10 Best Characters From 2024 Horror Movies
4. Count Orlok - Nosferatu
Most filmmakers would look at reimagining F. W. Murnau's 1922 classic silent film Nosferatu as a basically thankless task, and to that end, few actors would want to step up and offer their own take on Max Schreck's iconic Count Orlok.
But fearless director Robert Eggers and his star Bill Skarsgård conspire here to give audiences an Orlok like they've never seen before, stripping away a century's worth of vampiric caricature to render him as a more "grounded" undead nobleman, complete with a large, bushy mustache.
Though Orlok doesn't have that much screen time, Skarsgård makes every single second count, imbuing him and the entire film with a pervasive sense of dread. Granted, Eggers and Skarsgård are of course working from an existing story with the character, but they do everything in their power to make this version distinctive and very much their own.
Regardless of which of the numerous portrayals of Orlok is your favourite, this is in many respects the most achingly human of them all.