Nosferatu (2024) is a disappointing film. The vampire myth invites us to reflect on destructive appetites and dreamlike desires, two aspects of the present day that deserve an artist’s serious attention, but Robert Eggers’ deferential admiration of the past prevented him from trying anything new. Rather than re-present a film as a museum curio—newly-clean, well-lit, and safe behind plexiglass—we need artists with courage enough to reveal the past’s breathing strangeness. Artists should play around in our blood.

Despite Eggers’ failure, Nosferatu contains beautiful elements of a timeless, challenging narrative. But these elements have little to do with Count Orlok. Our destructive channeling of sexual desire, and how that work defines history, is terrifying. The project above, a 30-minute edit of 2024’s Nosferatu, presents such a horror story.

nos was conceived by Ken Baumann and Nick Younes and edited by Ken Baumann. All copyrights remain with their original holders; this project is a work of criticism, published with no commercial purpose, and protected by the fair use doctrine. Don’t narc.