Nosferatu director Robert Eggers has already made it clear that we will not get a proper look at his new take on the titular vampire (played by IT star Bill Skarsgård) until we're actually watching the horror remake, but a lot of critics have now seen the film, and some of the reviews contain some fairly in-depth descriptions of Count Orlok.
The vampire that was introduced in F.W. Murnau's original 1922 classic (played by Max Schreck) had a very distinctive look that will go down as one of the most iconic and influential monster designs of all time. Eggers' version does reportedly retain some elements of Schreck's ghoulish visage (see also Werner Herzog's remake, Shadow of the Vampire, and Salem's Lot), but it sounds like some significant changes have been made.
If you'd rather know as little as possible about this new take on Count Orlok going in, spoilers follow.
Several reviews reference the new "Zombie Pirate" creature design, but Variety's is probably the most detailed.
"The villain in Eggers’ version bears little resemblance to Schreck’s prototypical spook — an odd way for this Nosferatu to distinguish itself, as it puts forth a shaggier (and seemingly toothless) interpretation of the character for a new generation.
The helmer then proceeds to bury his star beneath all manner of zombie-pirate prosthetics — mostly decomposing skin and unkempt whiskers — until he winds up looking like a homeless Hell’s Angel."
Eggers revealed his thought process behind creating the vampire's look during an interview with Deadline.
“What would a dead Transylvanian nobleman actually look like? That was basically where I started from, and I wanted to still acknowledge Max Schreck’s makeup design.”
As for Skarsgård, while he would ultimately get used to the design, he was far from convinced upon first seeing the prosthetics he'd be required to wear.
“Bill sees the sculpt of the bust and he freaks out, and he’s like, ‘That doesn’t look anything like me, this guy didn’t look like me when he was even alive,'" recalls Eggers. "'What the f*ck?’ He wasn’t mean, but he was alarmed. And I was like, ‘Well, that’s the point, that you’re totally transforming into somebody else.’ And then, he’s putting the makeup on and he’s like, ‘Ugh, I look like a goblin. This is terrible.’ And then, once they put the hair on, even though the makeup wasn’t totally finished, I saw the first moment when he was like, ‘OK, this is cool. This is a person.’ I started to see him in the mirror, playing around, trying to do something."
It's obviously difficult to form a proper opinion without seeing the vampire for yourselves, but what do you make of this description?
Nosferatu arrives in theaters on Christmas Day.