Nosferatu Vs Wolfman

Last week, I watched both Nosferatu and Wolf Man, two enjoyable but different horror films! Let's have a little chat about them.

Nosferatu- Directed by Edgar Wright

I have seen the original Nosferatu many times and read the original Dracula multiple times so I was excited to see how Edgar Wright would handle this classic horror film.

The cinematography and the colour scales were absolutely gorgeous and I had to stop myself from squealing with delight during specific shots. I felt that there were some great tributes to the original film but also overlaid with fresh ideas. It is of course quite raunchy, but that is to be expected, considering the nature of the film.

Bill Skarsgard did a great job as Count Orlok, he was somehow repulsive but appealing at the same time (much like Lilly Rose Depp's father). The make-up was brilliant, I can see why they have been nominated for a BAFTA for 'Best Make Up and Hair' (amongst many other nominations). I love the fact they did not rely purely on CGI, it felt much more traditional which made my Gothic little heart happy. Bill also did a great job with the voice, which definitely added to the film's appeal.

I thought the cast all did a great job, especially William Defoe who is always a great option for visually striking films (Poor Things, The Lighthouse, etc..) and I think he is marvelous in this film. I really feel that Lilly Rose-Depp did a wonderful job, she was quite spellbinding and I look forward to seeing her future work.

At points, this film absolutely felt like a fever dream, which aligned with events in the film, a feeling that lingered somewhat even after the film ended. The final image in the film was beautiful in a hauntingly Gothic way.

Overall, I would certainly recommend Nosferatu, I give it 5 out of 5 toe beans.

Wolf Man- Directed by Leigh Whannell

I always enjoy a werewolf film and I was intrigued to see how Universal would work with this classic narrative. It was better than I expected, and certainly better than Universal's last horror, 'The Mummy' which really wasn't very good (the Mummy herself was good to be fair, just not the rest of the film).

This film had some genuinely jumpy parts which managed to get me flinching in my cinema seat.

One of the highlights for me was the werewolf transformation, it was really well done and I believe that (like Nosferatu), they used classic makeup effects rather than CGI which increased the atmosphere and made for visually striking scenes, the transformation also gave the viewer an interesting perspective.

I liked that they didn't have any A-Listers in the cast, I felt it allowed the audience to become more involved with the characters and it felt almost more like an independent horror rather than a overly commercialised horror film.

There was a good amount of gore (goes with the territory) and I enjoyed the cinematography and use of sound which helped keep me engaged throughout the film.

I will say that the plot twist was fairly guessable, but regardless I enjoyed it and believe it to be a good homage to previous werewolf films.

Overall, I would give it a solid 3.5 out of 5 toe beans.