Nosferatu Director Confirms Batman Returns Influence on Hit Vampire Movie

Robert Eggers’s darkly beautiful remake of the silent 1922 horror classic Nosferatu is a hit with critics and audiences alike, with many praising its stunning visuals, intense performances, gothic atmosphere, and neverending sense of dread. Set in 19th-century Europe, 2024’s Nosferatu tells the story of the ancient and reclusive Count Orlok and his bloody quest to make an innocent young woman his eternal bride. While on its surface, the film has little in common with Tim Burton’s 1992 superhero flick Batman Returns – other than the fact that they’re both helmed by visionary directors – a closer look reveals that there are actually a fair number of similarities between the two films.

In fact, this is something that was confirmed by Eggers himself, who stated recently on an episode of the Happy Sad Confused Podcast, “I was watching on one of these flights… I threw on Batman Returns and, like, snowy, gothic, atmosphere of that movie is, it’s quite like, shockingly similar to a lot of the stuff we were doing here, which is something that I never really considered at all. But Wayne Manor, like, doesn’t look a hell of a lot different than Grűnewald Manor. I have got to say except for falling apart. So that was kind of interesting.”

Once you see the similarities, it becomes difficult to unsee them. While Eggers doesn’t outright say that Batman Returns directly influenced the aesthetics of Nosferatu, it’s possible that certain elements from Burton’s film crept into his thinking from a previous viewing of the film without his realizing it. Or it may simply be an example of parallel thinking; after all, both Burton and Eggers have used heavy gothic elements in almost all of their respective films, though Burton’s use of the moody visual style tends to lean a slightly more playful direction than Eggers.

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While Eggers and his team used a lot of tricks and techniques to create the stylishly macabre world of Nosferatu, the film’s production designer, Craig Lathrop, found that sometimes less is more when creating an especially creepy vibe. He revealed to The World of Interiors that, “If you go to Orlok’s castle for example, it’s pretty sparse. He doesn’t have a lot of furniture; he doesn’t need a lot of furniture. And that helps it all feel spooky, right? It’s what gives the castle that haunted-house feel: stripping it all down, because I wanted Hutter to feel really alone. When he walks in there at first, it’s just him and Orlok: there’s nowhere to go.”

Lathrop’s hard work paid off, as he has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Production Design. Horror movies rarely receive much love from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, so it’s nice to see such a dark, bleak horror film like Nosferatu be recognized for its artistry. The film was also nominated in the categories for cinematography, costume design, and makeup & hairstyling.

Nosferatu is now available to watch on Prime Video, iTunes, and other digital retailers.