This 1981 Horror Film Secretly Made Lily-Rose Depp’s Terrifying Nosferatu Performance Even Better

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Nosferatu.Actor Lily-Rose Depp has impressed audiences with her jaw-dropping performance in director Robert Eggers’s horror film Nosferatu, and a 43-year-old movie is partly to thank for it. In the movie, Depp portrays a woman who falls under the psychic influence of the evil vampire Count Orlok. The demonic episodes she experiences as she falls under the undead plague carrier’s spell make for some of the most shocking scenes in Nosferatu.

As a remake of the 1922 film of the same name, Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu mainly draws inspiration from it and Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, which inspired the original movie. However, there is a more obscure horror film from 1981 that inspired the 2024 version of Nosferatu, specifically Depp’s portrayal of protagonist Ellen Hutter. The former movie also revolves around a woman who seems to become involved with an otherworldly force, and the way Depp pays homage to said film in Nosferatu stands as a testament to its impact as a cult classic.

For Nosferatu, Lily-Rose Depp Drew From Isabelle Adjani’s Performance In Possession

Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) in bed looking sick in Nosferatu

One of the greatest influences on 2024’s Nosferatu is director Andrzej Żuwałski’s 1981 psychological horror film Possession. In an interview with IndieWire, Lily-Rose Depp spoke about how, along with the Japanese performance art form "Butoh", Isabelle Adjani’s character in Possession inspired her wildly physical performance as Ellen in Nosferatu:

"I thought a lot about Possession. Isabelle Adjani has an incredible and iconic performance in that. She also was an Ellen of the past [in Werner Herzog's 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre], and so I was very honored to carry the French girl Baton to play Ellen in this version. She's an actress that inspires me a lot."

Similar to Ellen Hunter, Adjani’s character in Possession, Anna, experiences mental health problems during her husband Mark’s absence. The most notable similarity between the two characters is the violent and bestial seizures they experience at the height of their conditions. While Ellen’s episodes show her shifting in and out of the demon Orlok’s control, Anna ends up having a gory miscarriage alone in a subway in Possession’s most infamous scene. Despite the differences, both characters appear to display a frightening and primal form of possession brought on by loneliness and some supernatural entity.

2024’s Nosferatu Parallels 1981’s Possession

Nosferatu And Possession Feature Stories Of Marriages Destroyed By Dark Forces

Similar to Possession, 2024’s Nosferatu revolves around a young married couple whose relationship falls apart when the wife appears to be overwhelmed by a supernatural creature. Nosferatu clearly shows that Ellen’s condition is the result of Count Orlok’s dark magic. Meanwhile, Possession leaves it unclear whether Anna did become involved with a monstrous entity or if the latter was a manifestation of her psychosis.

Nevertheless, like Possession, Ellen, Thomas, and Orlok get caught up in a bizarre love triangle in Nosferatu that erodes the protagonists’ marriage. While Ellen finds herself under the spell of the demonic Orlok, Anna has an affair with a tentacled monster that she nurtures in secret. Likewise, Possession’s monster inexplicably turns into a doppelgänger of Anna’s husband, Mark, making it Anna’s ideal version of her spouse. This unusual twist contrasts with how Ellen tries to avoid the evil and murderous Orlok, being the worst possible person for her to be with.

Lily-Rose Depp successfully honors Isabelle Adjani’s work in Possession by delivering another unsettling but spectacular performance as the spiritually tormented Ellen in Nosferatu.

While Nosferatu and Possession have significant differences, they both feature intense depictions of lonely women who seek comfort in seemingly paranormal companions. Lily-Rose Depp successfully honors Isabelle Adjani’s work in Possession by delivering another unsettling but spectacular performance as the spiritually tormented Ellen in Nosferatu. Like Adjani, Depp’s portrayal of her character should help make Robert Eggers' movie become a modern horror classic.

Source: IndieWire