Freaky remake crowns a new King of Horror

The press loves to describe a star as “unrecognizable” when he transforms for a film role.

With Bill Skarsgård, however, this praise is not only deserved, but increasingly unnecessary.

The 34-year-old actor has carved a niche for himself as a creepy shapeshifter; a modern-day Lon Chaney, born with a knack for nightmares. And as he more than proves with the film Nosferatu, Skarsgård is Hollywood’s new king of horror.

In Robert Eggers’ stunning remake, the deep-set, almost maniacal-eyed actor takes on a role even more iconic than Pennywise the Clown in It: Count Orlok, the undead villain from FW Murnau’s groundbreaking 1922 silent vampire masterpiece.

Skarsgård, adopting a deep and unsettling Carpathian accent, is frighteningly creepy and unexpectedly alluring as he essentially becomes Dracula.

Murnau’s brilliant black-and-white original was an unauthorized German version of Bram Stoker’s novel, in which names, locations and minor plot points were changed to make a reference to Germany. (He was sued anyway.) But the story, set in the dark and repressive year of 1838, is very similar to that of the OG Bloodsucker.

And although “Nosferatu 2024” is almost an hour longer and features audible dialogue, it also retains the narrative style of its classic cinematic predecessor. Eggers, whose “The Witch” established him as a visionary in the horror genre, is obviously an avid fan of Murnau’s film. Rightly so.

Eggers is most at home in the dark, embracing and updating Nosferatus’ famous shadows, Orlok’s long, spindly fingers, suffocating Victorian-era rooms, thousands of disgusting live rats, and doors that magically open on their own in a seductive way for today’s eyes and ears.

Another smart cast is the haunting Nicholas Hoult as Thomas, a naive real estate agent who is sent to Transylvania by his eccentric employer Mr. Knock (Simon McBurney) to get a contract signed by a wealthy home buyer – Orlok.

He says goodbye to his wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) and rides to the castle on horseback. Once in the forest, Eggers’ talent for using nature to summon primal fears takes over. No one since The Blair Witch Project can make leafless branches as scary as Eggers.

The dejected villagers warn Thomas not to go to Orlok, and when he arrives it’s immediately clear why. His host is a vampire.

Back in Wisborg, Ellen begins to suffer from strange fits and seizures while being cared for by her friends Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, reprising the role) and Anna (Emma Corrin). And Knock went crazy, chopping off the heads of chickens and ranting and ranting about blood.

Meanwhile, Thomas attempts to kill Orlok, but soon the thirsty count is put on a ship to Germany, where he will unleash his wrath.

Some might be put off by the fact that Eggers injects some humor, particularly Willem Dafoe as Professor Franz – the Van Helsing stand-in. However, the jokes add some balance to a longer film that can’t be based entirely on fear. I’m guessing it’s still at about 98% horror.

Eggers’ casting is a touch of beauty. There are lots of blood-soaked gothic faces, as if they’ve all been kidnapped from an Edgar Allen Poe-style cocktail party.

Depp, who eerily portrays Linda Blair as the tormented and bedridden Ellen, certainly learned a thing or two about the undead from her father Johnny Depp, who, in addition to starring in “Dark Shadows” and “Sleepy Hollow,” also led a band called Hollywood Vampires has .

A few actors here have nightwalkers on their resume. More recently, Hoult played Dracula’s beleaguered assistant in “Renfield,” and Dafoe has an even closer connection. He was Count Orlok – aka Max Schreck – in 2000’s “Shadow of the Vampire.”

Skarsgård, however, is the ace. Without overdoing it and never being anything less than terrifying, he crafts Orlok into a richer character than the bat-like terror was capable of.

His tragic, if disturbing, final scene almost touches our hearts.