A freaky vampire with an obsession and a sexually repressed CEO finding a spark with a new intern get their their stories told on screen beginning this week, with somewhat different degrees of success.
Here are our reviews.
“Nosferatu”: Old-school horror fans go ahead and breathe a sigh of relief. From the first second of Robert Eggers’ spellbinding adaptation of the Bram Stoker/F.W. Murnau vampire classics, it’s apparent those nagging concerns that the detail-obsessed director behind “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse” might muck up one of your all-time favorites are unwarranted. With an ominous Gothic look that borders on the painterly and bustling with striking period production designs and costumes, “Nosferatu” will all but seduce you with its blood-chilling eye candy and erotic underpinnings.
From a purely visual and technical standpoint, Eggers’ nightmare is a triumph in every conceivable way. The fact that he doesn’t futz around with or try to redefine the Dracula legend illustrates Eggers’ respect for the source material. He’s created a movie that’s certain to appease purists in love with the silent film classic as well as the George Melford/Bela Lugosi and Klaus Kinski versions, yet gives modern audiences an alternative to hunky brooding vampires with perfect gelled hair and rigid abs. Here, Count Orlick (an utterly transformed and unrecognizable Bill Skarsgard), is anything but a looker, a towering slithery freak with long, icicle-like talons as thick as a rump roast, whose Romanian accent is saddled with Darth Vader-like breathing issues. Even though the storyline hits similar beats with the dashing newly married Thomas (Nicholas Hoult, an excellent casting choice) entering Count Orlick’s creepy Transylvania lair while wife Ellen (Lily Rose-Depp, acing a physically demanding role) remains in 1838 Germany and feels the yearning and hypnotic tug of the count from miles beyond and years before, Eggers puts his artful stamp on it. That includes Ellen getting horribly misdiagnosed and mistreated by docs and other men, including by the couple’s richer friend Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who assume she is overly agitated and suffering from melancholy. Eggers also gives the Ellen-Count connection a pervy, stalker-like feel that makes the blood curdle and the blood boil.
But mainly “Nosferatu” offers Eggers the chance to play around in an enormous Gothic sandbox with some of his favorite collaborators — including cinematographer Jarin Blaschke, composer Robin Carolan, production designer Craig Lathrop, sound designer Damian Volpe and costume designer Linda Muir. All are deserving of awards for taking such great pains to come up with a definitive version of the Drac legend, one that has to be seen and heard on the big screen. Eggers was all but born to make this movie. You night even say it’s in his blood. Details: 4 stars out of 4; in theaters Dec. 25.
“Babygirl”: Sexually unsatisfied CEO Romy (Nicole Kidman) gets understandably hot and bothered by the presence of the very forward, altogether cocky new intern Samuel (Harris Dickinson) in Halina Reijn’s exploration of an accomplished woman, wife and mother discovering the scary power from tapping into her uninhibited desires. It’s doubtful that before Samuel enters the scene that wealthy New Yorker Romy has ever experienced an orgasm. Samuel seems to sense that something is holding back this successful woman who has worked hard to climb the ladder in a male-dominated world. The duo embark on the kind of kinky affair — she laps up milk in a bowl, he deploys his tie — that would make everyone in the HR department run screaming from the building. Meanwhile, Romy’s hunky theater director hubby Jacob (Antonio Banderas) doesn’t suspect a thing – at first. “Babygirl’s” greatest asset is that it refuses to damn its main character for wanting it all — a successful career and a successful sex life. Kidman’s Romy represents a twilight example of stuck female empowerment while her super-efficient assistant Esme (Sophie Wilde) possesses a healthier, honest view of every aspect of her life. The same applies to Samuel, who can be caring and is willing to role-play dominance while being aware that the Romy-Jacob union adheres to a declining paradigm of how a marriage should be. “Babygirl” ping-pongs with promising ideas like that, but unfortunately they often don’t get explored with the depth that they deserve. It’s a shame given that there are moments of fine work from everyone in the cast along with some racy bits and one terrific ending that slams the door on the patriarchal rules of engagement that still exist for women in the corporate world. Details: 2½ stars; opens in theaters on Dec. 25.
Contact Randy Myers at soitarandy@gmail.com.
