but also Orlock looked like Vlad the Impaler. Yeah, I got that feeling out of it too. And every image of Vlad the Impaler has this thick brown mustache. So I I was like, I first of all, this is the first time I've seen kind of that Vlad the Impaler.
00:08:22
Speaker
inspiration even into Orlak's costume. And I was like, I'm here for that element of the story. i'm I love it. The only thing that I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I don't hate it. ah As with most of Eggers movies, I don't love them the first time they grow on me with repeated watches. I pick up more and more and realize the genius. He doesn't just make a movie. He makes a piece of art. and so with time comes appreciation. So I wasn't sure how I felt about Lily-Rose Depp's character and her relationship with Orlok. So I wasn't quite sure it was clear. And I think that's a bit on purpose, the idea kind of blending the message of when she breaks down and he is my shame, he is my regret, come back. So I think it's intentionally vague
00:09:22
Speaker
But I think that also left the ending a little bit intentionally. not quite satisfactory to me. So outside of that, I love what it did. And I think, like I said, with more watches, I'm going to appreciate it more and pick up on more having just seen it the one time. That's all I can say for now. But I loved the new and original elements, original elements that he added to Nosferatu that were from the folklore
00:09:56
Speaker
and Stoker's novel and bringing that more into the story. Loved it. Yeah, there's a lot of tragedy in this. A lot of like heartbreak for a lot of characters. um But the way that it was all constructed for the story and how it played out was really great for the story. It was a bit lacking and anticlimactic at that end um when it all finally comes to a head in finishes. but Sometimes that's just how it is in a story. You know, not every moment is going to be amazing and super impactful. Sometimes it's better to have it as kind of more of a simplistic kind of thing going on. Yeah. And some grand flashy, ah, a big ending kind of deal, you know, sometimes the tragedy of it is enough. I think, you know. Yeah.
00:10:48
Speaker
Bryce, you have thoughts? Yeah. Um,
00:10:54
Speaker
i I thought the story all overall was just a good pay good payoff all around, honestly. And I mean, we'll talk I'll probably talk about more in the script and direction overall. But I was talking to Megan about it when we walked out of the theater and, you know, two and a half hour movie overall. For that for Megan, she doesn't like movies that long. She kind of has trouble sitting through them and whatnot. But she did make a funny comment that she said, like going into this with the story, like, you know, even though it was a long movie, it felt like everything had a purpose in the story. I never felt like there was any filler or anything like that. Like the story from beginning to end just felt full. Like we were on just this entire journey.
00:11:37
Speaker
with this couple and the way they interwove the other characters in that story to make it feel almost natural. And you you kind of got a sense of the relationships. You almost felt the relationships in a lot of them and the way they introduce all these new characters, even like midway through the story. And and it it doesn't feel like jarring at all.
00:11:54
Speaker
um The story was just clean. I don't have a lot to say about it, but I can say it was just a clean story. I really appreciate just a story of love. You could say this is a Valentine's Day movie if you want. A lot of love. A lot of love going on in general. You could also say it's a Christmas movie because they're standing in town.
00:12:16
Speaker
Well, they're standing in front of a Christmas tree at one point. It's decorated with candles. And she tells she tells Lily Rose Depp's character, like, my kids are getting ready for Christmas celebration or whatever. But that's it. right that's Those are the only mentions. Yeah, exactly. no Christmas movie, hands down, we've officially made it true. It was funny. I told my boss earlier this week that my Christmas movie I was going to be watching was this one. He's like, what's that? guys you wouldn't You wouldn't like it.
00:12:43
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, I thought i thought it was a really like rich story about love. It was really interesting. um Tim, you but you pointed out a great scene towards the end where she talks about Nastratu being her shame. and um that Man, that was a great that was a great scene. i'll We'll talk about it later, I'm sure as well. um But going into, so I'll just weigh in, the ending for me, it's been an interesting thing to watch over the last, I'd say like five to six years or so. It feels like
00:13:13
Speaker
At least for me, we we've ever either seen movies where the ending is so ambitious that it just flops and it feels off, or it's so like simple and plain and makes so much sense that it's almost boring in a sense. and It's funny that you say that because I was just talking with Megan about that too, about how a lot more TV shows and movies seem to be doing these simple endings that may not be, like you said, John, huge and flashy.
00:13:38
Speaker
But it's just like, yeah, no, that makes sense. Like that's pretty simple. And like that, I get how we got here. There's nothing really huge to complain about. So I can understand how it can be underwhelming, but honestly, you could kind of see it coming a mile away. I think it's everything leading up to the ending. That feels like it paid off. Like I said, no scene is wasted at any point. No character interaction is wasted. It is kind of spelled out towards the third, third, uh,
00:14:03
Speaker
third of the movie third part of the movie where it's starting to hint at, okay, she is the one, she's the one that can stop this whole thing. um And yeah, I overall, yeah, the story was just really nice. It was a really nice story about love. um I loved all of the characters and how they're interwoven and especially the relationship between Nasiratu and Ellen and throughout the whole movie. And then Ellen's relationship with Thomas throughout the whole movie and how that dynamic worked altogether. And just a story about love, shame, um and eventually just sacrifice at the end of all of it. So,
00:14:39
Speaker
Mentioning the love, shame, sacrifice, spoiler alerts. ah Sorry, i thought it was I thought we'd do spoilers now. We do, but usually not when it's still in theaters. But that's okay. Shame. It's okay. There's definitely love in it. This is a remake of how it ends. Yes, because I'm going to talk about the ending anyways. ah Yes, you will.
00:15:01
Speaker
So I'm curious, this is what I want rewatches. I watched this in theater and I was thinking like, if I was still single, this is a movie that I'd be back for tomorrow to watch again because seeing it on the screen was that much of an experience. Like I loved it. My wife watches a movie one time in her life and she's good for years. um i I rewatch, I would rewatch it.
00:15:29
Speaker
But I was curious about that, the shame. And so I think there's, there's a deeper meaning here and I think it's different for everybody, what you're going to take away from it. But that's what I want to rewatch and see more of those elements because she specifically says that Orlok is her shame. When she was younger and lonely, she reached out for Orlok, not necessarily knowing it was him, but reached out for that companionship. And now it follows her and haunts her. And that's clearly,
00:16:03
Speaker
symbolism for something more. And i'm i'm I'm curious, like, what is that? What's deeper here? What is that deeper story here? ah How does it affect the marriage more hanging on to that shame? You know, i I thought it was brilliant. And like I said earlier, I think it was intentionally vague so that people will take different things away from it. I think one of my dis not necessarily disappointments, but Again, I'll appreciate it more on rewatches, I'm sure, was that in the end, I took it as she succumbs to her shame to save her husband. And so that is where I want to i want to dive into that story a little bit more about what Orlok is representing.
00:16:56
Speaker
ah because there's also she talks about her melancholy, her depression, and he also could represent that side of her. And so this movie is saying a lot on the surface. It's a vampire movie, but there's a lot going on in the subtext that makes it that much better to me. So I i think I have to change my score on it.
00:17:22
Speaker
what was your score i don't even think i heard it yeah we didn't talk we insane we i am um i I gave it a four because I said I didn't like the lack of resolution. or the a Ambiguity to the resolution. Ambiguity is probably the better word. Yes. I didn't really like that much of it, but I don't need it. um In a hindsight, the movie was great. And being able to have a discussion about what it could be saying in itself is a successful piece of art. That's what art should do is drive conversation and drive inspiration. So yeah.
00:18:03
Speaker
i I was a four. i think i got I think I got to come up to a five. See, I was on the verge of it. I i scored it a four ultimately. I was close to going five, but considering some of the bare bones aspects of it that are you know taken from the other iterations to make this,
00:18:24
Speaker
um And then like kind of how that, the this that somewhat disappointment of the ending a little bit there, um even though it was still pretty good. um yeah I was like, I was just, I was really just right on the verge of going five, but I think four is pretty solid in this ring on this one. fair Yep. I personally went five. um I do think that the story overall is good through and through. I don't see many plot holes. I personally don't mind and and ambiguity or even certain loose ends where it's a little bit more left up for interpretation.
00:19:00
Speaker
I don't mind that. um I personally viewed the ending as just a full circle moment for her, you know, facing her quote unquote shame. And again, sacrificing for for her husband and the greater good, you know, when her husband at the very beginning was doing all the sacrificing, that's why he went on this whole trip. And at the end, she ends up being the one who actually sacrifices for him.
00:19:22
Speaker
um I think a lot of it is left up for interpretation, but I'm okay with a little bit of ambiguity. I agree that some of the shame stuff is a little bit more up in the air of like, is there shame? But like, what ah what happened with her and her father again? It's like, there's a little stuff in there I think is left up for the imagination and isn't fully explained. And I'm okay with it for the most part, because the rest of the story does tie up the actual loose ends that need to be tied up for me to make the story make sense. Okay. Yeah.
00:19:51
Speaker
so We can use that to go right into talking about the character. Oh my gosh. Yeah. themselves yeah with with the with the envelope With the amount of cast that we have in the story, there's a lot of different arcs. ah There's so many characters. There's so many arcs in here. And God, some of it's really bizarre. Some of it's awesome. Some of it's kind of sad. but Yeah, this is, this is a great section to really, really dig in. Who are we talking about first?
00:20:17
Speaker
know jesus well let's ah let's ah Let's just start start with Ellen since she's kind of like the the the main funcal point protagonist and yeah in the thing. So, you know, from what I got from it, Ellen from a young age lost her mother, I guess, and then just hurt her father and in that loneliness was reaching out.
00:20:38
Speaker
you know, trying to find something to connect with, we all dealing with their so-called melancholy and her depression as a child, um somehow being like with Willem Dafoe saying later in the film, you know, her being of special blood or some such, you know, allowed her to reach out and make this connection with Orlock spiritually in a way. And so like with that connection, you know, you see early in the early parts of the movie where she is a child walking out out into the garden out in the moonlight in the stark contrast of the blacks and grays and white light everything just the setting of it beautiful but but you see her out there and her convulsions and everything and that connection with orlock and then you hear her retelling later about her her situation when she's talking about her shame to Thomas when they get super twisted. um She's definitely got a lot going on there. ah She's got a lot of trauma and a lot of issues going on growing up.
00:21:36
Speaker
the people around her seeing that she's having this and how that affects her and how everybody perceives her, you know, as she continues to grow up until she meets Thomas, you know, and that's when she kind of starts to balance out because she found some real love instead of this dark side of herself that she's hidden away after years of treatment and this and that and people, you know, side eye and they're all crazy, you know, just because she seems like she's the nut house. Um,
00:22:01
Speaker
Yeah. man like So she's already got a lot going on there. And then when we finally jump into everything and story gets started, starts moving, then, you know, the introduction of everybody and seeing who they are at the start of all this and then seeing how they're changed up to the end of the film for those who, who survive, you know, ultimately with Ellen, man, she's like just this major catalyst caught in between everything that everyone seems to be swept up in what's going on with her, you know, um,
00:22:29
Speaker
But seeing her as like she's trying to fight through all this, waiting for Thomas to come back from from Transylvania, from Orlock's castle, and how she just like is losing it. And with Orlock and that that bond strengthening to see how more twisted she gets, crazy. And Thomas's friends are looking after her. Friedrich, ah played by Aaron Taylor Johnson, isn't even supposed to be like a Craven or something. and ah Yeah, he's craving right now. He's in two movies at the box office. Only one of them is going to make him any money. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He was in kick ass also kick ass. Yeah, he was kick ass. Yeah, that's right. And he's also he's in bullet train more recently. Oh, that was good. And what was the other one I mentioned, Bryce? He's going to be in the 24 years later movie. Yeah, I'm going for it. I could be wrong. Twenty eight years.
00:23:23
Speaker
20, I thought it was 24 years. know like It was 28 days later. 28 days later, 28 years later. 20 years, that's my bad. yeah And then that movie actually looked really good. We got a trailer for that before. It's on the list, don't worry. And I don't like zombie movies that much, but that one looked good. Yeah, he is in that movie.
00:23:42
Speaker
But yeah, sidetracked there. But yeah, so with Ellen, seeing how twisted she gets while Thomas is gone, how she kind of comes back once Thomas is thomas gets back and from his ordeal, um and how things just kind of get really weirder and weirder as Orlock gets closer and closer to Vipsburg, or where it's called, Vipsburg or something like that. It's a fictional town, but... what was it Oh, it's a fictional town? Okay, it's not a real one.
00:24:12
Speaker
But yeah, you see her transformation of everything that she goes through and then you know finally being the hero at the end through self-sacrifice because of her love for Thomas and not wanting Orlock to destroy him by that third night. you know she So you see her go through quite a bit.
00:24:31
Speaker
um And it's pretty amazing to see you know her come to that realization and that acceptance of like, this is what I have to do. And then seeing that resolve, which is crazy because in between all that and you get that one scene where she's telling Thomas about all of this stuff and her shame and the breakdown and how twisted they get. You see how like she turns. It's almost like she's got like this bipolar switch.
00:24:55
Speaker
where she gets super twisted at Thomas and she starts convulsing to wear stuff. And then she says that one part where like she's like twisting her tongue out. I thought she was going to bite her tongue off. like choices too actually i so I was like waiting for it. She's going to bite. She's going to bite. She's going to bite. She's going to bite her tongue off. Oh my God. Oh my God. we got it was It was almost demonic possession. Like the way we see demonic possession in films, she acted like that multiple points like Orlock was possessing her. It it was something new for a vampire movie.
00:25:26
Speaker
for me because we've always had vampire legend is that they can influence you and kind of hypnotize you and I've never seen it quite like that where it's more of a possession influence than a hypnotized follow the leader. So I appreciated that as a new take on it. I love that.
00:25:50
Speaker
Well, I felt it was more like a repressed dark side that is being unleashed as he comes closer and their connection, you know, starts having more of a stronger effect, but it could be that too. Who knows? There's a lot of different ways you can look at it. Cause she was talking about how like it's, this is her shame. This is her regret and all this other stuff. And it's these things that she has locked away in an order and repressed in order to see normal in order to love Thomas and try and have a normal life.
00:26:15
Speaker
And you know, one of the things I love about it that it's so subtle. It's so subtle because it's not mentioned. It's just like if you watch the movie. It's there is that she confesses all of this and that it's really like beginning of third act scene where she's talking about Orlock is her fault and her husband does not turn away.
00:26:44
Speaker
And I loved that, like Bryce was saying at its core, there's this love story. And I love that like she is saying everything is falling apart around her because of a choice she made as an adolescent.
00:26:59
Speaker
as a child and her husband says, we're gonna get through this together. And I'm like, man, he doesn't walk away. He doesn't throw up his hands and be like, well, then I'm washing my hands of you. He is determined to stick it out. And I'm like, that is an incredible little message that it's not, it's not shoving down the throat. It's just, that's how it is. He doesn't, he's he's hurt.
00:27:28
Speaker
He's scared, but he is there. And I love that aspect of the story. And then we also get to see kind of the I don't want to say the inverse of that because it's that's not the case. ah But Aaron Taylor Johnson and his wife, their family quite literally falls apart.
00:27:51
Speaker
Yeah. The kids are dead. The wife dies. And it's some of the more tragic and horrifying stuff of the film is what happens to his family. Some of the darkest parts of the film, honestly. Yeah. Yeah. I really wanted to dig into him because he, I think, had one of the hardest arcs in the film. Yeah. He was one of the backbones, I would argue, of the entire story. i Definitely. Because while yeah Ellen's husband is gone,
00:28:20
Speaker
This guy, was he the brother? No, he's Thomas's friend. He's his best friend. He's his best friend. Best friend, yeah. And that makes him incredible because he's, you know, Ellen and Thomas are struggling and he's allowing them to live there. And Thomas has that opportunity to make the future for them. That turns out to be a total scam, all of it, for Orlok to get close. But while he is gone and Ellen starts doing these convulsions and having these nightmares and losing her sanity to everybody there. He takes care of her.
00:29:00
Speaker
but i't be friend Yes, as if she was his own family. And he says multiple times throughout the movie, at my expense, I will spare no expense, make sure she gets what she needs. And at every turn, he is following the advice of the experts that he turns to. He's doing whatever he can to take care of his friend's wife.
00:29:23
Speaker
Yep. And it's, it's a tremendous display of friendship. But then you have that moment when Ellen turns on him at the end, that was heartbreaking and fantastic. Just like you tied me to a bed and he's like, I thought I was doing what was best. Yep. You know, it's beautiful. And then what happens to him is Dude, awful that yeah I hated that for him so much because I liked him as a character and I hated what happened and what ran down on their family. It's just so brutal, man. He goes through all of this, trying to be the best he can be to try and help them. Even when Anna is telling him out of love for her friend, Ellen, please do this. this And he's just like, look, I've done so much. I just, I can't talk about her anymore. would Please do something else. And he's trying, he's struggling so hard.
00:30:16
Speaker
to to do the right thing and waiting for thomas to get back and even trying to help them once thomas returns everything and then the point where he has to cast them out to go back to their own place in order to get his own house in order because of how much trouble it has caused it's been so tumultuous and then finally getting to this point where you know or lock is threatening ellen or not el but her friend anna and her family if ellen doesn't give in to orlock you know that whole pressure and then friedrich trying to fight it the the
00:30:52
Speaker
and so children start screaming he's not waking up anna has to take the gun from him and run in there to see what she can do and seeing both of her children Oh, that was and then the most shocking part of the film. Yeah. And it tore Friedrich up so bad. He went through so much just trying to be a good person to help them yeah and then to lose his children, to lose his wife and the baby that she was pregnant, their their little boy that they were going to have. you know it You can see when they're all in the carriage trying to coordinate what they're gonna do to go take warlock down. And he's like, I'm sorry, I'm just i'm not myself. And he just clearly can't cope with what's going on. right And through everything, he joins his wife in their little tomb. And this is where it gets dark and gross. he You can see on his face, the plague is setting in. yeah That he he doesn't have long, yeah he's gonna die.
00:31:49
Speaker
And so he starts, he he flip picks his dead wife up, starts making out with her. And then when Thomas and the doctors catch up to him at the cemetery, you find him dead, laid on top of her corpse with her leg spread. yeah So there's some there's some some dark notes of necrophilia in there as his last party moments had a love for his wife, which really twisted and got off. I hated that for his arc, it's cool. I think that also goes to like,
00:32:18
Speaker
The plague and there's argument to be made here that the plague is Orlok. Orlok is infested. It's a plague vampire. Yeah, it's not just the plague. It's Orlok's plague. But I think that also like his brains affected at that point. Like he is not rational thinking. He is trauma plague brain reaction. And that's true. And it's it is heartbreaking. It's right.
00:32:49
Speaker
There's this display in this film that I didn't think about watching it, but now as we're talking about it, and I'm like, this film showed incredible friendships at every turn. Devotion to people and friends. Even it's a heartbreaking scene again when Ellen asks Emma Corin's character. Anna. Anna. When she asks, like, can I sleep with you tonight?
00:33:20
Speaker
and Just cuz she's so scared doesn't want to be alone. It's it's again. It's just a beautiful moment of friendship that going through trial it's it's awesome and It's the kind of thing I I Can't tell you the last time I saw a horror movie Let alone a movie that really dug into bonds like this, whether it's the marriage bond, the family bond, friendship bond. I can't tell you the last time I saw it portrayed this way. It Chapter One. It Chapter One. First one that comes to mind that I can think of. Oh, OK. You know, it's been a while before a movie, basically. Yeah, it's been a while since I saw that.
00:34:12
Speaker
you But yeah, it's, character arcs in this are fantastic. glu So here's here's another one. Thomas's boss, hair knock a from the real estate from the real estate agency. This guy at the beginning seems like just an unassuming boss. He's happy for Thomas that he's got his woman, he's married. And then you come to find out that hair knock is a twisted little occultist.
00:34:39
Speaker
he's ah He's a naughty little boy with this his diagrams on his office floor, covered up with rugs and his little altar in his cabinet. And you see him slowly deteriorate little more and more and more into his insanity as a servant of Orlok.
00:34:54
Speaker
You know, like he's he's got this twisted little Igor kind of thing going on when you see him running around when they find him and how he just seems to go full blown crazy when they finally put him in that room in the basement of the the asylum of the hospital.
00:35:11
Speaker
you know, and seeing how more twisted he gets and then how that guy, like how he ended up like biting a dude's throat out to escape when he's turned on his side, going off and thinking that he's going to get this big boom from, from Orlock to be something special. And then finally, when they're going for Orlock at the end and in the in the the mansion that he bought there,
00:35:34
Speaker
Um, and they opened the coffin and they find hair knock there instead of or lock and they find they said fuck it. Stake the shit out of him. That dude got his just desserts. So that was an arc I was supremely happy about to see that dude get taken out viciously. I was like, yeah, you take that bitch, you know. So dirty coldest I that portrayal of if you've seen what we do in the shadows, they talk about the vampires familiar. Mm hmm.
00:36:03
Speaker
And I loved that portrayal of he's basically Orlok's familiar. He's doing Orlok's bidding for him to help the vampire. And I don't remember. It's been I think the last time I read Dracula was high school. um I don't remember how much the familiars have to do with the original legend.
00:36:30
Speaker
but it's referenced multiple times in this film because when they go to the gypsy camp, when Thomas is at the gypsy camp, they kill a familiar of Orlok. That's what that scene is. So that's a familiar, Air wants his face. ah He's a familiar of Orlok. So that's, I thought that was really well done in making it not just like a blubbering servant, but basically losing his sanity and just a fantastic way to show the influence of Orlok on another character. And yeah, I was definitely like that first scene when Thomas is, oh, I've got this guy. He likes old buildings. He wants to buy this one. You got to go meet him. I'm like, this is all way too casual and chill. And I was like,
00:37:27
Speaker
Oh, that that's why it's a setup. It's a setup. So that makes sense. Let's see. Then, uh, doctors yet, Willem Dafoe and Ralph Inison, Dr. Will Sievers, and Professor Albin Iberhart von Frongs. Ralph um is Eggers favorite.
00:37:47
Speaker
Mm-hmm all movies ah every movie is he in every one of them? Not the lighthouse not lighthouse cuz I just had two people in it, dude I'm sorry. I would not watch the lighthouse again. I mean it was very artistic, but that movie was too fucking weird man. Yeah, I totally Agree passing trying to rub one out to like a little bone-carved mermaid and stuff on ah yeah hey Listen don't knock it to you. Try it. Okay, don't be We got some. cut you through your jewish house I tend to forget how sexual that movie is. I put man.
00:38:24
Speaker
that That's one of those, this like that more than any other Eggers movie is the one that haunts me to this day. I regret watching that. The Witch is fantastic. ah northman The Northman plays out like- It's the most metal movie you will ever watch. Really? I haven't seen those. The Northman is like a heavy metal music video the entire time. It's fantastic. It made me dive into like some Swedish metal pretty hard. That's so good.
00:38:54
Speaker
It's great. But then The Lighthouse is the one that like lives in the back of my brain and just peaks out every now and then. It's like, remember that movie that messed you up? Yeah. It was so weird and intense. God. But that was the one that I started. We'll get into it on direction. Remind me of White House. I gave the character arcs a five because each of them had such clear roles.
00:39:23
Speaker
great arcs, whether it's great as in tragic or great as in victorious, because the argument could be made that Nicholas Holt's character, Thomas, he loses his wife. But at the end, he comes out of it alive. He faced Orlock and he stood by his wife's side. He was bitten by the vampire and saved. Yep. And comes out.
00:39:53
Speaker
with his life and most of the people in that movie did not. So there's there's that little bit of positivity there. So I was a five on character arcs. Okay, i went with I went with four on the arc. I was kind of with Willem Dafoe. I was hoping for more with Willem Dafoe, man. like i was I really thought with him being that eccentric doctor you know that's helping him hunt vampires, that there would be more going on with him on that. And there was no real kind of arc for him that went anywhere. He was just still the weird old doctor eccentric guy that he was when you first met him and nothing really happened with him. He just lit some shit on fire and gave conjecture about stuff.
00:40:32
Speaker
To be fair, I gave it a four. And then while we were talking, I changed it to a five because I was like, yeah, it's good. um be honest I'll be honest because there are some things that I really like when we were talking about the bonds of friendship and marriage. I was like, yeah, this movie did that for me. ah But interesting. dick His character. I got the impression and I don't know if it was clear or not. It could have been and I'm just an idiot. um
00:41:04
Speaker
that he set up the ending. When he was burning that down, I'm like, this dude is off his rocker. He's lost his mind. I don't think he lost his mind. I think he misled almost everybody the entire time because he knew the only way to properly end it was Ellen and Orlak together.
00:41:30
Speaker
Yeah, and you see that picture from his book from the occultist book that he gets from hair knock you see that that little drawing there of yeah Vampire on top of the woman the rays of light and that's like that foreshadowing that tells you what's gonna have to happen at the end yeah Yeah, and so that I I actually thought that that was genius the way he it It can be malicious, maybe a little bit evil to inspire hope. Like, hey, we have this chance. Let's go do that. Knowing what's happening away from him is the real solution. But I thought that was very clever. I thought that was very clever. And I think.
00:42:09
Speaker
It did make me question his loyalties the whole time. Even though he's doing the right thing, it's kind of that, does the ends justify the mean? you know Or could he have just been like, no, Thomas, the only solution is your wife's going to die getting it on with this guy, this Orlak. That's it. that's That's how this ends. Or was he correct to go about misleading them? Well, they had to go there anyway. I just thought it was over.
00:42:39
Speaker
They still had to go to the mansion, even though Orlock's not there because they still had to destroy the soil. they had That way he would have nothing to return to, to sustain himself. So without the soil, that's still part of the plan. They're just at different odds of it from what they thought they were going to be doing because of that misdirection from the doctors. He just left. It was a white lie because he just left out a very important element. So that, okay, that makes sense. That makes sense. Yeah.
00:43:09
Speaker
Bryce, what was what were you on? ah I gave it a five also. I thought all character arcs, both small and big, all were good. um Some of them that are weaker are intertwined like, um oh, I forget, Frederick and his wife. um Yeah.
00:43:26
Speaker
Anna. Yeah, like Anna kinda has a little bit of a weaker arc in general. But she, I think she's more of like a supporting character in the overarching arc of the family as a whole. And so I didn't want to be too harsh, I guess, in that aspect of it. So I tried to be fair, and that some of these arcs are intertwined with each other. And it's more of a bigger picture than it is a single character. um yeah Like looking at the Harding family as like one character instead of just you know, the individual people and Frederick and the daughters, et cetera. So, yeah, I i have no quarrels with any character. i I genuinely enjoyed almost every single character from this movie and all, like you said, served their purpose well and made the movie better because of it. Yeah. Okay. Right on. Before we jump into the next category, I want to tell you a little bit about Zemcaster.
00:44:19
Speaker
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00:44:42
Speaker
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00:45:23
Speaker
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00:45:49
Speaker
I want you to have the same easy experiences I do for all of my podcasting and content needs. It's time to share your story. So let's dive in to the next category.
00:46:03
Speaker
So the music and sound design for this one, this was a tough one. for me because I almost, again, I'm just coming out again. I almost gave it a four because I i look for it and I say it just about every episode. I look for that iconic Jaws theme. you know I'm looking for that recognizable moment in music.
00:46:25
Speaker
I didn't so much have that as I had fantastic music when it came in. I was, man, was it good. I was like, I kind of want this on vinyl because it was a haunting, almost historic, like,
00:46:45
Speaker
appropriate music for 1800s German mountain is great and haunting. But what pushed me over the edge was the sound design. Yes. Man, when he is on top of, and I was talking to our buddy, Chris, who's been on the podcast a couple of times. He did the ring episode with Bryce and I. ah He did 13 nights at Halloween with Jonathan and I.
00:47:15
Speaker
He was going to try to make it today, but he's on the road because he enjoyed the movie as well. But we're talking about like how Dracula always kind of has this. Sexual undercurrent. And man, when Dracula was on top of these victims like writhing as he sucked their blood, the slurp that is like that our back arches. Yes.
00:47:45
Speaker
god yeah was that was exactly welching It was that first time it happened was like goosebumps and I can get there there's gonna be those people who are like I thought it was hilarious and I'm like yeah well you're a loser get out of here. yeah like it It got me. I'm like, that is a physical being sucking the life out of another being. And that sound was insane. That was so good. Also, just the vast. This was another movie that used silence extremely well. ah The kind of the way I don't even know how to describe the way like the castle felt.
00:48:37
Speaker
like a different kind of silence. Like we have the silence when they're in the rooms with Ellen and like the camera is doing its slow pan thing and it's kind of built for tension. And then you have the silence in the castle that just felt, I don't even know how how anchors did it, but it felt soul sucking. Like you're in that castle and you are cut off from,
00:49:03
Speaker
Everything the only thing that exists is the room that you are in with or lock and doing his vanishing act like It was awesome. I loved I in that pathway in when the trees are closing in and it's just quiet and the snow is falling and loved it. So i I was a four on the music and then I just had to take a second and be like music and sound designers put together because we lump it together because this movie doesn't have a lot of music. The music that it has is excellent.
00:49:41
Speaker
Not necessarily like iconic and memorable, but excellent. But what this movie does have is fantastic sound design. So that's when I went, this is this is a five in this category. Hell yes. Hell yes. I was five all the way on this.
00:50:00
Speaker
particularly because of the sound design. The music itself was great and it seems like it was kind of orchestrated with instruments for the time to kind of give it that that sense of realistic depth to it being 1834 Germany and all that.
00:50:15
Speaker
um And like the stuff that you hear with the the musicianship, and the type of music that you're playing at the Gypsy Village when Thomas comes to that inn to stay for the night. you know the The music, the way it's placed and the way it's constructed, I think was really well, it's well-placed, well-timed in the use of it. But like you were saying, that the silence, like in the castle, it's it's an empty, desolate lifelessness.
00:50:39
Speaker
That you're your quote-unquote hearing at the castle, you know, and it's like all those points leading up to the castle as Thomas is traveling and you see him after like everyone's disappeared, and his horse has gone and he's walking. Like even that shot, like just the nature sounds and everything that you're catching from him walking up and everything. um Aside from the squelching sounds, all the stuff that they were doing with sound placement, especially when Thomas is coming up in the woods in that crossroads where he stops at the middle of the crossroads and he, there's just so quiet.
00:51:14
Speaker
and then you finally start hearing that buildup of the horse-drawn carriage that's coming up. And it doesn't really quite sound like it at first, but then the sound kind of changes and it builds as the carriage gets closer and closer and closer until you get to that point where he's just standing there like an idiot in the middle of the road if when there's a carriage coming at him like, who the hell does that? Out of the way. But yeah, when they finally stop and rear up and the sound and that fear and the terror, he's like, oh,
00:51:42
Speaker
And then there's the carriage sideways, like get' some weird like Tokyo drift to action to turn sideways. off But then there's the sound after the fact when they're, when he's in the carriage and they're going to the castle and they get closer and those horses, it sounds like they're screaming.
00:51:59
Speaker
and not just making regular horse sounds. So like the blend of sound that they had in that part of it was fantastic. I thought that was a really nice effect for that horses. And it's kind of like a death scream kind of carriage thing. Yeah. So yeah, that and the the wolves that were chasing around trying to get after him. That was kind of cool too. But just like even at a part where Thomas is trying to find a way out of the castle and goes down into that depth and finds or locks, uh,
00:52:27
Speaker
What's it called box the casting yeah the casket area that work when he finds that you know Even when he hopes and he's like grabs the bar to try and kill him Like the the crunchiness as his arms as he jumps out, you know the the creaking of the body and everything With the even those sound effects when you see him pop up out of his casket with his crusty vampire dick hanging out let see grossness, you know um Just, they did such a great job with the sound and all of this. Just, I loved it, man. I was like, this is Tom Notch on sound effects for me. All right. So I gave it a four out of five. What? I know, I know. Oh, see, you've been getting on us for fours. Yeah. Tim, you know I'm always right. So back off.
00:53:16
Speaker
um Yeah, no, I will agree. I do think that the sound design was incredibly well done overall. um Yeah, the sound effects for Nosferatu and even even the moments of silence and then cranking it back up again, you know, to get the jump scare, which even the jump scares were handled really well, I would say very tastefully, if you will.
00:53:39
Speaker
I will say by one of my favorite parts of it and this could go into the sound design was the first jump scare when he does uncover him in the casket and He's clearly gonna try to kill him. It's like, okay Well, we all know the jump scares coming at this point, but the one thing I loved about this I mentioned this to Megan was that when he went to swing and he grabbed his hand, you didn't get the jump scare right away, he grabs his hand, the camera then cuts to his face, and then gives you the jump scare, almost as if to actually initiate how a human would actually react to that. Whereas your brain doesn't register it right away. Instead, this here comes after the fact you look up and realize, oh crap, he's ah he's awake, like,
00:54:17
Speaker
i I don't know. Maybe that was just something I'm geeking out way too much over, but I noticed that a few times in this movie. I like that delayed reaction that gives your time gives your brain time to like process, oh, crap, and realize this is like really bad kind of thing. I don't know. Maybe that's just that's a nothing burger, and that was just me. But other than that, sound was really good. The music was solid overall. The music absolutely enhances the movie and the sequences. um Specifically, it was the one section with the hand going over the city.
00:54:46
Speaker
oh That was just a haunting, haunting moment. It was great. I loved it. um But to go back to what Tim was talking about earlier, it's about iconic you know music. Like, is this a Jaws? Is this this a Halloween? And that's kind of what stumped me in going back to ah to a four instead of a five, was just I don't really... There's nothing iconic about the sound or the music that like stood out to me.
00:55:11
Speaker
that I haven't seen from Robert already in his movies. And that's not to say that the sound and music wasn't great in all of his movies. i love I've liked all of his movies, but there's nothing from the music or sound perspective that makes it stand out like a Jaws or a Halloween. What stands out to me is the actual story in itself, his commitment to whatever he's actually making, not necessarily the sound of music. So while the sound of music is going to probably be great. No matter what he does, it's not quite crossing into that realm of I'm going to, this music and sound will haunt me for the rest of my days. And like, whenever you bring it up, that's the first thing that comes to mind. That's not what happens when you talk about the witch. That's not what happens when you talk about the lighthouse or the North man. This will be the same thing for Nastara too. So it will be a strong four, but I can't quite give it a five because of that reason. Okay.
00:56:00
Speaker
fair so Like I said, I'm always right.
00:56:06
Speaker
So the editing and special effects on this movie. Now this is an interesting one because I've seen since watching the movie, I started to read stuff online and I shouldn't do that because I think there's a a niche online and people who just exist to hate everything. Yes, a bunch of toads.
00:56:26
Speaker
Yeah, I'm seeing um seen a lot of people criticize the editing in this film. And that wasn't really the only the only thing that stood out to me while I was watching it, were the couple times it cut the black. That was it. And that's, that even if you don't really care for it, that's the director's choice. it's ah right Yeah, like it doesn't mean it was bad editing. It means you didn't care for the choice of that so I had no qualms about the editing and I think the special effects
00:57:03
Speaker
of some of the other things I've seen about ah the editing as far as story construction, I had no problem with that. And especially, I think if you've seen the original, which this movie almost assumed that the viewer had because it launches into it pretty quickly.
00:57:24
Speaker
So that beginning is a little bit rushed, is what I've seen people saying. I didn't think so. But again, that's because I'm familiar with the story. Most people are familiar with the Dracula story. So I didn't feel like it was rushed. I felt like it got us to where we needed to.
00:57:42
Speaker
um
00:57:45
Speaker
But the special effects for scenes like you mentioned that shadow of the hand reaching across the city. That's one of my favorites. I don't know if I'm walking up the stairs, like from the original. Yup. The number of, I was going to get it more into that from direction, but. The shadow usage? Yes, the shadow usage. So much good shadow usage. Those were the first things I noted at the start. When I was beginning the film, when I was starting to take my notes, I was like, oh, that, they're fucking doing this right. And that's a clear nod. That is, that to me was Eggers.
00:58:20
Speaker
tipping his hat to Murnau's original. yeahp I mean, whether you like the original 102 year old silent film Nosferatu or not, it defined what a horror movie should look like.
00:58:41
Speaker
forever. I mean, I was going to say for decades, but that's not true because we just got a Nosferatu remake that uses the same ideas and shows that it is still effective today. ah And the Murnau version is also like the reason that terrified people then I don't think the story itself I don't think vampires are scary. i don't I don't think that kind of horror doesn't stay with me at night. I think they're creepy. I think they're atmospheric, filled with dread, whatever.
00:59:21
Speaker
i'm not terror i'm not like I'm not losing sleep over a vampire story, any of them. But what the original Nosferatu did and the reason why I stuck with people is it was one of the first like special effects films that was feature length. There's um silent movies like Trip to the Moon. I don't know if it's Trip to the Moon.
00:59:48
Speaker
I think it's something like that. There are fantastic special effects. They're incredible pieces of old art, but Nosferatu took that up a level from like doing ghostly images, materializing into frame, doing a lot of tricks that that terrified people who were new to movies. The way they were able to do that,
01:00:16
Speaker
terrified people. This movie doesn't have special effects tricks to throw at us. It's not like, hey, I'm going to do special effects that you've never seen before. It doesn't do that. It says, I'm going to do stuff really well.
01:00:32
Speaker
and like some of the stuff that stood out to me that I thought was fantastic was when Thomas first gets to the castle and we get these long continuous shots that Eggers is great at but He do things where like we're looking at the table and like Thomas is right here and Orlock is right here and we keep watching and then Orlock like goes this way yeah and the camera pans and he just materializes right next to her.
01:01:03
Speaker
yeah He's like right next to out of nowhere, pouring him a glass of wine. Like, Joe, that was a really quick, how did he get over there so fast oh yeah around the camera? What? And there was no, there's no clear cut. It's yep. Beautiful. Well, I was gonna make the point because you're bringing up a people were split on this. I wonder if they were uncomfortable with the transition between the real life and dream sequences that were going on in the movie.
01:01:28
Speaker
which I was going to bring up whenever I talk about it, but I wonder if that's what was frustrating for some people because the editing kind of was, I think in a way, supposed to confuse the audience the same way that I'm sure the characters themselves were confused of why are these things happening? This is very disjointed and this doesn't feel like it's based in reality. ah wonder if that was I wonder if that was the frustration from the editing perspective for some people.
01:01:52
Speaker
that That can be fair. i I'm normally not a fan of dream sequences at all. I hate them ah because I normally don't think they serve a purpose whatsoever. It's like, hey, let's throw in some scares in this dream sequence or what notoriously bad was 50s musicals. Always had to like seeing in the rain has an obscure dream sequence for some reason. We just watched White Christmas.
01:02:23
Speaker
with my family over Christmas. That has an obscure dream sequence. I'm like, why do these need to exist? um Brotherhood of the Wolf. The dream sequence in that one though was kind of cool. That one was, that one was one of the better ones. one that was pretty not a dream sequence Nope, you got stumped. your argument does not get anymore better ones I will say like the dream sequence and this didn't bother me at all because the dream sequences and this I took as almost or lock communicating. Exactly. Right. And that's that's why I was like these serve a purpose.
01:02:59
Speaker
i I was cool with that. So they were done really well. I love the use of shadows. I don't know if this goes into editing and special effects. ah The set design was insane.
01:03:14
Speaker
the set design, and that goes into Eggers. He's great at that. as I was going to say, that could be direction or editing in special effects. Yes. I was going to bring so but say it in direction, but yeah, that they have a lot to say about that too. Yes, but damn, those sets were yeah from the opening. I was like, that little office that he went to of his boss is just filled with knickknacks and things everywhere. and I'm like, that looks like it's existed for 50 years. It looks like it's been the streets looked- The building structures, the way like when the camera moves, you see how like the the uneven angles of the buildings and old school architecture and everything. Fantastic. it seems
01:03:55
Speaker
Like legit, you know, it seems authentic for the time. And it's it's one of those things that I'm going to put that in with here in this editing and special effects because we've seen we've gotten really lazy in filmmaking with making our sets feel closed.
01:04:13
Speaker
You know, even, I mean, not to call out Disney, but to call out Disney. ah yeah Like Star Wars. Star Wars has gotten really, really bad about like, hey, this is a big sprawling city, but we're only going to show you this little soundstage. This little janitor's closet in the temple that's in the middle of the city.
01:04:35
Speaker
Yep, with no life happening outside of it whatsoever. yeah And then in this, we get multiple shots outside of that city. We see the walls that surround that city. We see the expanse of the city. And then we come down to the streets and we see street level. And it never once felt like, oh, this is the soundstage. This is the lot that they built out back. It felt like an existing thing. It was great. And that's why that that specifically is why I'm going to put it in with editing and special effects because they made it feel real.
01:05:16
Speaker
Totally. Okay. Well, like the the special effects portion, the editing I had no issues with or complaints of any kind whatsoever. The special effects though, I thought were great. Like just the the makeup and work that they did for Orlok's body. And like some of the times where like you see like those back of the head shots and the dim light, you see the rotting, desiccated skin and everything from his skull, his back and his spine and everything. Even when you're seeing him first feeding on Thomas and the way the body, like just the boniness and just how i'll messed up it looks and from this this this dead vampire yeah living being who's been around for a long, long time. Barely surviving. I don't remember. I don't think Bryce has seen this movie. There were moments that his twisted, deformed body reminded me of Castle Freak. Oh, okay. Yeah.
01:06:04
Speaker
Yeah, I got that for sure. It was better than Castle Freak, obviously, but it was the same thing. I read an interview with Eggers where the design for Orlok was one of the pivotal parts of the film. Yeah. ah Max Shrek's Orlok is iconic from the original um and they didn't want to just recreate that. So what he did was he based it on the folklore.
01:06:32
Speaker
of they are undead beings. And so he kind of went with that kind of undead, almost zombie, but not quite look. And then the image of Vlad the Impaler, they used that as well. So they kind of married those two things to create this or lock in it. Excellent.
01:06:55
Speaker
Yeah, and even at the end where you see his his his dead body on top of of Ellen, like when you finally see the full scope of him as being finally dead and you see those those shrunk, the shriveled, desiccated legs that are just so thin and knobby and just like, just messed up looking body, you know, and even, and this is one of those things where I was talking about earlier where maybe it was better to be more simplistic than big and flashy because a lot of other vampire films you know when the vampire meets its end to sunlight you've got this whole um flame and explosion and burst of ash or who knows what else you didn't get any of that here is like that little picture you saw on the coltus book.
01:07:36
Speaker
You know, kind of that kind of foreshadowing of what's going to happen. It's that same scene laid out at the end from what you see in that little picture yeah but of just body vampiratop, the ray is light in, whom dead, you know, and then I mean, it just all looked really, really good. And then even before Orlok dies, when he's coming up off of Ellen's chest, you see the bits of skin and everything that kind of detaches and stretches out as he takes his mouth off of her chest, you know, before going back in and she's like, oh, more, you know, the dude, like, I was just gnarly looking and stringing all that, you know? And then like, even I felt so bad because that first night of Orlok being there when Ellen's in bed with Anna,
01:08:15
Speaker
And Anna finally comes out of her sleep from that and finds Anna on the ground, rats feeding on, you see blood. I thought she had lost the baby for a sec there. I thought that was like, oh, she lost the baby because the rats would be biting and feeding on her and who knows what else. I thought she was dead. I thought she was full on dead. at top Yeah. So now at first, daily they look like, oh, there's a doctor. She's okay. like ah yeah But man, god that just kind of freaked me out. All the rats everywhere are doing their thing. and A lot of the the plague stuff that you're seeing on people, man. yeah really Well, you didn't really get too much of the view of the plague action. and but think you all you see You see more dead bodies everywhere. Yeah. You see like dogs eating bodies in the street. That was just a nice little touch that I was like, man. Yeah. So yeah, special effects and editing, man. I'm i'm sitting at a four on that one.
01:09:04
Speaker
They didn't get too over the top with effects. They kind of kept it low key to kind of fit the tone of everything. And I appreciated that. you know yeah Yeah, I'm not going to beat the dead horse. You guys pretty much touched on everything I agree with. I was going to bring up, um, Orlak's book and just a special effects for him. You cannot tell that's Bill Scarsart. It's no not at all. we see How good that was. And not not to say that that's like a measurement necessarily for how it looks, but like, just, I could not tell that was him on. And when the movie at first start, like I've seen the original movie, but like, I don't really know. Nosferatu like the story as a whole. So like, I kind of just want to like,
01:09:45
Speaker
Was I lost right to some mustache and I'm i'm not yeah like I didn't I really didn't Was not in the loop on this movie and what they were gonna do with it so like even when he first appeared on screen I was just kind of like looking at like Is that our dude? yeah yeah yeah And we'll also get into that own direction and acting as well because I love what they did with him. But yeah, his special effects look great. I had no problems with the editing. I actually really enjoyed the um almost dazed and confused like takes that they did where, you know,
01:10:15
Speaker
or like was clearly using his powers over the humans and like confusing them with dream stuff and then like he's like thomas is dreaming one second and then it goes to the real world he's just on top of him sucking his bloods like oh that's oh that's a little that's crazy yeah Yeah, like you guys said the the stuff at the in the third part of the the third part of the movie with all the shadows and just his presence like over the city. um Even the boat sequence was pretty cool. um I really enjoyed that part of just the guys are dropping down or dead and like he just kind of keeps coming back to and it just gets worse and worse. Yeah, I'm not gonna beat the dead horse. I gave it a five out of five. I thought it was superb editing and special effects all around. Bryce is this ah
01:10:57
Speaker
See, is it in focus? You might watch the same show in movies as me, but I watched it. Does that sound you? That is me. Thank you. Thank you. Maybe now you all can understand how I view these movies and TV shows. This is why we had to do this. Oh, man. Yeah, i was I was a five on editing and special effects. a Script, good, good God.
01:11:24
Speaker
um Yeah, I don't have a whole lot to say about this one. One other than like, it's a five. Because. It's a five. I don't think you can get anything less, honestly. I can't give Eggers less than a five in just about any of his films when it comes to script because he writes with historical accuracy. I was going to say, this goes right into the direction section where he is 100% in every movie dedicated to the environment and time period that he is writing for, which again, you can't give script less than a five. I don't see how you could, honestly. The amount of research that has to go into just making sure you're stating things correctly to be in whatever Germany. The only thing I noticed in this film is I almost expected it to be entirely in German because it's Eggers. I almost expected it to be in German. So I was surprised that it wasn't.
01:12:22
Speaker
ah However, they still acknowledge people as air, you know, they still use the German surnames and so forth ah without doing any cheesy accents or anything like that. ah But the writing with historical accuracy, I also think that plays into why Some people think the acting in this film, from what I saw online, was subpar. I heard complaints about Lily-Rose Depp, and I was like, you're an idiot. Someone used to say, oh, dude, that's not going to stand. No. No, sir, that's not going to stand. Let's be real. I think part of that is the script. When you're acting on an 1830s dialogue, it doesn't sound natural to today.
01:13:06
Speaker
Exactly. that's that's how nothing about What they're saying should feel natural. You should kind of be stumped a little bit mid conversation because of the way they phrase something or go about it. Yeah, it shouldn't be you shouldn't notice anything that would feel normal to buy today's standards.
01:13:23
Speaker
Yeah, so like I automatically, that level of devotion to the script is a five for me. On top of that, this film had great lines. Willem Dafoe delivered some, the only chuckle that we got in our theater was, and by the way, mentioning theater, this was the most full. I have seen a movie theater since Avengers Endgame.
01:13:53
Speaker
Yeah, mine was full, pretty much outside of the front rows and we we had to pick front rows because the back rows were all taken up. yeah It was a pretty full theater for us too. we were I got row E right in the middle, right off center from screen. I got so lucky. We don't get to pick our seats at our theater and that drives me crazy um because i I order my tickets like two days in advance. So if I can pick a seat, I'd have the good one. But we got there and like,
01:14:19
Speaker
It was full, we could sit up front or like the row of twos on the side. And so we sat on a row of two, but I haven't seen a movie theater this, like I went to the Batman on opening weekend and I was like one to 10 people. i I'm trying to think of, we've gone to a couple of Marvel shows, not a lot of people show up for those anymore. This is probably the busiest, like there were families having to separate to find room in our theater. There were,
01:14:49
Speaker
Couples splitting it was cool to see but the only chuckle we got was when Willem Dafoe who I his character was comic relief all of it ah really you think so I found thought was there's a little bit. I don't know if I would call it comedic relief, but definitely a tension breaker at times. I wasn't joking beat twice. He wasn't cracking jokes, to be fair. So but when he said I've seen things that would make was that Isaac Newton crawled back in his mother's womb. Yeah, that was a tough line. I was like, Okay, I didn't laugh. And I was like, damn, this guy sees this stuff. We got some chuckles in our theater about that one. Interesting. But when she's having her breakdown about shame, that's some powerful writing. i The biggest one, my favorite line, I'm having to look it up. So give me a second. So someone else, if they want to talk, when I find it, I'll let you know.
01:15:53
Speaker
Orlock, man like ah when he that first night where he's talking to Anna in the Dream when she's sleeping with that, or Ellen when she's sleeping with Anna, like he's he's kind of going off as like, I am dissing this and I am blah, blah, blah, blah. He has this whole little roll of dialogue. I can't remember if I'm specific, but man, he had like a good set of lines there. And one of the things I appreciate about the script is there's not a lot of like pointless dialogue.
01:16:19
Speaker
yeah everything was pretty pointed and there was ah there was a purpose to it. You didn't just get a bunch of bullshit filler and yeah that's awesome. That makes me very happy, you know? um I really like the, one of my favorite like so sections with the script was definitely the end with Ellen and Albin when she's walking him up and this is like right before she makes her sacrifice basically and they're just having, a he had a really good line about,
01:16:46
Speaker
ah for us to know, for us to understand evil, we need to like know evil or something like that. I'm trying to figure out. Okay, that's the line I was looking up. So specifically was, yeah I feel like that line perfectly encapsulated a lot of like her arc as a whole and like what she was meant to do from that. Like, yeah, and like in some ways, um in some ways, explain more of the shame aspect of the movie for me, at least, or just brought it a little bit more um gave it a little bit more foundation than what it had up to that point for me. Does that make sense? Yeah. How do you recover? for That line is brilliant. That's why I had to look it up. The line is I have wrestled with the devil as Jacob wrestled the angel in penile.
01:17:34
Speaker
And I tell you, if we are to tame darkness, we must first face that it exists. Yes. oh like who There's a lot a lot of biblical lines, like a lot of stuff that points back to the Bible and some of those aspects of just good and evil and understanding like so your sin and whatnot. The other one from Defoe that was great was in that same same conversation,
01:17:58
Speaker
We are not so enlightened as we are blinded by the gaseous light of science. Yes. Oh, yes. um And then nice probably.
01:18:09
Speaker
Yeah, probably the creepiest, best line that defines Orlok was when he was talking to Ellen and he says, I am an appetite, nothing more. There we go. That's what I was trying to think of. That was a good one, too. Oh my gosh. Oh, there's some good lines in this one, guys. Well, Ellen had a good one, too. Well, she was talking to professors like, Professor, my dreams grow darker. Tell me, does evil come from within us or beyond?
01:18:36
Speaker
Yep, I think because the warlock being this outside influence of evil that she's connected with, but then she's only got that darker side of herself shines away as well. Which is it coming from? Is it something that that's always been there in her or is something that was, you know, instigated by him? Yeah, Tim, tell me why I thought of Batman versus Superman Lex Luthor's line in that movie when I heard that line. Dude, dude, like when he talks about devils coming from below us know they come from the skies. Like, I don't know something about that. Yeah, it's kind of nice. I like that.
01:19:06
Speaker
So with the latest ah Superman stuff online, I have been seeing people resurface Zack Snyder's verse and oh interesting not I'm seeing a lot of, there's there's a lot of hate, but there's also a lot of people like,
01:19:20
Speaker
The, which is what I've always said, the Batman vs Superman extended cut was too smart for its time. And it's starting to get that on X. Like I'm seeing, I'm seeing a lot of people talk about like the writing in that movie was actually really good. You just have to watch the director's cut.
01:19:38
Speaker
um So are we unanimous fives on the script? Yeah, let's let's move on. Yes, it's fives. Perfect. okay I was at a four, but I changed my mind. Thank you. I'm doing five. So then we can go the script into the acting because I kind of mentioned I think some of the issue people, I saw specifically somebody saying Lily Rose was horribly miscast and I actually think she was excellent. And I think a lot of those issues are that 1800s dialogue. I think that's where you think she's bad, but she's not. She is acting much like I would expect.
01:20:17
Speaker
that time period. It's beautiful. And I've seen um somebody did laugh in our theater when she was like tearing her clothes during that breakdown. And I was like, you're an asshole. oh like that know that's That's actually what they did. In fact, again, pointing back to the Bible, that is what they did in those moments, is they would tear their clothes off. That is a very much a historical thing that they did. It's funny, yeah I get it. but What's it called? It's prostrating yourself? Yeah, something like that. Something like that. But it's that moment, just her haunted demeanor, the entire film. I mean, we can talk about everybody. I thought Aaron Taylor Johnson, in particular, stood out in this film. Yes, absolutely.
01:21:09
Speaker
his protection of Ellen when it's not his responsibility. And the way he does that and his tragic end, I thought he was fantastic. ah Ralph Innison is great. um The one that I really like.
01:21:24
Speaker
Yeah. i I have zero complaints about any of the acting in this film. I actually think it's... Oh, dude, it was full delivery, man. yeah It was full delivery on all parts, I think. i don't that talking about I don't see how you can look at a single one of these characters or actors and say, dad, just didn't hit it from... I think, seriously, through and through, they were all great.
01:21:45
Speaker
Like there's maybe like two or three, I'll make like, just say like they were exceptional and there there are people I want to talk about specifically, but like everyone did phenomenal work, honestly. Yeah.
01:21:57
Speaker
The one I wanted to mention, we already mentioned he doesn't even look like himself, but good god Skarsgard. Sweet lord almighty. This man is good. Skarsgard. He is so good. You did not think it was him at all. The key was full on ink character on that to the max. No inkling that it was Bill Skarsgard. That was Count Orrock. Full send.
01:22:21
Speaker
like please start Please tell me if I'm like off on this at all, okay? We all know how frickin' phenomenal Andy Serkis is as just a character actor in general. I think Bill Skarsart is like the next closest thing to what we have in an Andy Serkis, like genuinely.
01:22:40
Speaker
yep And I wish we had more people like this because they are just, oh my gosh, it just blows my mind. his like ah bill he was all He was also in two movies this year. One flopped and one was great, but- I think you what what was the- god dude I wish we had done an episode on that. I kind of wish we had cause I went out so I was super stoked yeah There's so much I could say about that one. Holy crap yeah there's so much i can say but it's your time i know i know i know No but seriously Like I watched this movie and like all I can think about is just like this, this it's not it's not like Andy Serkis is a one of a kind dude. But like this this specifically feels like just the Andy Serkis effect. Like someone who actually goes into a role and it's just like he just embodies everything about this character. And again, all respect and praise for the original movie and what it is.
01:23:37
Speaker
This movie will be remembered more than that original one. i It's gonna be like a thing. the The thing, the thing, Carpenter's remake, you think of that one. You don't think of the original one. And and like as the original Nosferatu, iconic imagery, iconic character, Scars-Arts Nosferatu. I'll get into it with the direction, but seriously, it was peak, honestly. I thought you were describing Jared Leto.
01:24:04
Speaker
the way you describe somebody who did forgive me. yeah nojo low Character actors who get into their role. Oh yeah, just all crazy, super accurate and yeah great method acting. There's nobody in this film that had bad delivery to me. I think they were all on point. yeah Also, quick shout out to Nicholas Holt. Yes. Let's talk about Nicholas Holt. And I'll just say because I'm not a Nicholas Holt fan. The menu was the first movie I saw him acting in where I was like,
01:24:32
Speaker
Actually, he's kind of good. I kind of like his stuff. I've never liked him up to that point. This was the first movie where I was like, I feel like this man has grown into acting and like, like his, his skill. I think this was his like moment of like, nah, this dude's got it now. Like he's a very talented actor. This was the movie where I watched Nicholas Hold and I go, this guy is a movie star. Yes. Honestly, he has got his skill down and he nailed it. Huge praise to him. He absolutely killed it.
01:24:58
Speaker
the He played Tolkien in the Tolkien biopic. And that that was a good movie. it's It's not great, but he was pretty good in that. um yeah But we mentioned, and so I read an interview with Scarsgard where everybody made him a big deal about his IT performance, which was fantastic. And that kind of got him niche, like for a while, the niche horror guy. But if you compare Just so recently, his villain from John Wick 4 to his performance here. and there's so The dude is talented. Such a wider range. Yes, but he did an interview when he was talking about this role of Orlok and how he wants a break from horror. Yes. Because not because he didn't want that niche, but because he said
01:25:57
Speaker
Orlak was such an evil character that to inhabit the space and get into that character affected him on a level that he doesn't want to return to. And I can say he brought that to screen. Yes. He brought that to screen. Oh, my gosh. Because, yeah, well, the movie is not scary in scary. Oh, I wasn't scared. OK. Wow. You impressed us all. um It's evil. Like Orlok felt evil. And it's impressive. And whatever he did with his voice, I almost brought that up in sound design. His voice acting is as good as his character acting. It was perfect. It was the perfect voice for this character. Agreed. So good. So, I mean, we're talking a lot about Orlok here, or about Skarsgard.
01:26:53
Speaker
I think this is the movie that Lily Rose Depp starts to be showing up in a lot more films. Definitely. Totally agree. Dude, she was she was super intense. And the way she delivered on her character, dude, like even not not even just the acting stuff, but like the body movement that went into a lot of it. sub experiencing man Like she was rad, dude. yeah There's no denying that she was all over it.
01:27:19
Speaker
She committed to the role 110%. And I'm thinking like, I don't know what I've seen her in. I do remember she was in yoga hosers from 2016. Wait, she was in yoga hosers?
01:27:32
Speaker
Yeah. It was her and it was her and Kevin Smith's daughter, Harley Quinn. Oh shit. That's right. Oh yeah wow. And I remember saying that as like, I was like, this is, this is not what I expected it to be. I guess she was, I forgot she was in the idol with the weekend. She was in the idol and the most recent movie that is somewhat not really relevant, but silent night and tusk or the big movies that she was in. So you can arguably say that Outside of the idol, maybe this is basically her debut. Yeah, because the rest of it has been, I don't want to say indie, but it's certainly not been major release. I think this is the movie that, she's not going to be a household name after this movie, but I think this is a movie that sends her on her way to becoming a household. She's on the she's on the map.
01:28:28
Speaker
Oh, yeah. She's going to get some so many good roles after this. totally She's absolutely going to get a lot of work. She she was excellent. Worth noted. Emma Corin surprised me. She did good. She was because I think she understood her part. We already mentioned Aaron Taylor Johnson, Skarsgard. I mean, everybody. um I think she understood her part.
01:28:52
Speaker
She didn't try to steal the scene from anybody. She was, in almost every scene, she was a complimentary character to somebody else. And she did an excellent job. And you compare her, because she was also in one of the biggest movies of the year. She was the villain in Deadpool and Wolverine. Yep.
01:29:12
Speaker
And I struggled the whole time I'm watching this film. I'm like, why does she look familiar? yeah Who is that? Who is that? And then when the name popped up at the end, I was like, oh, she has hair in this one now. Yeah, it's a little different, right? When they when they got some hair on their head. Yeah, I was impressed with her as well. So the acting in this is a five. Oh yeah, fives all day, dude.
01:29:33
Speaker
Oh yeah. Last shout out. Willem Dafoe, aging like fine wine. he I love him more and more with every movie he's in. I don't care what it is. He is just a phenomenal actor. Five out of five. I'm with you guys. he' My favorite for him though will always be Boondock Saints. Yeah, no. That's one of my favorite roles of him was in Boondock Saints and that's just, and there was a fire fight.
01:29:59
Speaker
I haven't seen that movie in a very long time. Oh, man. So now we're on to, this feels like we could spend an hour on this one, so. But the direction. We had an hour 30.
01:30:10
Speaker
yeah Yeah. Direction time. we direction and We've mentioned a lot of it before. yeah um So I'll try to abbreviate, instead of pointing out the scenes that I like. i I think Robert Eggers is one of the few, if not one of the last, hopefully not, but artists that is making movies.
01:30:40
Speaker
I think he is an artist first. Everything he does is a commitment to his vision. From the historical accuracy in the script, to ah somebody I followed online,
01:30:55
Speaker
who's a historian, broke down. He's like, I'm not going to review the movie, but I'm going to talk about the historical accuracy in every scene of this movie. From the costume design to he, the historian said, the men's overcoats in this movie are characters in themselves because they're just yeah extravagant. And he talked about ah The use of Thomas and Ellen's wearing black was a sign of a middle class family in 1830s Germany. And so the fact that they're wearing black clothing is not part of like the gothic aesthetic. It is their middle class. They couldn't afford color.
01:31:41
Speaker
And that is like that attention to detail on top of they went into the talk of um Count Orlok's coat is exactly what a 1700s royalty would have been wearing in the german Germany area, all of that. So the level ah level of accuracy there is that kind of commitment is something I see from an artist, not a studio filmmaker. You know, it is a commitment to the vision of the project that I greatly respect. And on top of that, you mentioned the final shot of Orlok laying on top of her. Looks like a painting.
01:32:35
Speaker
It looked like a painting. It's just a still shot from above. Like that is art. That is beauty and tragedy and all of that in a single still image. And there are multiple images throughout this movie that I'm like that that looks like a painting. That looks like a piece of art. And the thing that I noticed without going too much, my gothic emo kid heart from high school was thrilled by this film. Like the atmosphere, the vibes were all there and I ate it up. But the thing that I really appreciated in Eggers was while this movie gets very dark, not just thematically, but visually, he balances that with sunshine.
01:33:25
Speaker
So a lot of times a director will get into the dark territory of a movie and it's just dark. And we never get out of that. But I notice in this movie we'll get dark and then we get some bright sunlight. And I'm like, thank you for balancing that which helps the aesthetic. So without talking about Eggers for an entire hour on his approach to this, because I could, it's a five. I think he is an artist.
01:33:54
Speaker
first and foremost and in everything he does. That's why it has me a little bit worried that he is rumored to be taking on a studio movie next. Oh, okay. We'll find out. They're saying he's either remaking the labyrinth or doing a sequel to the labyrinth. Don't remake it. Just do a sequel. If you're going to make your remake, it better be like dark and gritty.
01:34:22
Speaker
Because it's moving like that. I want to see it really twisted if they're going to do it. But I'm also just like, just don't just keep doing your thing. yeah Don't even do it. Just leave Labyrinth alone. Yeah. Let it shine. I can always have it by itself out here. Yeah. But yeah, with this man, I really liked Edgar's use of those those panning shots. You know, he's such great use of those like when like I said well earlier, when ah Thomas wakes up everyone's gone from a little gypsy and whatever and he's walking up towards the castle and you see that long shot of him walking through the wilderness with trees in the backdrop and Coming up and then you see in that bridge and that that pan over and then it kind of zooming in To see that altar with all the crosses that you see they're there to kind of ward people away from crossing that bridge over into that territory, you know um and just ah
01:35:13
Speaker
like when he when Thomas finally gets to the castle, and he's coming in, and you see the camera just kind of angle up as he's going through the gateway. And you see like the top of the roof of everything when it's coming in and then back to his face and seeing like that look at his face and like his kind of loss at like, be like, Where am I? What is it? It's like, Oh, my gosh, you know, it's just crazy. And then there's that scene where it's it's not even a long pan, really, it's just kind of gets kind of a moving shot where Thomas is following warlock and he's coming up the winding stair into the room with the fireplace. Yeah, or lock you like it's a short minute where like, okay, there's gonna be or like, no, or locks gone. He's already vampire it off space. He's like, Oh, that that's cool. That was really like how that that effect went, you know, that
01:35:56
Speaker
And like we said earlier, with that pan around shot from the table at the fireplace where Orlok's over here with the paperwork, then all of a sudden he's over here on Thomas's side pouring him that glass of wine. Just those shots and that run run and everything that had done he did with those, I thought was great. And then the at at Friedrich's house, um when his wife is out there in the hallway, you know kind of looking around and you see that shot pan around through that one hallway to where the staircase is.
01:36:24
Speaker
And you're you're waiting to, it's like you're waiting to see a shadow of someone or something because you think Orlock's going to pop out nowhere, but nothing does. But then when it pans back to Anna, there's Ellen behind her. It's like kind of a little bit of a jump scare kind of thing that kind of catches you. So I liked how they they did that with those camera shots, man. I i thought that was wonderful. All right, Bryce, I know you have something to say about Eggers as a director.
01:36:47
Speaker
I have nothing to say, Tim, while you make these assumptions. yeah No, no. um Yeah, I mean, again, I'm not going to beat the dead horse. You guys have hit on a lot of good points here about Mr. Eggers and his visionary ah prowess, if you will, for movie making. I love all of his movies and how they look, and I just love...
01:37:10
Speaker
Again, I love how he just, he just, he's so like committed to the story. Like, I don't know. It just feels like there's so much love and passion put into it. And that's just from him, obviously, from everyone who works for him, like a costume design, set pieces are put together, the actors themselves, all of it's great. The one thing that I want to talk about in the direction section was the route that they took with um Or lock basically because again, this is all based off a silent film So you do have just a silent film and then some folklore to go off of for this character There was a 70s remake that there are die-hard fans of Interesting. I never heard of that
01:37:50
Speaker
So trash, anyway. ah Anyway, but and like, there's, there was a lot of things they could have done and a lot of things that could have probably, this whole thing could have gone sideways. The one thing that just really stood out to me, I was watching another person who reviewed this movie. He made, he made this point. I agree with him to wholeheartedly is just that this character in this movie,
01:38:14
Speaker
just going back to that to the comment he made of I am an appetite and nothing more like this man is just pure evil like incarnate and it reminded me so much of when he of when the witch came out and watching that movie like It was just, that movie just irks me to my core. It is just such an uncomfortable movie to watch and go through um as this family is isolated in the middle of nowhere with a witch that is basically haunting them. And then there's even debate of, is it even a witch or is it just the isolation and them going crazy and mad over each other? And like, eventually they just all kill each other and they all die. like but's like Orlock is just,
01:38:57
Speaker
He is just so evil and you feel it in this movie and a lot of that has to do with one, Bill Scarsart and his phenomenal acting chops. um um Another of that has to do with just the writing that was given to him, the script itself and lines such as like, I'm just an appetite, nothing more. like i just I really appreciated how much effort that they put into making it. Like you said, Tim, vampires aren't inherently scary. But in this movie, it's funny how they, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think they ever called him a vampire. What do they call him? A demon. ah i think will Did they call him a vampire? Willem Dafoe referred to him as the vampir.
01:39:41
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. So it's brought up one time, but yeah over and over again, yeah they call him a ah demon. yeah And I feel like that, I feel like having that mindset and maybe, and that's probably what Eggers like meant intentionally meant to do was we could just make this a vampire movie, you know, whatever I maybe, maybe he wasn't thinking that way, but I view that as in,
01:40:03
Speaker
You know what? let's make the Let's actually make this something scary, something that will earth these people to their core and actually touch something, touch a fear in someone like the witch does um at the end of the day. And let's this isn't a vampire. This is a demon. Like, this is a creature that you don't want to run into that, you know, biblically speaking, is scarier than anything you'll ever come across on this earth. Like, I feel like that specifically going that direction with Orlok was just higher thinking in general, cloud nine, like this was just, that was the best way they could have gone about this character. And from the beginning to the end of that movie, it's, he is just an ever, ever, um, present being like, and that's represented with even the shots of his hand, like the shadow going over the city and one night, like you just feel his presence. And again, Bill Scarsard turning in a wonderful performance to even further that idea of just like,
01:40:58
Speaker
Damn, dude, this dude is a killer and he he is just straight evil. There's nothing redeemable about this guy. And I just, I love when they can do that with a um with a bad guy character, I guess, if you, that's in the simplest of terms. Yeah. It's, you know, Eggers set out saying he wanted to make vampires scary again. Yes. So definitely- That's a perfect way to put it. Definitely wanted to shed the sparkle skinned i light
01:41:30
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And I think he succeeded. I think he succeeded. Totally. So we were unanimous fives on direction. Jonathan, where were you? See, I was a four on direction. I'm never good with direction. I've said it millions of times and I'll say it again. I'll let it happen. um So for the it factor,
01:41:54
Speaker
It factor for this movie is an interesting one because it's still so early in its release. It hasn't even been out a week yet at the time we're recording this. ah But I have to say, based on early reactions, it's a four for me because it is being widely discussed. I'm seeing a lot of information online. I'm seeing a lot of people praise it. I'm also seeing a lot of people who didn't enjoy it.
01:42:20
Speaker
But either way, there's conversation and buzz about this film. So that all adds to its it factor. Will it be the iconic status of the original? Time will tell. So I don't know. But for me, it's a four because I'm seeing quite a bit of talk about it. And like I said,
01:42:48
Speaker
It was the busiest I have seen a theater in a long time. And honestly, we went to the theater and it was, the theater itself was busier than I have ever seen it in, since I moved here. But that's like, Sonic 3 is out, families are seeing that, they're seeing Mufasa. And I was like, oh, Nosferatu is gonna be empty.
01:43:12
Speaker
No, that was a full theater. So I was surprised by that. So it's a four. and My little sister can't handle the the scary stuff. Otherwise I would have seen that on Christmas day with her. So we saw Moana two instead. Very sweet movie. Very good. But for for this though, considering the origins and film history, then how much I enjoyed it and you know, just the original Nosferatu and what that's done for developing other vampire stories over the years in film. Personally, I think this is going to be a five. I think this is going to be very impactful because this is kind of bringing a whole new light to the Nosferatu story. It will bring more recognition to the original movie that others might not be aware of and may expose people to a little more depth in the whole idea of like vampire movie culture. um So ah yeah i think I think five is a nice hefty drop on that for me.
01:44:09
Speaker
I hope. Yeah, I was literally just looking through IBM's like horror movies that came out this year to remind myself of, like to make sure I'm not over exaggerating when I say there was a lot of bad horror movies that came out, but there are some there are some good ones. There's some good ones, yeah. Smile 2 didn't do it for me. I can't wait to see that. I still need to see it, and I'm excited. I hope it lands. It's a well-made movie, but I think I preferred the first.
01:44:35
Speaker
First one is we're really good, but yeah, um I landed on a four two. I think this is kind of one of those movies where it should be a five, but I just don't think enough people probably know what Nastra too is. Like my boss who had no clue what it is, but he's a big movie guy. um And then Robert Eggers, as great of a director he is, I think he's made too many niche artsy movie. If you want to say artsy, the Lighthouse is a little as artsy. the wiitchches not quite as artsy, but it's still pretty like under the radar when it comes to movies. um And the Northman was his first big one, like his first mainstream movie, and but even that one had horrendous marketing that went with it. So it really didn't do that well, or at least as good as it should have done.
01:45:20
Speaker
um This is I think once we get past this one, you're probably going to start here people will start probably recognizing him a little bit more um outside of like the intense like movie spaces and those who like really pay attention to that kind of stuff. So I think the movie will do really well overall, it will probably probably be the highest grossing horror movie I would assume this year based on what I'm seeing, at least on this list. I expect it to be. Yeah, I if you want to give the only argument I could probably make for it being a five is that I do think that this Nosferatu will be hailed as like the Nosferatu movie you watch. And they're like, Oh, yeah, but there was like an original one that was based off of you should go check that out. It's a silent movie. So like, if you're gonna argue for Number five, I do think that is a fair argument to make that this one will be the main Nosferatu that everyone refers to when they talk about the movie moving forward. I think that's fair. I could see this reshaping the future of vampire movies, and I'm cool with that. Oh, totally. I'm here for that. If more vampire movies followed this, please. So, on to the final category of how entertained were you?
01:46:32
Speaker
very much entertained, very, very much entertained. Lots of fun. i Yeah. Even though I went to the theater by myself, this is a movie that I still really, really, really enjoyed. Even seeing the people next to me, because it was a full theater there too. There's a couple of with me over here and a couple on the side of me over here and like watching their reactions to stuff. and I got a big kick out of that. I really enjoyed being able to enjoy their scare, at the jump scare scenes and stuff. That's cool. and like i I wanted to go and watch it again. i
01:47:05
Speaker
I wanted to watch it again last night, but I had other places to be and stuff to do. Um, I might see about taking someone on a date to go see it again, but yeah yeah this movie, I'm definitely going to recommend to a lot of people. Uh, I would definitely, I've already been talking to people at work since I watched it last week, man. Like, yo, you guys need to go see this film. And I think it's really going to get around in the way I think it should. So I'm 10 all day on this one. Yeah.
01:47:30
Speaker
yeah i was I used 10 as like would I turn around and watch it again immediately. and Like I said, I'm sitting there going, if I was single, I would come back again tomorrow to watch this movie again. I want to see it again. and Part of that is i told you the ambiguity of the ending kind of left me a little bit meh.
01:47:56
Speaker
I loved it, but I was still like, I want more from it. But it's the kind of, I want more as in like, I need to see it again because I bet it's there. And I didn't pick up on it. It's the kind of movie that like, I think with repeat watches, I'll go to just appreciate more. So I had to go with my 10 is what I turn around and watch it again.
01:48:21
Speaker
I wanted to, so yeah, yeah, it was a 10 for me. I was almost a nine because I was like, it's a little long. But I was also like, I loved being in that world and in that movie. So, and the thing ah the thing that I think is hard and people need to remember going into this movie is it's not a horror movie in the sense that like paranormal activity or the conjuring or even more recently, Smile, anything like that. This is a horror movie in that it's just atmosphere of dread and evil.
01:49:05
Speaker
And it's not like it doesn't really get under my skin as much as like some people might not want to sit through that because it is dark and it is heavy and it is ominous and it's a different kind of horror. and It's beautiful. I loved it. So it was a 10. I gave it a 9 out of 10.
01:49:27
Speaker
um part. Listen, hear me out. What was the the length of the movie? I did kind of feel the two and a half hour. i've I've noticed this weird thing lately where I've almost had a weird appreciation for hour and a half to two hour movies now. Like, I don't know what it is. Like, it just recently clicked for me. I just kind of ah I like, I mean, I like these epics are good and stuff, but like, ye I don't know, I came out of like, 90 minutes is kind of hitting a lot better nowadays. I think it was mostly like coming out of the Zack Snyder era with his long movies and like just being really into that stuff. ah The Dune movies being another example. Like I like them, they're fun. And I'm glad I only get them so often, but I feel like the older I'm getting, the more I am starting to feel that two and a half hours starting to like, ooh, man.
01:50:19
Speaker
i love being in the facility I was getting sore by the end of the film. I was like, yeah, it's just not comfortable anymore. Like, Oh God. feel oil is a good example too Yeah. So I, I say that very like comfortably. It's just like, you know, it's a little long. So I can, I was getting a little uncomfortable, like, you know, just trying to get comfortable. But I was, despite that,
01:50:42
Speaker
I enjoyed this movie throwing it through, and if it makes you feel better, I think I only gave one 10 out of 10 this year to a movie for Entertainment, and it was Dune 2. So you're up there in good company. like It's not like you're that far behind. And honestly, you can't even compare these two movies. They were both like the best movies this year, hands down for me. So 9 out of 10 is very, I'm comfortable with that. And it could easily be 10. You said something that, hold on.
01:51:09
Speaker
This is one of the few that I've actually given a 10 for. I don't give a lot of 10s on. Oh, yeah. No, I'm this movie will be on my books on my bookshelf with The Witch and the Northman, which I just got for Christmas. So nice. It will be in my DVD collection. I'm going to watch that. Yeah, I want a nice little steel book version of it. That's what I need. I want to see. I'm just going to check real quick.
01:51:37
Speaker
So Bryce, I can look at our system here. As I say, we've done so many movies this year. Jonathan, you were a 10 for Brotherhood of the Wolf. Of course. Nosferatu. And Autopsy of Jane Doe. Yes. Yeah, I enjoyed the hell out of that one. That's a fantastic film. Bryce, you were a 10 doing part two.
01:52:05
Speaker
Nefarious. That was last year. also say i' That wasn't this year. ah
01:52:15
Speaker
Yeah, that's it for this year. So I don't even want to. yeah I don't hand out my 10s lately. To be a fair, Black Christmas was a 10 for me. Invasion of the Body Snatchers 50.
01:52:31
Speaker
56 that's not right. No master was a 10 The fly from 83 was a 10 for me Bad times at the El Royale deadly not deadly manner can't can't buy me love really. Yeah, that was a 10 Habenheimer Scream six was a 10. That's not this year. Okay. I'm, I'm off track. I was gonna say you've gotten away off track here. I'm looking at the whole old record here. All right. So back to our final final thoughts, final thoughts and final scores. Do you have your, do you have so with the change that I made? Uh, I should be at a 46. Okay.
01:53:20
Speaker
I am at a 49.
01:53:27
Speaker
I'm working on it. Give me one second. Oh, darn maths. I have you got a 47, Bryce. Plus that sounds right. Yeah. 47. Yep. Okay. And then Bryce's wife supplied hers at a 44. So that gets us.
01:53:50
Speaker
an average of 46 and a half. So that would be about four and a half stars, which I think that's a pretty fair representation of the film. Yeah, that's accurate. Like much art. Not everybody is going to appreciate it, but totally that's fair that doesn't diminish the quality of it. So that that's where I'm at. Like I said, I think ah Eager's films have grown on me over the years. At first, I didn't really care for The Witch. um The Lighthouse, I can't describe to you what The Lighthouse did to me. That was just a bizarre film, dude. My wife and I watched it when we were dating, and it was one of those movies that we watched, and then we're like... That's not the film.
01:54:43
Speaker
No, I just watched like full house for like an hour now. like I just got to watch something squeaky clean and we did that. And then the Northman, I liked it. wasn't It honestly wasn't my favorite of his movies, ah but all of them have grown on me over time.
01:55:05
Speaker
This movie was my favorite on first watch Like this was the first one that I was like my first watch of this one I like better than any of my others. So I'm hoping it continues to grow where the Northman was like a Viking heavy metal music video. Like it made me want to listen listen to sleep token real hard. It's just like put sleep token. I'm excited to watch this movie because it's it sounds like it's up my alley. Like shit bring it on, dude. He's going to love it. but yu And then this one is like, this was like,
01:55:39
Speaker
I'm watching it going, this is like a gothic rock music video because it is just dripping in the imagery, the atmosphere. I'm here for that. like i'll um I'm coming back. I'm coming back. So yeah, I'm pretty happy with the results. i Overall,
01:56:00
Speaker
Sounds like we'd recommend this movie for a group setting, but I would. For sure. I do you think you got to know your audience. Not showing it to my mom and dad, that's for sure. But but some other people, I would. So any other final thoughts, guys?
01:56:19
Speaker
ah
01:56:22
Speaker
Nah, I'm good. I was like two hours of talking about it. I hope I got my thoughts out. I did not expect two hours of talking about it, to be honest. And that's just how we do. Amen. Okay. So that was our holiday episode. Yay! Chess hands. Just a second.
01:56:50
Speaker
I'll edit this out.
01:56:54
Speaker
What are you doing? I'm organizing the outro. Oh. He's over there touching stuff. Oh, buddy. Hey Jamie, can you pull up that video of the snake attacking that deer? Yeah, I need an editor. Hey, okay, so here we go and I'll come back in. So it sounds like that's a wrap on our holiday special and the end of another fantastic season of the Average Reviews podcast. We hope you enjoyed diving into Robert Eggers' Nosferatu with us. What a perfect way to cap off the year. As always, thank you for joining us on this journey through the weird, wonderful, and sometimes downright horrifying world of cinema.
01:57:35
Speaker
Now here's something to look forward to. We will be kicking off season 3 January 14th with a breakdown of one of the most beloved cult classics of all time. Clue!
01:57:47
Speaker
I'm so excited for that. From its witty script to its stellar cast and iconic multiple endings, it's a full process, plenty to talk about. You won't want to miss it. January 14th. And don't forget my book, The Harvest of Briarville, drops this January as well. Just in time for that premiere episode, so you can find that on Amazon. So.
01:58:11
Speaker
You'll want to check it out. And in the meantime, stay connected with us on Instagram, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform for all the latest updates. Until next season, keep celebrating movies in your own unique way and have a happy, safe, and spooky start to the new year. We will see you next year.