One of the best films I saw at Sundance this year was a horror film called The Witch. The horror genre isn’t necessarily my specialty, but the premise sounded interesting (it takes place in Salem, a generation before the witch trials) so I gave it a shot and came out the other side wholly and utterly terrified (read my review here), due in large part to the work of director Robert Eggers, who took home the Best Director U.S. Dramatic prize at the end of the festival. And now it appears that Eggers may work his dark magic on a horror classic: Nosferatu.
Per Deadline, Studio 8 has set up an untitled remake of F. W. Murnau’s 1922 silent film with The Witch helmer Dave Eggers onboard to write and direct and Jay Van Hoy and Lars Knudsen producing. Further details about the take are unknown, but Murnau’s film was an unofficial adaptation of Dracula and revolves around the vampire Count Orlok.
Nosferatu holds up remarkably well so a remake really isn’t necessary—especially after the excellent Shadow of the Vampire—but what piques my interest here is Eggers. With The Witch, which A24 Films will release later this year, he showed a remarkable handle on atmosphere and tension. The film feels like it lives and breathes, and so the prospect of seeing Eggers tackle a classic vampire story is mighty enticing.
The filmmaker is separately attached to write and direct a medieval film called The Knight, also for Studio 8, so it’s unclear which is Eggers’ first priority. Either way, The Witch is going to make him a very in-demand director once it hits theaters, so I look forward to seeing what he takes on next.
