Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu is now in theaters and while the film is proving to be a hit at the box office as well as being well-received by fans and critics alike, there is one element of the reimagining of the 1922 classic that has perhaps been talked about more than anything else in the movie. That element, of course, is Count Orlok’s mustache. Played by Bill Skarsgård in the film, Count Orlok has a distinctive and off-putting appearance as one might expect for the vampire with long fingernails and an overall disturbing, well, everything but it’s the character’s sizeable mustache that fans have focused on — and according to Eggers, the mustache was meant to be a not to folklore and Transylvanian culture.
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Speaking with Variety, Eggers explained that the design for Orlok deliberately went back to folklore to “make a more scary vampire than we’ve had in quite some time” and part of that also included looking at the culture of Orlok’s home region — and mustaches are a significant part of that.
“So, to try to make a more scary vampire than we’ve had in quite some time, I went back to the folklore,” Eggers said. “It’s something that I like anyway, but the early folk vampire was written about by people who believed that vampires existed. There was going to be some good stuff there, and the vampires of folklore is a putrid, walking undead corpse. And so, the question became, ‘What does a dead Transylvanian nobleman look like? That means this complex Hungarian costume with very long sleeves, strange high-heeled shoes and a furry hat. It also means a mustache. No matter what, there’s no way this guy can’t have a mustache. Try to find a Transylvanian person who’s of age who can grow a mustache that doesn’t have a mustache. It’s part of the culture. If you don’t want to bother Googling, think of Vlad the Impaler. Even Bram Stoker had the sense to give Dracula mustache in the book.”
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The inclusion of a mustache for Count Orlok speaks to the level of detail that went into making Nosferatu, but it also isn’t exactly surprising. Eggers has previously spoken about how Skarsgård transformed for the role, even mentioning before the film’s release that he “looks like a dead Transylvanian nobleman”.
“I’ll say that Bill has so transformed, I’m fearful that he might not get the credit he deserves because he just… he’s not there,” Eggers said. “He felt like honoring who had come before him. It’s all very subtle … But I think the main thing is that he’s even more a folk vampire. In my opinion he looks like a dead Transylvanian nobleman, and in a way that we’ve never actually seen what an actual dead Transylvanian nobleman would look like and be dressed like.”
And fans will get to see even more of Count Orlok in the Blu-ray and DVD release of the film. An extended cut of the film is coming and will include footage of Orlok that was glimpsed in the film’s trailer, but not the theatrical version: Orlok as seen from the back.
“It’s one of those annoying things for film dorks because it’s not in the movie,” Eggers said of the shot. “It’s a really cool shot, really liked the shot, but where it was intended, it was ruining some tension to know that [Orlok] was around.”
He added, “We needed to keep him more mysterious. But if you would wish to purchase the Blu-ray, it is in the extended version of the film.”
Nosferatu is in theaters now.
