Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu Movie Sets Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score Record For The Vampire Adaptation

Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu movie sets a Rotten Tomatoes audience score record for the vampire adaptation. The movie was written and directed by Eggers as a remake of the silent film, which was itself an unauthorized adaptation of Dracula from 1922. The new horror film follows a similar story of a tormented young woman and the fearsome vampire infatuated with her, causing horror to unfold. Nosferatu‘s all-star cast includes Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney, and Willem Dafoe. It was released in theaters on December 25, 2024.

After having had time to settle in theaters, the horror film’s Rotten Tomatoes audience score has finally been revealed. Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu has a 76% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes with 1,000+ verified ratings. That marks the lowest score of any movie in the franchise, including the original 1922 Nosferatu (87%) and Werner Herzog’s 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre (83%). The average viewer rated the movie a 4 out of 5, which matches the overall total fairly closely. The audience scores are subject to change over time and will likely continue to shift during the ongoing theatrical run.

What Nosferatu’s Audience Score Means For The Movie

It’s Still A Solid Score

Coupled with its solid 76% audience score, Nosferatu has enjoyed an 87% Certified Fresh score from the critics. These reviews consider the latest adaptation expertly helmed by Robert Eggers and a monumental horror masterpiece that is both deeply unsettling and irresistibly captivating. ScreenRant‘s Nosferatu review by Patrice Witherspoon calls it a “stunning gothic horror remake that puts the terror back into vampire lore.” While still strong, its critical score of 87% is also the lowest of the vampire adaptations – 1922’s Nosferatu (97%) and Nosferatu the Vampyre (94%). Top critics, in particular, granted an especially disappointing score of just 80%.

It falls short of the groundbreaking impact of the 1922 silent classic.

Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu has a 76% audience score, which is still solid, but the lowest of the three movies. For the most part, audiences seem to concur with critics, calling Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu a modern horror masterpiece, but one with some glaring flaws. Audiences love the stunning cinematography, gothic atmosphere, and artistic ambition, but take issue with the sometimes slow pacing, excessive melodrama, and some distracting performances or intimate scenes. At two hours and 12 minutes, the length is also certainly a significant concern that alienated many viewers. Similarly, actors attempting to mimic the classic performances can be somewhat distracting.

Audience Disappointment Has Not Hindered Nosferatu

It Is Still Thriving At The Box Office

Lower audience and critical perceptions should harm a movie’s prospects at the box office, but Eggers‘ latest horror has been thriving all the same. Despite a B- CinemaScore, it will likely earn over $40 million on the weekend, according to early box office numbers. That would mark Eggers’ best opening weekend of his career. Despite disappointing overall, it has certainly still earned some measure of respect from viewers. In a tumultuous year at the box office, that is exactly what Eggers should have been hoping for.

Eggers’ The Northman earned $69.6 million worldwide and still marks his highest-grossing movie to date.

Still, with Nosferatu‘s $50 million budget, profitability is a long way away. After marketing budgets and theaters take their cuts, it will likely need $125 million at the box office to achieve financial success. Positive word-of-mouth could help achieve that total, but a 76% audience score is not the resounding approval that this movie needed. Thankfully, it should still be enough to promote the gothic horror when it eventually reaches streaming platforms in the coming year. It can also still rely on Eggers’ name to help draw viewers, while Nosferatu‘s chilling ending can also usher in some positive attention.

Our Take On Nosferatu’s Audience Score

It’s Not Better Than The Two Previous Adaptations

While Nosferatu‘s 87% and 76% ratings underscore its quality as a solid horror film, the scores are also simultaneously the lowest of the three movies, reflecting its standing as a polarizing adaptation, and suggesting that it falls short of the groundbreaking impact of the 1922 silent classic and the haunting elegance of Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre. The disparity may stem from comparisons to the originals’ historical significance and minimalist storytelling. Nosferatu (2024), though ambitious, may lean too heavily on modern horror tropes and indulgent visuals, diverging from the raw simplicity and enduring mystique of its predecessors.

In an age of remakes and sequels, it raises the question of why this remake needed to be made at all. While Eggers is renowned for his work on The Northman (2022), The Lighthouse (2019), and The Witch (2015), this remake may have simply been unnecessary. What works in silent films no longer connects with audiences in the modern media landscape. Similarly, the extensive runtime is unparalleled. The original had a limited runtime of under an hour and 40 minutes, while the 1979 remake saw a 1-hour 47-minute total length. Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu was simply overindulgent, which damaged its reputation.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes