Warning: The following contains spoilers for 2024's Nosferatu.Director Robert Eggers' Nosferatus is based on the original 1922 film of the same name, an unauthorized adaptation of the Bram Stoker film Dracula. Starring Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok and Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter, Nosferatus is proving to be an intriguing addition to the vampire genre. However, as a result of his complicated origins, all iterations of Count Orlok are inherently based on Count Dracula.
There are still some important differences between Orlok and Dracula, as well as Nosferatus and Stoker's famous novel. For example, in the novel, Dracula is killed by being stabbed in the heart and decapitated by Jonathan Harker and Quincy Morris, something that Francis Ford Coppola deviated from in his film adaptation of Stoker's novel. Dracula. The original Nosferatus moves further away from this by portraying sunlight playing a key role in Count Orlok's eventual death.
Count Orlok's weakness to the sun is one of the big ways Nosferatu changes Dracula
The original Nosferatu introduced sunlight as a vampire weakness
Both in the original and in the newest NosferatusCount Orlok visits Ellen while she sleeps. She willingly sacrifices herself for him, and Orlok feeds on her, losing track of time just long enough for the sun to rise and kill him. Ellen is aware that this will cost her life, but it will also end Orlok once and for all. As he dies on top of Ellen in Robert Egger's stunning film Nosferatus remake, leaving behind a skeletal corpse, in the original film, Orlok disappears into thin air, leaving behind a single cloud of smoke.
Count Orlok's death by sunlight in 1922 Nosferatus is an original plot element not found in the novel, one of several deviations from the source material. 1922 Nosferatus It is not a direct adaptation because legally it couldn't be, so changes were made in an attempt to avoid copyright issues. However, these changes were not enough to avoid legal action, leading to Nosferatus being banned and almost completely destroyed.
What Count Orlok's Reaction to the Sun Really Means in Nosferatu
Lily-Rose Depp's Ellen Is Key To Telling Orlok's Death, Not Just The Sun
Although it is common in fiction for sunlight to be a vampire's mortal weakness, as seen in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Castlevaniaand many other media, there is another important player in Count Orlok's death. This is Ellen. In 2024 Nosferatus, the ancient texts state that Orlok will die after a virtuous woman freely gives herself to him. Count Orlok will then drink her blood all night until the sun rises and the first rooster crows.
This is exactly how Orlok dies in Eggers' Nosferatusand it's not just a physically painful death. Orlok is in love with Ellen and believes they are meant for each other. After all, she opened up to him in the past, when she felt desperately alone, and he saw a repressed darkness in her. When Ellen welcomes Orlok into her bed, he thinks she is submitting to him and that darkness, but this is far from the case.
However, Ellen takes back this power and turns her body into a weapon to finish off Orlok. Count Orlok thinks he has the upper hand and has won the prize he sought, but Ellen is not a prize and will not remain his victim. Instead, she is the key to his death, and this comes as a huge shock and betrayal to Count Orlok. Nosferatus.