The vampire as a mythical creature dates back centuries, but vampires as we've come to know them in popular media tend to abide by a similar set of rules. They can't survive in the sunlight, sleep in coffins, are vulnerable to religious iconography (particularly the crucifix), and claim their victims by biting their necks and drinking their blood. Nosferatu follows most of these rules, but writer-director Robert Eggers notably switches things up by having Count Orlok (Bill Skarsg?rd) bite his victims on the chest. If you walked out of Nosferatu wondering why Count Orlok bit his victims almost exclusively on the chest rather than the neck, Eggers has stated that this choice was inspired by vampiric folklore. It's a notable change from the original 1922 silent film Nosferatu, but forgoing the typical neck bite and instead incorporating the far less common chest bite makes sense for Eggers' adaptation, making Count Orlok’s attacks feel more explicitly sexual and adding to the twisted eroticism that defines Nosferatu.
'Nosferatu's Count Orlok Isn’t the First to Bite His Victims on the Chest
Robert Eggers’ iteration of Nosferatu is quite faithful to the 1922 original, but his choice to deviate from the signature neck bite was inspired by vampiric folklore, telling USA Today, "For a story that is a gothic romance, a tale of obsession and love, there is something poetical about the motif of drinking from the heart." Though this is a notable change from the original Nosferatu, the vampire chest bite also has a historical precedent in Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 novella Carmilla — which predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by 25 years — in which the titular vampire bites her female victim on the breast. In both F.W. Murnau’s silent film and Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre, Count Orlok bites his victims exclusively on the neck. This is true of most vampire media we've come to know and love over the years, so those unfamiliar with this bit of vampire lore may have been surprised by the lack of neck biting in Nosferatu. Eggers' decision to incorporate this detail works in that it not only subverts our expectations of vampires on screen, but adds to the film's erotic overtones.
Count Orlok’s Chest Bite Adds to the Erotic Horror of 'Nosferatu'
The sexy vampire is a tried and true trope, and the vampiric neck bite already carries a level of sensuality and intimacy in its own right, but Nosferatu takes the eroticism that’s come to be associated with vampires and turns it into something even more unsettling. Skarsg?rd's Count Orlok isn’t attractive in the physical sense, but has a dark magnetism that draws Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), and his other victims, to him. In her loneliness, Ellen inadvertently summoned Count Orlok to her, and, despite herself, developed a strange psychosexual attachment to him. Depp has even described this dynamic as a love triangle between Ellen, her husband Thomas (Nicholas Hoult), and Count Orlok, telling Rotten Tomatoes that Eggers wanted there to be a real sensuality in her scenes with Skarsg?rd.
Count Orlok doesn’t discriminate, biting Ellen, Thomas, and Anna (Emma Corrin) on the chest to sustain himself. Vampirism as a metaphor for sex is nothing new, but Eggers’ decision to have Count Orlok bite his victims on the chest rather than the neck brings the film’s erotic horror to the forefront. The act of undressing and biting and sucking at his victims’ chests is even more explicitly sexual than the typical neck bite, and it’s viscerally disturbing to see Count Orlok hunched over the bodies of his victims while consuming their blood. It makes Orlok an even more ominous villain, violating his victims’ bodies in more ways than one. Orlok’s creature design and Skarsgard’s performance combine to create a figure that is both repulsive and strangely seductive, and his proclivity for the human chest rather than the neck distinguishes him from previous iterations in a frighteningly memorable way.
Most viewers going into Nosferatu likely aren’t entirely well versed in the history and evolution of the vampire and its biting methods, which Eggers uses to his advantage, surprising even those who have seen the original Nosferatu, and highlighting its dark eroticism.
Nosferatu is in theaters now.
Nosferatu
- Release Date
- December 25, 2024
- Runtime
- 132 Minutes
- Director
- Robert Eggers
- Writers
- Robert Eggers
Cast
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Count Orlok -
Lily-Rose DeppEllen Hutter
In Nosferatu, a reclusive vampire's presence disrupts a small European village, drawing an unsuspecting young couple into a battle against an ancient evil. As fear spreads, the villagers must confront the terrifying legend and their own beliefs, leading to suspenseful confrontations and chilling revelations.
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