Robert Eggers is one of the most exciting directors currently working in Hollywood, with all three of his films prior to 2024's most anticipated horror movies of 2024 and one of the films I am most looking forward to during the holiday season.
However, as excited as I am for Nosferatu — and I am very excited about this Gothic Christmas movie — it leaves me wondering: "Where is the original literary vampire's blockbuster film?" And I am not talking about another Dracula, but Carmilla. While she has had a handful of cinematic appearances and adaptations, they have not broken through the mainstream like Dracula. Even Nosferatu, banned and almost disappeared completely due to being an illegal adaptation of Dracula, has reached heights on the big screen that Carmilla has yet to achieve.
Carmilla Came Before Dracula AND Nosferatu
Carmilla Was Written In 1872, About 25 Years Before Dracula
While there was vampire folklore before her debut (via Wired), Carmilla is one of the earliest literary vampires, if not the original literary vampire. Her creation and story are critical to the development of the fictional vampires we know and love today. However, she is far less represented in cinema than Dracula or Nosferatu, who both came into existence after Carmilla's literary debut.
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Carmilla is a novella from the year 1872, a Gothic romance about a young woman falling prey to the titular vampire, making it a key part of vampire history, as well as a queer literary history. Fast-forward to 1897, Bram Stoker delivers Dracula, who has taken center stage time and again on the big screen. However, there is still space for more Gothic vampires in movies.
Carmilla Needs Her Own Modern Movie Adaptation
Dracula Has Carmilla Beat When It Comes To Film Adaptations
Before I ever read Dracula or watched a film featuring him, I knew about the iconic vampire. Dracula is a horror and pop culture touchstone, one that is hard to ignore due to cultural osmosis. He is popular for good reason too, and one of my personal favorite Universal Monsters. There are well over 25 Dracula movies out there, and that includes the multiple iterations of Nosferatu.
My first introduction to Carmilla was not through any of her films.
Carmilla, on the other hand, has only seen a handful of cinematic adaptations. While she has some films under her belt, these have not made as big an impact on pop culture as her vampiric contemporaries. My first introduction to Carmilla was not through any of her films. With Dracula, on the other hand, I had a solid image of Bela Lugosi's Count in my head long before I ever watched his film, or any Dracula film for that matter.
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Dracula, and in turn, Nosferatu, is a tale we have revisited time and time again. While beloved, even by myself, there are other vampire classics to explore on the big screen. I have nothing to say against past cinematic renditions of Carmilla. Smaller-budget horror films are not just feats of creative innovation, but proof that this level of filmmaking can still result in profits, something Terrifier 3's success has shown. However, giving Carmilla the Hollywood treatment, like what Nosferatu is getting, could help officially break her into the mainstream.
If Robert Eggers' Nosferatu Is Successful, It Makes An Argument For a Carmilla Adaptation
People Still Want Big Screen Adaptations Of Classic Vampires
I want the latest classic vampire movie to do well for many reasons, and that will likely be the case based on Nosferatu's unanimous first reactions. Additionally, as an Eggers fan, I of course want his latest film to be a success, especially given how stand-out and unique his past projects were. Furthermore yet, Gothic films are not as common as other horror films, like the slasher or haunted house subgenres. Gothic is a horror subgenre I am rooting for because it offers a classic narrative but still has something new when it is less seen in modern filmmaking.
Audiences still seem receptive to vampire fiction, especially when some of the best Vampire TV shows of all time are only from the past decade.
Nosferatu proving that audiences want more Gothic films could be a good sign for a Carmilla adaptation. Audiences still seem receptive to vampire fiction, especially when some of the best Vampire TV shows of all time are only from the past decade. Additionally, several other classic monsters, like Frankenstein and Wolf Man, are the stars of films. The time is perfect for a big-budget Carmilla adaptation, one that achieves mainstream status. It could be a fresh take on vampires since it is a story that has been explored far less than Dracula and his monstrous cohorts.
Nosferatu
- Release Date
- December 25, 2024
- Runtime
- 132 Minutes
- Director
- Robert Eggers
- Writers
- Robert Eggers
Cast
Count Orlok
Lily-Rose DeppEllen Hutter
Nosferatu is a remake of the 1922 silent film of the same name from director F. W. Murnau. Robert Eggers is crafting his own version of the story for the reboot as writer and director, with Bill Skarsgård stepping into the shoes of Count Orlok. Nosferatu tells the tale of a young woman who falls victim to a vampire utterly infatuated with her.
- Studio(s)
- Regency Enterprises, 1492 Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Focus Features, Universal Pictures
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